Printed electronics breakthrough could lead to flexible electronics revolution

A new form of electronics manufacturing which embeds silicon nanowires into flexible surfaces could lead to radical new forms of bendable electronics, scientists say. In a new paper published today in the journal Microsystems and Nanoengineering, engineers from the University of Glasgow describe how they have for the first time been able to affordably 'print' high-mobility semiconductor nanowires onto flexible surfaces to develop high-performance ultra-thin electronic layers. Those surfaces, which can be bent, flexed and twisted, could lay the foundations for a wide range of applications including video screens, improved health monitoring devices, implantable devices and synthetic skin for prosthetics. The paper is the latest development from the University of Glasgow's Bendable Electronics and Sensing Technologies (BEST) research group, led by Professor Ravinder Dahiya. The BEST team has already developed innovative technologies including solar-powered, flexible 'electronic skin' for use in prosthetics and stretchable health sensors which can monitor the pH levels of users' sweat. In their paper, the research team outline how they manufactured semiconductor nanowires from both silicon and zinc oxide and printed them on flexible substrates to develop electronic devices and circuits. In the process, they discovered that they could produce uniform silicon nanowires which aligned in the same direction, as opposed to the more random, tree-branch-like arrangement produced by a similar process for zinc oxide.