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

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将评估一种专门设计用于降低可拉伸电子产品制造复杂性的新基板材料的商业可行性。目前，可拉伸电子产品的市场规模为160万美元，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，预计到2023年，可拉伸电子产品的累计年增长率将达到101.3%，销售额将达到4.12亿美元。在某种程度上，目前可拉伸电子产品的市场规模受到不成熟的制造工具和所需技术的限制，例如转移和纳米印刷。由第一阶段SBIR资助的研究和开发可以大大降低制造复杂性，允许使用当前工业标准光刻技术制造可拉伸电子设备。该项目的智力优势在于能够创建具有固有刚度差异的电子衬底材料（那些没有层压层，图案填料等的材料），这些材料使用标准光刻技术定义。具体来说，这些基材可以在空间上划分为低杨氏模量区域（软基体）和高杨氏模量区域（硬岛），这两个区域之间的模量差异达到1000:1（硬：软）。在最初的工作中，这些空间异构模基板的演示表明，空间分辨率可以在毫米尺度上实现，并且可以在基板上引入局部应变，作为图案化刚性区域的函数。该项目的目标集中在(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)展示将硬区引入材料的微图案薄膜组件（特征尺寸为20微米）的微制造。这个第一阶段的资助将在原型薄膜电子元件中达到高潮，该原型薄膜电子元件在高全局应变下保持电气性能，同时也显示了基板材料承受微制造过程中观察到的恶劣热和化学条件的能力。

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.