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Flexible dielectric sensors received significant interest for real-time in situ cure monitoring of polymeric composites over the past decade. Currently, the state-of-the-art dielectric sensors mainly focus on detecting the distinct stages of the polymeric composite curing process. While low-cost and quantitative monitoring of the thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties of the materials during the cure is of great interest, to date, such a sensor system has not been realized because the existing devices excessively depend on external instrumentations, combined with a lack of an embedded reliable data processing module. Here, a fully integrated dielectric monitoring sensor system (DMS) incorporating dielectric and temperature sensors is developed, capable of monitoring in real-time the temperature, the degree of cure, and the glass transition temperature ($T_{g}$) of polymeric composites. An independent characterization of the cure kinetics was performed using differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy. These data enabled associating the main physical and chemical transformations in the polymeric materials with particular features observed in the dielectric measurements. We demonstrate the accurate estimation of the degree of cure and $T_{g}$ of an epoxy resin. The proposed system shows the potential for a new generation of intelligent manufacturing technology of composite materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of today’s stretchable interconnection technologies make extensive use of meandered interconnections, these provide 2-D in-plane springs capable of extending and compressing as the need arises. While a significant quantity of research work exists on these interconnects, few generic methodologies exist to design circuits in a consistent manner. This shortfall leads to questionable design practices, which can negatively affect reliability and performance. Presented within this paper is a method to quickly determine which meander fits within a given area based on common geometric boundary conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary bottleneck of the stretchable mold interconnect (SMI) technology is its reliance on carrier boards. These are necessary to handle the meandered circuit during production and to ensure dimensional stability of the flexible circuit board before encapsulation. However, for all the problems it solves, it also introduces a new major problem by requiring a peeling step—which is difficult to automate. This paper aims to present some of the work that went into eliminating this problem, discussing both unsuccessful and functioning methods to tackle this conundrum and some of the experimental work that went into verifying these techniques. First, alterations to the design to simplify peeling are considered, followed by adhesive-based peeling processes and mechanical pin-based systems. Next, masking and structuring of the carrier board adhesive are considered. Finally, two carrierless methods that circumvent the problems are discussed, a two-step process—which cuts temporary support structures after partial encapsulation—and a technique whereby the frame is designed to fail in a controlled manner during the first use of the circuit, creating a carrierless process feasible for high-volume production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) cavity-backed slot antenna covering the [5.9803; 6.9989] GHz frequency band of the IEEE 802.15.4a-2011 standard is designed and implemented in an air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (AFSIW) technology for localization applications with an accuracy of at least 3 cm. By relying on both frequency- and time-domain optimization, the antenna achieves excellent IR-UWB characteristics. In free-space conditions, an impedance bandwidth of 1.92 GHz (or 29.4%), a total efficiency higher than 89%, a front-to-back ratio of at least 12.1 dB, and a gain higher than 6.3 dBi are measured in the frequency domain. Furthermore, a system fidelity factor larger than 98% and a relative group delay smaller than 100 ps are measured in the time domain within the 3 dB beamwidth of the antenna. As a result, the measured time-of-arrival of a transmitted Gaussian pulse, for different angles of arrival, exhibits variations smaller than 100 ps, corresponding to a maximum distance estimation error of 3 cm. Additionally, the antenna is validated in a real-life worst-case deployment scenario, showing that its characteristics remain stable in a large variety of deployment scenarios. Finally, the difference in frequency- and time-domain performance is studied between the antenna implemented in AFSIW and in dielectric filled substrate integrated waveguide (DFSIW) technology. We conclude that DFSIW technology is less suitable for the envisaged precision IR-UWB localization application. