Highly stretchable wrinkled gold thin film wires.

Abstract

With the growing prominence of wearable electronic technology, there is a need to improve the mechanical reliability of electronics for more demanding applications. Conductive wires represent a vital component present in all electronics. Unlike traditional planar and rigid electronics, these new wearable electrical components must conform to curvilinear surfaces, stretch with the body, and remain unobtrusive and low profile. In this paper, the piezoresistive response of shrink induced wrinkled gold thin films under strain demonstrates robust conductive performance in excess of 200% strain. Importantly, the wrinkled metallic thin films displayed negligible change in resistance of up to 100% strain. The wrinkled metallic wires exhibited consistent performance after repetitive strain. Importantly, these wrinkled thin films are inexpensive to fabricate and are compatible with roll to roll manufacturing processes. We propose that these wrinkled metal thin film wires are an attractive alternative to conventional wires for wearable applications.