Well-rounded devices: the fabrication of electronics on curved surfaces – a review

Abstract

New innovations in the fabrication of curved surface electronics open up exciting possibilities in human–computer interaction, sensing, and other applications.

Developing the Nondevelopable: Creating Curved‐Surface Electronics from Nonstretchable Devices

“…As the market for curved electronics grows, the question of how to power such devices becomes more and more pressing. Very little work has addressed this problem, primarily opting to utilize nonconformable batteries or external power sources; [ 17 ] however, these curved surfaces also provide an excellent opportunity for power generation. In much the same way that recent years have seen the sprouting of solar panel arrays on the roofs of buildings across the world, curved photovoltaics can allow us to derive power from formerly passive surfaces without disrupting their functionality.…”

“…Recent progress in this field has brought remarkable advances, leading to a variety of curved devices with unique applications in human-computer interaction, imaging, and environmental sensing. [17][18][19] Currently, deterministically patterned stretchable circuits (e.g., circuits employing an island-bridge structure or a local strain suppression layer) form the basis for the most complex, cutting-edge examples of nondevelopable electronics, including thin-film transistors, [20] ultrasonic transducers, [13] curved imagers, [14,21] and thermoelectric energy harvesters. [22] These devices integrate small chip devices, often made of high-performance electronic materials such as silicon or metal, with wavy or kirigamiinspired interconnects, ensuring that any tensile strain applied to the system is concentrated in the wiring instead of the chips.…”

Curved Photodetectors Based on Perovskite Microwire Arrays via In Situ Conformal Nanoimprinting

“…Owing to the continuous enhancement in the functionality of optoelectronic devices and advancement of their fabrication processes, the application of optoelectronic devices has been expanded from planar to various curved surfaces, leading to an increasing demand for curved-substrate-based devices. [1][2][3][4] Curved devices play an important role in many fields. As the human body, various objects, and environment contain diverse complex curved surfaces, curved devices can be efficiently incorporated into the human body and environment to expand their capabilities.…”

“…The above‐mentioned transfer technology inevitably leads to crystal fracture and deteriorates the device performance upon transferring the light‐responsive material to the curved substrate. [ 1 ] The instability and sensitivity of perovskite materials also limit the fabrication of micro/nanostructures on curved surfaces using the soluble substrate method. [ 46 ] The 3D printing technology also faces the issue of reduced efficiency.…”

Anisotropic conductive shape-memory aerogels as adaptive reprogrammable wearable electronics for accurate long-term pressure sensing

“…18 This situation would be even worse for a complex 3D geometry, which makes it difficult to achieve conformal attachment. Therefore, developing wearable pressure sensing electronics with reprogrammable 3D shape-shifting capacity is quite urgent to ensure the adaptive long-term stability of the human–machine interface; 19,20 unfortunately, research on this aspect is still limited due to the absence of available smart materials.…”