The thesis investigates the modification of paper into an ion- and electron-conductive material, and as a renewable material for electronic device. The study stretches from investigating the interaction between the cellulosic materials and the conducting polymer to demonstrating the performance of the conductive paper by printing the electronic structure on the surface of the conductive paper. Conducting materials such as conducting polymer, ionic liquids, and multi-wall carbon nanotubes were deposited into the fiber networks. In order to investigate the interaction between the conducting polymer and cellulosic material, the adsorption of the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(4-styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) onto microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was performed. Electroconductive papers were produced via dip coating and rod coating, and characterized. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) / Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) images showed that the conducting polymer was deposited in the fiber and in fiber-fiber contact areas. The X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of dip-coated paper samples showed PEDOT enrichment on the surface. The effects of fiber beating and paper formation, addition of organic solvents and pigments (TiO2, MWCNT), and calendering were investigated. Ionic paper was produced by depositing an ionic liquid into the commercial base paper. The dependence to temperature and relative humidity of the ionic conductivity was also investigated. In order to reduce the roughness and improve its printability, the ionic paper was surface-sized using different coating rods.  The bulk resistance increased with increasing surface sizing. The electrochemical performance of the ionic paper was confirmed by printing PEDOT:PSS on the surface. There was change in color of the polymer when a voltage was applied. It was demonstrated that the ionic paper is a good ionic conductor that can be used as component for a more compact electronic device construction. Conductive paper has a great potential to be a flexible substrate on which an electronic structure can be constructed. The conduction process in the modified paper is due to the density of charge carriers (ions and electrons), and their short range mobility in the material. The charge carrying is believed to be heterogeneous, involving many charged species as the paper material is chemically heterogeneous. / <p>Fel ordningsnummer (2010:28) är angivet på omslaget av fulltextfilen.</p> / Printed Polymer Electronics on Paper

abstract: The recording of biosignals enables physicians to correctly diagnose diseases and prescribe treatment. Existing wireless systems failed to effectively replace the conventional wired methods due to their large sizes, high power consumption, and the need to replace batteries. This thesis aims to alleviate these issues by presenting a series of wireless fully-passive sensors for the acquisition of biosignals: including neuropotential, biopotential, intracranial pressure (ICP), in addition to a stimulator for the pacing of engineered cardiac cells. In contrast to existing wireless biosignal recording systems, the proposed wireless sensors do not contain batteries or high-power electronics such as amplifiers or digital circuitries. Instead, the RFID tag-like sensors utilize a unique radiofrequency (RF) backscattering mechanism to enable wireless and battery-free telemetry of biosignals with extremely low power consumption. This characteristic minimizes the risk of heat-induced tissue damage and avoids the need to use any transcranial/transcutaneous wires, and thus significantly enhances long-term safety and reliability. For neuropotential recording, a small (9mm x 8mm), biocompatible, and flexible wireless recorder is developed and verified by in vivo acquisition of two types of neural signals, the somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) and interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs). For wireless multichannel neural recording, a novel time-multiplexed multichannel recording method based on an inductor-capacitor delay circuit is presented and tested, realizing simultaneous wireless recording from 11 channels in a completely passive manner. For biopotential recording, a wearable and flexible wireless sensor is developed, achieving real-time wireless acquisition of ECG, EMG, and EOG signals. For ICP monitoring, a very small (5mm x 4mm) wireless ICP sensor is designed and verified both in vitro through a benchtop setup and in vivo through real-time ICP recording in rats. Finally, for cardiac cell stimulation, a flexible wireless passive stimulator, capable of delivering stimulation current as high as 60 mA, is developed, demonstrating successful control over the contraction of engineered cardiac cells. The studies conducted in this thesis provide information and guidance for future translation of wireless fully-passive telemetry methods into actual clinical application, especially in the field of implantable and wearable electronics. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2020

