Traditionally, electronics have been designed with static form factors to serve designated purposes. This approach has been an optimal direction for maintaining the overall device performance and reliability for targeted applications. However, electronics capable of changing their shape, flexibility, and stretchability will enable versatile and accommodating systems for more diverse applications. Here, we report design concepts, materials, physics, and manufacturing strategies that enable these reconfigurable electronic systems based on temperature-triggered tuning of mechanical characteristics of device platforms. We applied this technology to create personal electronics with variable stiffness and stretchability, a pressure sensor with tunable bandwidth and sensitivity, and a neural probe that softens upon integration with brain tissue. Together, these types of transformative electronics will substantially broaden the use of electronics for wearable and implantable applications.

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Electronics with tunable shape and stiffness can be applied in broad range of applications because their tunability allows their use in either rigid handheld form or soft wearable form, depending on needs. Previous research has enabled such reconfigurable electronics by integrating a thermally tunable gallium‐based platform with flexible/stretchable electronics. However, supercooling phenomenon caused in the freezing process of gallium impedes reliable and rapid bidirectional rigid–soft conversion, limiting the full potential of this type of “transformative” electronics. Here, materials and electronics design strategies are reported to develop a transformative system with a gallium platform capable of fast reversible mechanical switching. In this electronic system, graphene is used as a catalyst to accelerate the heterogeneous nucleation of gallium to mitigate the degree of supercooling. Additionally, a flexible thermoelectric device is integrated as a means to provide active temperature control to further reduce the time for the solid–liquid transition of gallium. Analytical and experimental results establish the fundamentals for the design and optimized operation of transformative electronics for accelerated bidirectional transformation. Proof‐of‐concept demonstration of a reconfigurable system, which can convert between rigid handheld electronics and a flexible wearable biosensor, demonstrates the potential of this design approach for highly versatile electronics that can support multiple applications.

Billions of neurons in the brain coordinate together to control trillions of highly convoluted synaptic pathways for neural signal processing. Optogenetics is an emerging technique that can dissect such complex neural circuitry with high spatiotemporal precision using light. However, conventional approaches relying on rigid and tethered optical probes cause significant tissue damage as well as disturbance with natural behavior of animals, thus preventing chronic in vivo optogenetics. A microscale inorganic LED (μ-ILED) is an enabling optical component that can solve these problems by facilitating direct discrete spatial targeting of neural tissue, integration with soft, ultrathin probes as well as low power wireless operation. Here we review recent state-of-the art μ-ILED integrated soft wireless optogenetic tools suitable for use in freely moving animals and discuss opportunities for future developments.

Reconfigurability of a device that allows tuning of its shape and stiffness is utilized for personal electronics to provide an optimal mechanical interface for an intended purpose. Recent approaches in developing such transformative electronic systems (TES) involved the use of gallium liquid metal, which can change its liquid-solid phase by temperature to facilitate stiffness control of the device. However, the current design cannot withstand excessive heat during outdoor applications, leading to undesired softening of the device when the rigid mode of operation is favored. Here, a gallium-based TES integrated with a flexible and stretchable radiative cooler is presented, which offers zero-power thermal management for reliable rigid mode operation in the hot outdoors. The radiative cooler can both effectively reflect the heat transfer from the sun and emit thermal energy. It, therefore, allows a TES-in-the-air to maintain its temperature below the melting point of gallium (29.8 °C) under hot weather with strong sun exposure, thus preventing unwanted softening of the device. Comprehensive studies on optical, thermal, and mechanical characteristics of radiative-cooler-integrated TES, along with a proof-of-concept demonstration in the hot outdoors verify the reliability of this design approach, suggesting the possibility of expanding the use of TES in various environments.