Flexible, wearable biosensors for digital health

Flexible and stretchable biosensors have the advantage of enhanced signal validity and patient comfort during physiological signal sensing and biomolecular analysis, crucial for disease diagnosis, treatment and health management. Their lightness, softness and excellent mechanical properties enable effective skin-device interface coupling and...

Design and Fabrication of a Thin Film Optogenetic ECoG Array with Individually Addressable micro-LEDs

Optogenetics is a neuromodulation technique that uses light to control genetically modified cells to express light sensitive ion channels. Optogenetics allows stimulation of only the specific cells in the region that have been genetically modified and thus results in a high resolution of stimulation.<br/>Currently optogenetic implants are used...

High Step Coverage Interconnects By Printed Nanoparticles

The growing diversity in the used materials in semiconductor packaging provides challenges for achieving good interconnection. Particularly the very soft substrates, such as paper and polymers, and very hard, such as silicon carbide, offer unique challenges to wire-bonding or formation of vertical interconnects. Complementary technologies are...

High-density interconnect technology optimised for flexible implants

Electronic implants are becoming a valuable tool to explore and regulate neural activity, potentially overcoming neural disabilities that are still incurable. On the one hand, neural recording can provide tremendous insight into the neural system and the sometimes accompanied neural diseases. On the other hand, neural stimulation is necessary to...

Effect of particle contact on the electrical performance of NTC-epoxy composite thermistors

As demand rises for flexible electronics, traditionally prepared sintered ceramic sensors must be transformed into fully new sensor materials that can bend and flex in use and integration. Negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTC) ceramic thermistors are preferred temperature sensors for their high accuracy and excellent stability,...

Fabrication and Reliability Study of Parylene-Ceramic Based Flexible Interconnects For Implantable Devices

The Flex-to-Rigid (F2R) platform is a generic IC-based technology platform that allows flexible sensors and electronics to be fabricated and integrated onto the catheters or guidewires of minimally invasive medical instruments. In this thesis, a process flow was developed for the fabrication of flexible metal interconnects based on the F2R...

Flexible parylene-platinum based electrodes and interconnects

F2R is a generic IC fabrication based platform that allows for the fabrication of miniature and flexible sensing functionalities for minimally invasive medical instruments. Examples of these minimally invasive medical instruments are catheters and guidewires. By introducing more materials to the F2R technology, it can be extended to more...

High Density Flexible Interconnect for Minimally Invasive Medical Instruments

Flex-to-rigid (F2R) is a technology platform for the fabrication of miniature partially flexible sensor systems for minimally invasive medical instruments. Because of the flexibility, these sensor systems can be wrapped around cylindrical medical instruments such as catheters or guidewires. F2R is a postprocessing technology whereby flexible...

Solution-based polycrystalline silicon transistors produced on a paper substrate

Printing of electronics is pursued as a low-cost alternative to conventional manufacturing processes. In addition, owing to relatively low process temperatures, flexible substrates can be used enabling novel applications. Among flexible substrates, paper was found to be a particularly interesting candidate, since it has an order of magnitude...

Liquid Silicon for Printed Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistors on Paper

Transport of Ultra-Thin Chips Using a Micro-Conveyor

In the thesis research discussed in this document, a concept that enables the conveying of ultra-thin chips without the presence of mechanical contact is discussed. The design is based on passive air cushion levitation and magnetic self-assembly. By means of angled nozzles, the ultra-thin chips are levitated and translated. Thereby,...

Single-grain Silicon Technology for Large Area X-ray Imaging

Digital flat panel X-ray imagers are currently using a-Si and poly-Si thin-film-transistors (TFTs). a-Si TFT permits the use of large area substrates, however, due to the amorphous nature, the carrier mobility is very low (<1 cm2/Vs). Poly-Si TFT improves the mobility (~150 cm2/Vs) but due to random grain boundaries, the defect density is still...

Magnetic Self-Assembly with Unique Rotational Alignment

The majority of flexible electronics applications require integration of thin chips on low-cost polymer substrates, with a high volume manufacturing fashion. However, handling thin parts (below< 100?m) with contact-based micro-assembly techniques is challenging due to the strong adhesion forces at micro-scale. This situation slows down the...

Single-grain Si thin-film transistors for monolithic 3D-ICs and flexible electronics

We review our recent achievements in monolithic 3D-ICs and flexible electronics based on single-grain Si TFTs that are fabricated inside a single-grain with a low-temperature process. Based on pulsed-laser crystallization and submicron sized cavities made in the substrate, amorphous-Si precursor film was converted into poly-Si having grains that...

A versatile low-temperature setup for the electrical characterization of single-molecule junctions

We present a modular high-vacuum setup for the electrical characterization of single molecules down to liquid helium temperatures. The experimental design is based on microfabricated mechanically controllable break junctions, which offer control over the distance of two electrodes via the bending of a flexible substrate. The actuator part of the...

Interconnect schemes for stretchable array-type microsystems

Flexible systems can be found in many fields such as automotive electronics, computers and peripherals (hard drives, image scanners, ink-jet print-head cables), aerospace, consumer electronics (mobile phones, cameras etc), medical (hearing aids, pacemakers) and many others. Further reduction in size and new properties such as reversible...

Electronics on Flexible and Stretchable Silicon Arrays

An Assessment of ?-Czochralski, Single-Grain Silicon Thin-Film Transistor Technology for Large-Area, Sensor and 3-D Electronic Integration