The development of synthetic life once envisioned by Feynman and Flynn many decades ago has stimulated significant research in materials science, biology, neuroscience, robotics, and computer science. The cross-disciplinary effort and advanced technologies in soft miniature robotics have addressed some of the significant challenges of actuation, sensing, and subsystem integration. An ideal Soft motile miniaturised robot (SMMRs) has innovative applications on a small scale, for instance, drug delivery to environmental remediation. Such a system demands smart integration of micro/nano components such as engines, actuators, sensors, controllers, and power supplies, making it possible to implement complex missions controlled wirelessly. Such an autonomous SMMR spans over multiple science and technology disciplines and requires innovative microsystem design and materials. Over the past decade, tremendous efforts have been made towards mastering one of such a SMMR's essential components: micro-engine. Chemical fuels and magnetic fields have been employed to power the micro-engines. However, it was realized seven years ago in work of TU-Chemnitz Professorship of Material Systems in Nanoelectronics and institute of investigative Nanosciences Leibniz IFW Dresden including Chemnitz side. Write explicitly that it is essential to combine the micro-engine with other functional microelectronic components to create an individually addressable smart and motile microsystem. This PhD work summarises the progress in designing and developing a novel flexible and motile soft micro autonomous robotic tubular systems (SMARTS) different from the well-studied single-tube catalytic micro-engines and other reported micromotors. Our systems incorporate polymeric nanomembranes fabricated by photolithography and rolled-up nanotechnology, which provide twin-tube structures and a spacious platform between the engines used to integrate onboard electronics. Energy can be wirelessly transferred to the catalytic tubular engine, allowing control over the SMARTS direction. Furthermore, to have more functionality onboard, a micro-robotic arm was integrated with remote triggering ability by inductive heating. To make the entire system smart, it is necessary to develop an onboard processor. However, the use of conventional Si technology is technically challenging due to the high thermal processes. We developed complex integrated circuits (IC) using novel single crystal-like organic and ZnO-based transistors to overcome this issue. Furthermore, a novel fabrication methodology that combines with six primary components of an autonomous system, namely motion, structure, onboard energy, processor, actuators, and sensors to developing novel SMARTSs, is being pursued and discussed.:List of acronyms 8 Chapter 1. Introduction 12 1.1 Motivation 14 1.2 Objectives 17 1.3 Thesis structure 18 Chapter 2. Building blocks of micro synthetic life 19 2.1 Soft structure 20 2.1.1 Polymorphic adaptability 20 2.1.2 Dynamic reconfigurability 20 2.1.3 Continuous motion 21 2.2 Locomotion 21 2.2.1 Aquatic 22 2.2.2 State-of-the-art aquatic SMMR 24 2.2.3 State-of-the-art terrestrial SMMR 25 2.2.4 State-of-the-art aerial SMMR 27 2.3 Onboard sensing 28 2.3.1 State-of-the-art 3D and flexible sensors systems 28 2.4 Onboard actuation 30 2.4.1 State-of-the-art actuators 30 2.5 Embedded onboard intelligence 32 2.5.1 State-of-the-art flexible integrated circuits 32 2.6 Onboard energy 33 2.6.1 State-of-the-art micro energy storage 34 2.6.2 State-of-the-art onboard energy harvesting SMMR 35 Chapter 3. Technology overview 38 3.1 Structure 38 3.1.1 Self-assembled “swiss-roll” architectures 40 3.1.2 Polymeric “swiss-roll” architectures 41 3.2 Motion: micro tubes as propulsion engines 44 3.2.1 Chemical engines 44 3.3 Embedded onboard intelligence 46 3.3.1 Thin film transistor 46 3.3.2 Basic characteristics of MOSFETs 48 3.4 Growth dynamics of organic