Flexible Electronics and Bioelectronics Devices

Abstract

AbstractThin-film transistors (TFTs) have been successfully used as the key electronic components in today’s displays in mobile electronic devices and televisions, as well as in a new realm of biomedical imagers and related applications. The requirement for mechanical flexibility and stretchability, needed in a new generation of displays and wearable devices, poses new process integration challenges for TFTs, particularly for some materials families. This chapter is focused on the flexible TFTs and their biomedical applications, in which the materials presented are drawn from several doctoral theses. We begin with a comparison of TFT technologies based on different material families in terms of their electrical performance and flexibility. The general methods for TFT fabrication are introduced, along with a special focus on printable and flexible TFTs. Subsequent discussions are focused on introducing concepts underlying modelling and simulation of flexible TFTs, addressing circuit design considerations and compensation for spatial and temporal device variations and related instabilities. Here, we review the different TFT compact models that have been reported along with small signal models and techniques for parameter extraction. Finally, we focus on the applications of flexible electronics and biomedical applications, addressing the challenges and benefits of using flexible sensors and sensor interfaces, related system design, and integration considerations, along with different use cases.KeywordsFlexible ElectronicsThin-Film TransistorsBioelectronic Devices