Emily Patterson

Electrical components have been getting smaller for years, but now there is a new race in the world of electronics – the race for increased flexibility.

To make this happen, researchers are developing new semiconductor materials that provide exceptional flexibility without compromising on capability. And there are other benefits too.

Take polyimide as an example. Teams from MIT, the University of Utah, and Meta, have found that the polyimide substrate makes it easier to craft flexible, multilayered circuits when compared with existing substrate materials.

Teams are also working out how to improve existing substrates for the flexible revolution. Commonly used silicon is too brittle to be applied to flexible semiconductors, but amorphous silicon can provide that additional flexibility.

Other valuable substrate materials include semiconducting transparent oxides and metal chalcogenides, each of which is helping us get closer to highly reliable, highly capable flexible electronics.