single crystal films 51 3.4.1 Thin films growth dynamics 52 3.5 Powering SMARTSs 55 3.5.1 Onboard energy storage 56 3.5.2 Wireless power delivery 59 3.6 Integrable micro-arm 63 3.6.1 Stimuli-responsive actuator 63 3.6.2 Remote activation 64 Chapter 4. Fabrication and characterization 65 4.1 Thin film fabrication technology 65 4.1.1 Photolithography 65 4.1.2 E-beam deposition 68 4.1.3 Sputtering 69 4.1.4 Physical vapour deposition 70 4.1.5 Atomic layer deposition 71 4.1.6 Ion beam etching 72 4.2 Characterization methods 73 4.2.1 Atomic force microscopy 73 4.2.2 Scanning electron microscopy 74 4.2.3 Cyclic voltammetry 75 4.2.4 Galvanic charge discharge 77 4.2.5 Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy 78 Chapter 5. Development of soft micro autonomous robotic tubular systems (SMARTS) 81 5.1 Soft, flexible and robust polymeric platform 82 5.2 Locomotion of SMARTS 84 5.2.1 Assembly of polymeric tubular jet engines 84 5.2.2 Catalytic self-propulsion of soft motile microsystem 85 5.2.3 Propulsion power generated by the catalyst reaction 87 5.3 Onboard energy for SMARTS 89 5.3.1 Onboard wireless energy 90 5.3.2 Onboard ‘zero-pitch’ micro receiver coil 90 5.3.3 Evaluation of the micro receiver coil 91 5.4 Onboard energy storage 92 5.4.1 Fabrication of nano-biosupercapacitors 93 5.4.2 Electrochemical performance of “Swiss-roll” nBSC 97 5.4.3 Self-discharge performance and Bio enhancement: 98 5.4.4 Electrochemical and structural life time performance 100 5.4.5 Performance under physiologically conditions 101 5.4.6 Electrolyte temperature and flow dependent performance 102 5.4.7 Performance under hemodynamic conditions 105 5.4.8 Biocompatibility of nBSCs 105 5.5 Wireless powering and autarkic operation of SMARTS 108 5.5.1 Remote activation of an onboard IR-LED 108 5.5.2 Wireless locomotion of SMARTS 109 5.5.3 Effect of magnetic moment on SMARTS locomotion 111 5.5.4 Full 2D wireless locomotion control of SMARTS 112 5.5.5 Self-powered monolithic pH sensor system 114 5.6 Onboard remote actuation 119 5.6.1 Fabrication of integrable micro-arm 120 5.6.2 Remote actuation of integrable micro-arm 122 5.7 Flexibility of SMARTS 122 5.8 Onboard integrated electronics 123 5.9 Onboard organic electronics 124 5.9.1 Growth of BTBT-T6 as active semiconductor material 125 5.9.2 Confined Growth of BTBT-T6 to form Single-Crystal-Like Domain 128 5.9.3 Fabrication of OFET based on Single-Crystal-Like BTBT-T6 129 5.9.4 Carrier injection optimization 132 5.9.5 Performance of single-crystal-like BTBT-T6-OFET 133 5.10 Onboard flexible metal oxide electronics 136 5.10.1 Fabrication flexible ZnO TFT 138 5.10.2 Performance of ZnO TFT 139 5.10.3 Flexible integrated circuits 140 5.10.4 Logic gates 140 Chapter 6. Summary 142 Chapter 7. Conclusion and outlook 144 References 147 List of Figures & tables 173 Versicherung 177 Acknowledgement 178 Research achievements 180 Research highlight 183 Cover pages 184 Theses 188 Curriculum-vitae 191

Organic transistors have attracted significant research interest in recent years due to their promises of mechanical flexibility and low-cost fabrication. Possible innovative applications include wearable electronic sensor systems, as well as mass-produced, inexpensive localization tags for logistics. However, the limited charge carrier mobility in organic semiconductor materials, contact resistance at the organic-metal interface and comparably long transistor channel lengths result low-speed organic transistors and low current densities compared with conventional inorganic transistors. The organic permeable base transistor (OPBT) is a disruptive transistor architecture that overcomes some of these drawbacks by providing a vertical transistor channel, which is much shorter than in lateral channel organic transistor devices. Consequently, it has been shown to be the fastest organic transistor to date with a transition frequency of 40 MHz, driving currents up to the kA/cm^2 regime. Nevertheless, the OPBT has not yet reached the application stage and its production has been limited to lab-scale devices deposited onto rigid glass substrates. Issues include low yield, large leakage currents, and unknown reliability of the devices. This work addresses these problems by transferring OPBTs to flexible polymer substrates and introducing a controlled and easily reproducible manufacturing technique for the crucial base oxide layer by electrochemical anodization. The anodization technique allows the creation of defined insulating layers, leading to devices with significantly reduced leakage currents