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports a step-wise protocol to immobilize corresponding antibody on gold electrodes for electrochemical measurement of Osteocalcin (Oc), a bone turnover marker, levels in human serum. To our knowledge this is the first such sensor developed for Oc measurement. The magnitude of electrochemical response current was linearly dependent on Oc concentration with an R square of 0.99. The detection limit was calculated to be 0.65 ng/mL. The sensor was capable to assess antigen levels of 2.5–90 ng/mL. The correlation between our sensor results and that of electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA), the current state-of-art, was also investigated and the results showed a high correlation (slope of 0.97 and R2 of 0.98) between the two systems. This is while the total assay time for the Oc sensor is about 5 min and ECLIA needs several hours to be performed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel wearable radio frequency identification (RFID) tag with sensing, processing, and decision-taking capability is presented for operation in the 2.45-GHz RFID superhigh frequency (SHF) band. The tag is powered by an integrated light harvester, with a flexible battery serving as an energy buffer. The proposed active tag features excellent wearability, very high read range, enhanced functionality, flexible interfacing with diverse low-power sensors, and extended system autonomy through an innovative holistic microwave system design paradigm that takes antenna design into consideration from the very early stages. Specifically, a dedicated textile shorted circular patch antenna with monopolar radiation pattern is designed and optimized for highly efficient and stable operation within the frequency band of operation. In this process, the textile antenna’s functionality is augmented by reusing its surface as an integration platform for light-energy-harvesting, sensing, processing, and transceiver hardware, without sacrificing antenna performance or the wearer’s comfort. The RFID tag is validated by measuring its stand-alone and on-body characteristics in free-space conditions. Moreover, measurements in a real-world scenario demonstrate an indoor read range up to 23 m in nonline-of-sight indoor propagation conditions, enabling interrogation by a reader situated in another room. In addition, the RFID platform only consumes 168.3 \mu \textW , when sensing and processing are performed every 60 s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A high-performance, three-element substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) cavity-backed slot antenna array that covers the (5.15–5.85) GHz band is designed for integration inside or underneath the worktop of a desk, to set up a stable, high data-rate ultra-short-range $3 \times 3$ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication link with a mobile user (MU) positioned on top of that worktop. The antenna topology and array geometry are carefully selected to maximally exploit the multiplexing capabilities of the ultra-short-range $3 \times 3$ MIMO channel over a wide bandwidth, yielding an increased channel capacity and/or reduced power consumption. In addition, special care was taken to guarantee a channel capacity that is less dependent on the relative orientation of the MU. Furthermore, the SIW implementation technology is combined with innovative antenna materials to guarantee a low-profile, low-cost, stable, and high-performance broadband array design that maintains its excellent performance after integration. A prototype of the antenna array was fabricated, integrated according to two different integration scenarios, and validated. Measurements prove that the antenna array allows integration into a worktop with only a minor influence on its return loss and mutual coupling, guaranteeing a bandwidth of at least 1.078 GHz and a minimum isolation between antenna elements of 30 dB within the entire (5.15–5.85) GHz band. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we present the developments of a new technology to realize 2.5-/3-D electronic circuits. The starting point is an electronic circuit embedded in a hard thermoplastic material, which is transformed into a 2.5-/3-D shape using a thermoforming process. The electronic circuit consists of stretchable copper interconnections in combination with electronic components. The circuit is produced using conventional printed circuit board process steps: a copper sheet is laminated on a thermoplastic material, such as Polycarbonate (PC) or Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PET-G). The copper is structured using lithography and wet etching, and the electronic components are assembled using conductive adhesives. We investigated the use of different designs for stretchable interconnects to overcome the stretching of the electronic circuit by thermoforming it. A semispherical-shaped mold was used for this purpose where the local strain of the substrate can reach 100% with a sharp bending. It was shown that meander-shaped interconnects could accommodate the gradual deformation during the forming of the substrate either for PC and PET-G. However, at the mold’s edge, the copper-meandered tracks showed a delamination of the copper from the substrate. In the meanwhile, the electrical conductivity of the copper tracks did not show any significant variation. Another meander design based on an elliptical shape (in order to increase the length of the track) is proposed and compared with the first design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Getting output of multiple chips within the volume of a single chip is the driving force behind development of this novel 3D integration technology, which has a broad range of industrial and medical electronic applications. This goal is achieved in a two-step approach. Initially, thinned dies are embedded in a polyimide interposer with a fine-pitch metal fanout, resulting in ultrathin chip packages (UTCPs). Next these UTCPs are stacked by lamination. Step height at the chip edge of these UTCPs is the major reason of die cracking during the lamination. This paper contains an approach to solve this issue by the introduction of an additional layer of interposer, which makes it flat at the chip edge and thus the whole package is named as flat-UTCP. In addition to that, randomness in nonfunctional package positions per panel reduces the overall yield of the whole process up to a certain extent. A detailed analysis on these two issues to improve the process yield is presented in this paper. 