Carbon Nanotube Active-Matrix Backplanes for Conformal Electronics and Sensors

In this paper, we report a promising approach for fabricating large-scale flexible and stretchable electronics using a semiconductor-enriched carbon nanotube solution. Uniform semiconducting nanotube networks with superb electrical properties (mobility of ∼20 cm2 V–1 s–1 and I ON/I OFF of ∼104) are obtained on polyimide substrates. The substrate is made stretchable by laser cutting a honeycomb mesh structure, which combined with nanotube-network transistors enables highly robust conformal electronic devices with minimal device-to-device stochastic variations. The utility of this device concept is demonstrated by fabricating an active-matrix backplane (12 × 8 pixels, physical size of 6 × 4 cm2) for pressure mapping using a pressure sensitive rubber as the sensor element.