and consequently very large transmission factors of 99.9996%. An investigation into the electrical stability of OPBTs shows that the devices are suitable as switching transistors in active matrix organic light emitting displays (AMOLED). In this application, the OPBT demonstrates its strengths particularly well, because fast operation and high current densities are needed. With this thesis a series of milestones on the path to commercial viability of the OPBT have been reached, making the device fit for large-scale production and integration into flexible electronic circuits, allowing it to drive the bendable organic displays of the future.:1 Introduction 2 Fundamentals 3 Experimental 4 Results – Flexible Devices 5 Results – Anodization of the Base Layer 6 Results – TEM Investigations 7 Results – Electrical Stress Measurements 8 Conclusion and Outlook / Durch die Aussicht auf mechanische Flexibilität und kostengünstige Herstellung haben Organische Transistoren in den vergangenen Jahren erhebliches Forschungsinteresse geweckt. Innovative Anwendungsideen umfassen tragbare elektronische Sensorsysteme und massenproduzierte, preiswerte Ortungsetiketten für die Logistik. Leider führen die geringe Ladungsträgermobilität in organischen Halbleitermaterialien, Kontaktwiderstände am Organik-Metall-Übergang und vergleichsweise große Kanallängen der Transistoren dazu, dass organische Transistoren langsamer sind und geringere Stromdichten aufweisen als anorganische Transistoren. Der Organic Permeable Base Transistor (Organischer Transistor mit durchlässiger Basis, OPBT) stellt eine bahnbrechende Transistorarchitektur dar, die mithilfe eines vertikalen Transistorkanals einige der vorgenannten Nachteile überwindet. Dadurch ist die Kanallänge deutlich kleiner, als das bei lateralen organischen Transistorbauteilen der Fall ist. Infolgedessen kann er sich als der bisher schnellste organische Transistor mit einer Transitfrequenz von 40 MHz behaupten und Stromdichten bis in den kA/cm^2 Bereich treiben. Nichtsdestotrotz hat der OPBT bislang keine Anwendungsreife erreicht und wird derzeit nur im Labormaßstab auf starren Glassubstraten hergestellt. Hindernisse sind die geringe Produktionsausbeute, große Leckströme und die unklare Zuverlässigkeit der Bauteile. Diese Arbeit nimmt die eben genannten Herausforderungen in Angriff. Es werden OPBTs auf flexible Polymersubstrate übertragen, sowie eine kontrollierte und einfach reproduzierbare Herstellungsmethode für das wichtige Basisoxid durch elektrochemische Anodisierung eingeführt. Die Anodisierungsmethode lässt definierte Isolationsschichten entstehen, was zu stark reduzierten Leckströmen und folglich zu sehr großen Transmissionsfaktoren von 99,9996% führt. Die Untersuchung der elektrischen Stabilität von OPBTs zeigt, dass die Bauteile als Schalttransistoren in organischen Aktiv-Matrix-Displays geeignet sind. Für diese Anwendung sind die Stärken von OPBTs besonders relevant, weil kurze Schaltzeiten und hohe Stromdichten benötigt werden. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit wird eine Reihe von Meilensteinen auf dem Weg zur kommerziellen Anwendbarkeit von OPBTs erreicht. Damit ist das Bauteil reif für die großtechnische Produktion und die Integration in flexible elektronische Schaltkreise, die die biegsamen organischen Displays der Zukunft ansteuern werden.:1 Introduction 2 Fundamentals 3 Experimental 4 Results – Flexible Devices 5 Results – Anodization of the Base Layer 6 Results – TEM Investigations 7 Results – Electrical Stress Measurements 8 Conclusion and Outlook

Die Etablierung der Telemedizin stellt neue Herausforderungen an die Aufbau- und Verbindungstechnik der Elektronik. Neue medizintechnische Anwendungen für die breite Gesellschaft erfordern biokompatible, flexible und dehnbare Elektronik, die zugleich kostengünstig und individuell hergestellt werden kann. Einen vielversprechenden Ansatz bietet die Verwendung additiver Herstellungsverfahren. Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Materialauswahl für flexible und dehnbare Mikrosysteme vor dem Hintergrund der Anforderungen für zukünftige biomedizinische Anwendungen und unter Verwendung ausschließlich additiver Verfahren. Der grundlegende Aufbau gedruckter Elektronik, bestehend aus Leiterzügen verschiedener Nanopartikeltinten und polymeren Substraten, wird hinsichtlich biologischer und mechanischer Eigenschaften untersucht. Diese Charakterisierung beinhaltet die Evaluation der Zytotoxizität, Haftfestigkeit, Biegebelastung und Dehnungsbelastung der Materialkombinationen. Im Fokus steht der Inkjetdruck von Platintinte auf flexiblen Polyimid- und dehnbaren Polyurethansubstraten. Aufgrund der Inkompatibilität zwischen der erforderlichen Sintertemperatur der Platintinte und der Erweichungstemperatur des Polyurethans, wird das photonische Sintern untersucht. Dafür kommen Lasersintern und Blitzlampensintern zum Einsatz. Die Platintinte zeigt ausgezeichnete Eigenschaften im Zytotoxizitätstest durch 98 %ige Zellvitalität im Vergleich zur biokompatiblen Referenz. Die bestimmten Haftfestigkeiten liegen zwischen 0,5N/mm2 und 2,5N/mm2 und entsprechen damit aktuellen Literaturwerten. Weiterhin zeigt das Ergebnis von Biegetests vielversprechende flexible Eigenschaften. Der Widerstand nach 180 000 Biegezyklen erhöht sich bei einem Biegeradius von 5mm um maximal 9,5% und bei 2mm um maximal 42 %. Die Dehnungstests mit Horseshoestrukturen aus Silbertinte zeigen ca. 400 Dehnungszyklen bei 10% Dehnung und ca. 400 Zyklen bei 20% Dehnung bis zur vollständiger Leiterzugunterbrechung. Zwei Demonstratoren validieren das Potential der ausschließlichen Nutzung von additiven Prozessen zur Herstellung biomedizinischer Mikrosysteme. Der erste Demonstrator ist eine Hautelektrode, welche sich durch temporären Elektroden-Hautkontakt zur Hautleitwertmessung eignet. Der zweite Demonstrator beinhaltet eine miniaturisierte, gedruckte Interdigitalelektrode, die durch die Anwendung von Nanosekundenimpulsen in der Lage ist, Zellen zu manipulieren. Die Erkenntnisse aus dieser Arbeit zeigen das große Potential der Nutzung additiver Prozesse für die Herstellung von Medizinprodukten.

Flexible electronics has attracted significant attention in the recent past due to the booming wearables market in addition to the ever-increasing interest for faster, thinner and foldable mobile phones. Ultra-thin bare silicon ICs fabricated by thinning down standard ICs to thickness below 50 μm are flexible and therefore they can be integrated on or in polymer foils to create flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) components that could be used to replace rigid standard surface mount device (SMD) components. The fabricated FHE components referred as chip foil packages (CFPs) in this work are ideal candidates for FHE system integration owing to their ability to deliver high performance at low power consumption while being mechanically flexible. However, very limited information is available in the literature regarding the reliability of CFPs under static and dynamic bending. The lack of such vital information is a major obstacle impeding their commercialization. With the aim of addressing this issue, this thesis investigates the static and dynamic bending reliability of CFPs. In this scope, the static bending reliability of CFPs has been investigated in this thesis using flexural bending tests by measuring their fracture strength. Then, Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations have been implemented to calculate the fracture stress of ultra-thin flexible silicon chips where analytical formulas may not be applied. After calculating the fracture stress from FEM simulations, the enhancement in robustness of ultra-thin chips (UTCs) against external load has also been proved and quantified with further experimental investigations. Besides, FEM simulations have also been used to analyse the effect of Young’s Modulus of embedding materials on the robustness of the embedded UTCs. Furthermore, embedding the UTCs in polymer layers has also been experimentally proven to be an effective solution to reduce the influence of thinning and dicing induced damages on the robustness of the embedded UTCs. Traditional interconnection techniques such as wire bonding may not be implemented to interconnect ultra-thin silicon ICs owing to the high mechanical forces involved in the processes that would crack the chips. Therefore, two novel interconnection methods namely (i) flip-chip bonding with Anisotropic Conductive Adhesive (ACA) and (ii) face-up direct metal interconnection have been implemented in this thesis to interconnect ultra-thin silicon ICs to the corresponding interposer patterns on foil substrates. The CFP samples thus fabricated were then used for the dynamic bending reliability investigations. A custom-built test equipment was developed to facilitate the dynamic bending reliability investigations of CFPs. Experimental investigations revealed that the failure of CFPs under dynamic bending was caused mainly by the cracking of the redistribution layer (RDL) interconnecting the chip and the foil. Furthermore, it