SBIR Phase I: Spatially-heterogeneous modulus substrates for stretchable electronics fabrication

SBIR 第一阶段：用于可拉伸电子制造的空间异质模量基板

• 批准号: 1721719
• 负责人: Radu Reit
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: Ares Materials, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-07-01 至 2018-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1721719&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Spatially; heterogeneous; modulus

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will assess the commercial viability of a new substrate material specifically designed for reducing the manufacturing complexity of stretchable electronics. Currently a $1.6 million market, stretchable electronics are expected to grow at a cumulative annual growth rate of 101.3% to reach $412 million in sales by 2023 due to the surge in wearable technologies, structural health monitoring devices, and medical diagnostic tools. In part, the current market size for stretchable electronics is limited by the immature manufacturing tools and techniques required, such as transfer- and nano-printing. The research and development funded by the Phase I SBIR could lead to a drastic reduction in manufacturing complexity, allowing stretchable electronic devices to be manufactured using current industry standard photolithographic techniques.The intellectual merit of this project lies in the ability to create electronic substrate materials with intrinsic stiffness differences (those without laminated layers, patterned fillers, etc.) that are defined using standard lithography techniques. Specifically, these substrates can be spatially segregated into regions of low Young's modulus (the soft matrix) and regions of high Young's modulus (the stiff islands) with a difference in modulus between these two regions reaching ratios of 1000:1 (stiff:soft). In the initial work, demonstrations of these spatially-heterogeneous modulus substrates show that spatial resolution can be achieved at the millimeter scale, and can introduce localized strain across the substrate as a function of the patterned stiff regions. The objectives for this project are focused on (a) engineering an optimal starting substrate material with the desired properties for the soft region and (b) demonstrating microfabrication of micropatterned thin-film components (feature sizes 20 microns) of stiff regions introduced into the material. This Phase I grant will culminate in prototype thin-film electronic components which maintain electrical performance at high global strains, while also showing the capacity of the substrate materials to withstand the harsh thermal and chemical conditions observed during microfabrication.

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将评估一种专门为降低可伸缩电子产品制造复杂性而设计的新基板材料的商业可行性。由于可穿戴技术、结构健康监测设备和医疗诊断工具的激增，可拉伸电子产品目前的市场价值为160万美元，预计将以101.3%的累计年增长率增长，到2023年达到4.12亿美元的销售额。在一定程度上，目前可拉伸电子产品的市场规模受到转印和纳米打印等不成熟制造工具和技术的限制。由第一阶段SBIR资助的研究和开发可以大幅降低制造复杂性，允许使用当前行业标准的光刻技术制造可伸缩的电子器件。该项目的智力优势在于能够创造出具有内在硬度差异的电子基板材料(那些没有层压层、图案化填充物等)。它们是使用标准光刻技术定义的。具体地说，这些衬底可以在空间上被分成低杨氏模量区(软基)和高杨氏模量区(硬岛)，这两个区域之间的模数差达到1000：1(硬质：软质)。在最初的工作中，这些空间非均匀模数衬底的演示表明，空间分辨率可以达到毫米级，并且可以作为图案化僵硬区域的函数在衬底上引入局域应变。该项目的目标是(A)设计一种具有软区所需性能的最佳起始基板材料，以及(B)演示在材料中引入硬性区域的微图案化薄膜组件(特征尺寸为20微米)的微制造。这一第一阶段的资助将最终形成薄膜电子元件的原型，这些元件在高全球应变下保持电气性能，同时也展示了衬底材料承受微制造过程中观察到的严酷热和化学条件的能力。