3D-stacked memory module composed of four electrically erasable programmable read-only memory dies was processed and tested to demonstrate this new concept for enhancing the fabrication yield. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Microvalves are commonly used in microfluidic systems to control precisely the liquid flow. In this paper, the design and fabrication of a normally-closed (NC) all-polymer membrane-type microvalve is described. The microvalve with a diameter and thickness of 5 mm and 3 mm, respectively, is fabricated completely in biocompatible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The opening pressure, which depends on the adhesion between the membrane and the slab, is reduced to the noticeably low value of 3.4 kPa by the surface oxidation of the PDMS layers. This technique in combination with a selective bonding by Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) shadow masking allows for the fabrication of a high reverse pressure microvalve (no flow up to 0.6 MPa reverse pressure). Other major fabrication steps include PDMS doctor-blading and soft lithography in order to fabricate the thin and surface patterned membranes, respectively. The presented microvalve features a minimum flow rate of 1.0 ml~min^-1. \hfill[2012\-0087] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to increase the functionality of electronic devices, while reducing the overall size and weight of the electronic chip packages, electronic chip packages can be combined into a 3-D assembly. In this field, we present a technology for stacking multiple chip packages, resulting in total volume almost equal to that of a single bare die. The technology is based on batch-processed ultrathin chip packages (UTCPs) with a fine pitch metal fan-out. Package-on-package technology enables stacking of UTCPs by vacuum lamination, followed by through-hole interconnection technology for making contacts to the metal fan-out of the embedded UTCPs within the stack. The individual chip packages can be tested before stacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and mechanical characterization of a novel technology for stretchable electronics is presented, which can be used for the realization of wearable textile electronics and biomedical implants. The stretchable devices consist of rigid or flexible component islands interconnected with stretchable meander-shaped copper conductors embedded in a stretchable polymer, polydemethylsiloxane. The technology uses standard printed circuit board manufacturing steps and liquid injection molding techniques to achieve a robust and reliable product. The conductors in the device are designed to accommodate strains up to 10–15%. Spin-on photo-definable polyimide as mechanical support for the stretchable interconnects and the functional flexible islands are introduced. By use of polyimide, the reliability of the stretchable interconnects, the straight interconnects on the flexible islands and the transitions between the stretchable and nonstretchable parts are improved. Long-term endurance behavior of the stretchable interconnects is studied by cyclic elongation at strain ranges of up to 20% while monitoring the electrical connectivity. It's shown that the lifetime of the polyimide supported interconnects is at least two times better compared to the nonsupported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assembly of thinned die has become common practice to meet the demand for smaller and lighter electronic products. One way to achieve this goal is to embed the thinned die into two dielectric films, which results in a flexible ultrathin chip package (UTCP). This paper describes a new UTCP process flow with microvia formation by standard UV lithography through photosensitive polyimide (PSPI). Such microvia-formation method proved to be more reliable than laser drilling techniques and simpler than a dry etching process. Since the used PSPI is self-priming, a thin layer of potassium chloride was introduced as a release layer. In the end, the polyimide encapsulation of the thinned die can be released from the carrier substrate and becomes a flexible chip package with a total thickness of around 50 \mum. Daisy-chain test dies were encapsulated inside spin-coated polyimide films. Excellent chip-to-package interconnection was demonstrated by electrical daisy chain and contact resistance measurements. Bending tests and thermal cycling tests were also performed on the daisy-chain test vehicles. Desired flexibility and reliability of UTCPs was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present a flexible folded slot dipole implantable antenna operating in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band (2.4–2.4835 GHz) for biomedical applications. To make the designed antenna suitable for implantation, it is embedded in biocompatible Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The antenna was tested by immersing it in a phantom liquid, imitating the electrical properties of the human muscle tissue. A study of the sensitivity of the antenna performance as a function of the dielectric parameters of the environment in which it is immersed was performed. Simulations and measurements in planar and bent state demonstrate that the antenna covers the complete ISM band. In addition, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measurements indicate that the antenna meets the required safety regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel concept for integrating ultrathin solar cells into modules. It is conceived as a method for fabricating solar panels starting from back-contact crystalline silicon solar cells. However, compared to the current state of the art in module manufacturing for back-contact solar cells, this novel concept aims at improvements in performance, reliability, and