FLEXIBLE AND STRETCHABLE SENSORS FORMED BY PATTERNED SPALLING

• US 20170146474A1
• Filed: 11/01/2016
• Published: 05/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bedell, Stephen W., Han, Shu-Jen, Li, Ning, Sadana, Devendra K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,874,534 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/164 the sensor is mounted in or on a conformable substrate or carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/04 by investigating resistance
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02524 Group 14 semiconducting materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 24/83 using a layer connector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/0288 using passive elements as protective elements, e.g. resistors, capacitors, inductors, spark-gaps
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/0802 Resistors only
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 28/20 Resistors
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 30/85 Piezoelectric or electrostrictive active materials

Abstract

A material removal process referred to as spalling is used to provide flexible and stretchable sensors that can be used for healthcare monitoring, bio-medical devices, wearable electronic devices, artificial skin, large area sensing, etc. The flexible and stretchable sensors of the present application have high sensitivity that is comparable to that of a bulk silicon sensor. The flexible and stretchable sensors comprise single crystalline spring-like structures that couple various resistor structures together.

Claims

1. A structure comprising:

a flexible and stretchable sensor embedded within a flexible substrate, said flexible and stretchable sensor comprising a single crystalline spring-like structure coupling a neighboring pair of resistor structures together.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein said single crystalline spring-like structure is a single crystalline semiconductor material.

3. The structure of claim 2, wherein said single crystalline semiconductor material is silicon.

4. The structure of claim 1, wherein each resistor structure comprises a doped semiconductor material.

5. The structure of claim 4, wherein said doped semiconductor material and said single crystalline spring-like structure both comprise a same semiconductor material.

6. The structure of claim 1, wherein said flexible substrate is a tape.

7. The structure of claim 1, wherein a surface of each resistor structure is exposed.

8. The structure of claim 7, wherein said surface of each resistor is coplanar with a topmost surface of said flexible substrate.

9. The structure of claim 1, wherein single crystalline spring-like structure is located directly beneath each resistor structure.

10. The structure of claim 1, wherein said single crystalline spring-like structure has a piezoelectric coefficient of from 2E¹² mV or greater.

11. The structure of claim 2, wherein said single crystalline semiconductor material is composed of Ge, SiGe, SiGeC, SiC, a III-V compound semiconductor or a II-VI compound semiconductor.

12. The structure of claim 4, wherein said doped semiconductor material comprises a p-type semiconductor material.

13. The structure of claim 4, wherein said doped semiconductor material comprises an n-type semiconductor material.

14. The structure of claim 4, wherein aid doped semiconductor material has a dopant concentration of from 1E16 atoms/cm³ to 1E19 atoms/cm³.

15. The structure of claim 1, wherein each resistor comprises doped polysilicon.

16. The structure of claim 1, wherein each resistor comprises a ceramic.

17. The structure of claim 1, wherein each resistor comprises a carbon film.

18. The structure of claim 1, wherein each resistor comprises a metal oxide.

19. The structure of claim 1, further comprising at least one other flexible and stretchable sensor embedded within said flexible substrate, said at least one other flexible and stretchable sensor comprising another single crystalline spring-like structure coupling another neighboring pair of resistor structures together.