has also been shown that the CFPs are more vulnerable to repeated compressive bending than to repeated tensile bending. Then, the influence of dimensional factors such as the thickness of the chip as well as the RDL on the dynamic bending reliability of CFPs have also been studied. Upon identifying the plausible cause behind the cracking of the RDL leading to the failure of the CFPs, two methods to improve the dynamic bending reliability of the RDL have been suggested and demonstrated with experimental investigations. The experimental investigations presented in this thesis adds some essential information to the state-of-the-art concerning the static and the dynamic bending reliability of UTCs integrated in polymer foils that are not yet available in the literature and aids to establish in-depth knowledge of mechanical reliability of the components required for manufacturing future FHE systems. The strategies devised to enhance the robustness of UTCs and CFPs could serve as guidelines for fabricating reliable FHE components and systems.

No description available.

Forskningsområdet för bärbar elektronik är fortfarande relativt ungt och det finns ett stort behov av utveckling av nya material inom området. Olika typer av kompositer är mycket intressanta och de ska uppvisa såväl hög hållfasthet som goda ledande egenskaper. I detta avseende är silkes fibroin och MXene mycket intressanta utgångsmaterial eftersom silkestrådarna kan ge en struktur med god jonledningsförmåga och god flexibilitet och MXene kan bidra med hög styvhet och god elektrisk ledningsförmåga. Med detta som bakgrund beslöts att undersöka om kompositer av silkestrådar och MXene kan användas i kompositer som kan användas i bärbar elektronik. 3 olika typer av hydrogeler studerades och de innehöll silkes fibroin med 0, 1 och 5% MXene. De egenskaper som utvärderades var struktur, mekaniska egenskaper, stabilitet i vatten, bionedbrytbarhet och både statisk och dynamisk ledningsförmåga. Resultaten visar att de tillverkade nanokompositerna har lovande förutsättningar inom området eftersom en kombination av silkes fibroin med 5 % MXene har god stabilitet, konduktivitet och en hög och stabil Gauge-faktor. / As the research area of wearable electronics is still relatively new, material science with this focus opens plenty of unexplored fields. That is why a study characterizing the unexplored composite system of silk fibroin and MXene (Silk/MXene) was conducted. These two biocompatible materials are complementary with regard to the requirements for wearable electronics materials. Silk fibroin dispose an ionic conductivity and solid flexibility, while MXene brings mechanical strength and significant increase of electrical conductivity. The reinforced hydrogel materials were studied at two concentrations of fillers, 1% and 5% and compared to pristine silk fibroin. All three materials were studied from the point of view of their structure, mechanical properties, behaviour in aqueous environment, biodegradability and electrical conductivity, both static and dynamic. Nanocomposite systems of silk fibroin and MXene have shown a potential for being used in the intended application area, as Silk/MXene 5% film displays good stability, conductivity with high andstable Gauge factor.

No description available.

As prominent components of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) front-end, sensors capable of intelligently collecting sensing information from the surrounding environment with increasingly lower prices are required. Planar microwave chipless sensors could be a valid solution and will be the focus of this PhD research proposal. With a completely passive solution, that in its basic configuration is composed by only microstrip resonant structures and sensitive materials, this frequency-domain sensing technology results particularly adapt for the integration in smart devices. The objectives of the PhD activity will be to contribute with a further investigation of sensitive materials in the context of environmental monitoring and to test their reliability as sensitive components in controlled wired condition. The purpose is, then, to move from a wired controlled measurement to a wireless reading acquisition of the microwave sensing node response. Finally, the sensor potentialities will be further enriched by adopting fabrication techniques typical of the flexible electronics field. An inkjet printing strategy is investigated for the purpose trying to ensure good detection properties as in the case of standard fabricated tags.