Advanced Development for Defense Science and Technology

Future generations of electronics will need to be both stretchable and flexible due to the increasing demand for portable electronics. As electronics devices become more integral to our lives, it is increasingly important for them to be shapeable and conformable, which opens the design space of the devices and enables maneuverability of the user. Infinite Corridor Technologies (ICT) has established a new material design approach that enables a breakthrough that facilitates stretchable and flexible electronics. The basis of the design lies in a fundamental change to the printed wiring board material. Current developments in conducting polymers and other new electronic materials have not achieved sufficient maturity for widespread application. ICT’s solution to this problem is a Structured Elastomeric Material Substrate (SEMS). The SEMS possesses material properties and structural features that allow it to stretch, compress and flex in different directions by straining the substrate only in select areas. This approach leaves a large fraction of the substrate at strains dramatically lower than the macroscopic strain. The strain-free areas provide locations for the electronic components and circuitry, enabling stretchable and flexible electronics. ICT has already demonstrated the feasibility and the effectiveness of this material design and seeks to further its development.