Monolithic optical microlithography of high-density elastic circuits.

Zheng, Yu-Qing; Liu, Yuxin; Zhong, Donglai; Nikzad, Shayla; Liu, Shuhan; Yu, Zhiao; Liu, Deyu; Wu, Hung-Chin et al. · Science · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Polymeric electronic materials have enabled soft and stretchable electronics. However, the lack of a universal micro/nanofabrication method for skin-like and elastic circuits results in low device density and limited parallel signal recording and processing ability relative to silicon-based devices. We present a monolithic optical microlithographic process that directly micropatterns a set of elastic electronic materials by sequential ultraviolet light-triggered solubility modulation. We fabricated transistors with channel lengths of 2 micrometers at a density of 42,000 transistors per square centimeter. We fabricated elastic circuits including an XOR gate and a half adder, both of which are essential components for an arithmetic logic unit. Our process offers a route to realize wafer-level fabrication of complex, high-density, and multilayered elastic circuits with performance rivaling that of their rigid counterparts.