cost through the use of an alternative encapsulant, namely silicones as opposed to ethylene vinyl acetate, an alternative deposition technology, being wet coating as opposed to dry lamination; and alternative module-level metallization techniques, as opposed to cell-level tabbing-stringing or conductive foil interconnects. The process flow is proposed, and the materials and fabrication technologies are discussed. As the durability of the module, translated into the module's lifetime, is very important in the targeted application, namely solar cell modules, modeling and reliability testing results and considerations are presented to illustrate how the experimental development process may be guided by experience and theoretical derivations. Finally, feasibility is demonstrated in some first proofs of the concept, and an outlook is given pointing out the direction for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the optimization of a stretchable electrical interconnection between integrated circuits in terms of stretchability and fatigue lifetime. The interconnection is based on Cu stripes embedded in a polyimide-enhanced (PI-enhanced) layer. Design-of-experiment (DOE) methods and finite-element modeling were used to obtain an optimal design and to define design guidelines, concerning both stripe and layer dimensions and material selection. Stretchable interconnects with a PI-enhanced layer were fabricated based on the optimized design parameters and tested. In situ experimental observations did validate the optimal design. Statistical analysis indicated that the PI width plays the most important role among the different design parameters. By increasing the PI width, the plastic strain in the Cu stripes is reduced, and thus, the stretchability and fatigue lifetime of the system is increased. The experimental results demonstrate that the PI-enhanced stretchable interconnect enables elongations up to 250% without Cu rupture. This maximum elongation is two times larger than the one in samples without PI enhancement refid="ref1"/ . Moreover, the fatigue life at 30% elongation is 470 times higher refid="ref2" . [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Flexible materials, today, are being used already as base substrates for electronic assembly. A lot of mounted components could be integrated in flexible polyimide (PI) substrates. Very interesting advantages of integrating components into the flex are compactness and enhanced flexibility; not only the interconnection but also the components themselves can be mechanically flexible. This paper describes a PI-based embedding technology for integrating very thin silicon chips in between two spin-on PI layers, the ultra-thin chip package (UTCP). This paper discusses the different process steps in the UTCP production and also presents the interconnection test results realized with this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the fine-pitch interconnection capabilities of the ultra-thin chip packaging (UTCP) technology, a technology under development for embedding thin chips in a flexible polyimide (PI) substrate. It allows for fully flexible electronics, as the rigid chips are thinned down to 20-30 μm, at which point they become truly flexible themselves. This way, instead of just a flexible substrate with rigid components assembled on top, the entire circuitry can be incorporated inside a 30-40 μm thin chip package. The paper briefly introduces the technology's background with a short description of the fabrication process. Building on the developments already achieved, some further optimizations are discussed, and the technology is tested for its fine-pitch interconnection capabilities using test chips with four-point probe and daisy chain patterns, with a pitch down to 40 μm. The possibility to package several chips in the same substrate is investigated, as well, and finally an outlook on future experiments is briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These days, a lot of effort is being put in making electronic devices lighter and compacter, as the electronics market is rapidly expanding with all sorts of portable devices for home and everyday use. In this paper, a technology for embedding thin chips in flexible substrates is proposed that could be the next step for further reducing weight, while at the same time enhancing mechanical flexibility of the electronic circuitry. All stages in the technology's development cycle are discussed: from technology flow, test design and actual fabrication, to process optimization and characterization of the results. An outlook on the following steps of this technology is discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing number of biomedical applications for electronic systems have led to the need for stretchable electronics in order to significantly enhance the comfort of the user. This paper describes the design and manufacturing process of new stretchable high-frequency interconnects with meander-shaped conductors in a coplanar waveguide topology. The novel interconnects are produced based on laser-ablation of a copper foil, which is then embedded in a highly stretchable bio-compatible silicone material. Measurements on prototypes of the designed stretchable high-frequency interconnects revealed a maximal magnitude of -14 dB for the reflection coefficient and a minimal magnitude of -4 dB for the transmission coefficient in the frequency band up to 3 GHz. The influence of stretch on the performance of the high-frequency interconnects was analyzed using a stretch testing machine. The results showed that nor the magnitude, neither the phase of the transmission coefficient was influenced by elongations up to 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]