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SUMMARY:Electronic skins : Taking electronic circuits out of the 2D plane
DTSTART:20100618T090000
DTSTAMP:20260415T072300Z
UID:7c78666b5bea366100df4b865055bcfb80913553346b2e41a21cee2e
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Stéphanie P. Lacour (Nanoscience Centre\, University of Ca
 mbridge)\nElectronic skin is a new frontier at which the ubiquity of elect
 ronics meets with the reality of the body.  The body may be a robot\, a t
 ent or a biological organ.  Such artificial skin is designed as a matrix 
 of dense and localized electronic devices\, made of conventional device ma
 terials and elastomeric substrates\, and can conform to uneven macroscopic
  structures and dynamically move along extremely soft surfaces.  Nature h
 as already perfected the concept.  Our skin\, a >1m2 surface area organ\,
  is soft and elastic\, and embed a complex\, multifunctional sensor networ
 k and its (non decisional) microprocessor relaying sensory information to 
 the central nervous system.  My research explores how to prepare a man-ma
 de version of the human skin.  I focus on the materials and related techn
 ologies enabling the fabrication of stretchable\, sensory and biocompatibl
 e electronic surfaces.\n\nMaking soft electronic skins presents considerab
 le scientific and technological challenges: Can substrates that are inhere
 ntly extensible support reliable fabrication of conductor and semiconducto
 r devices? Can device materials withstand mechanical deformations without 
 compromising their electrical properties? and Can electronic skins be trul
 y biocompatible\, i.e. provide long-term\, reliable electronic interfaces 
 with tissues in vivo? \n\nI will illustrate those challenges and potentia
 l routes to overcome them using examples from my research on transistors\,
  touch sensors and neural electrodes.  First I will focus on stretchable 
 metallization\, i.e. thin gold films on silicone elastomer\, which are rob
 ust to uni-axial or radial mechanical loading (to strains of tens of perce
 nt and over hundred thousands of cycles).  These ultra-compliant films ca
 n be implemented in conformable touch and pressure sensor arrays\, stretch
 able interconnects and electrodes for elastic thin-film transistor circuit
 s\, and soft micro-electrode arrays for in vitro monitoring of brain slice
  response to mechanical trauma or in vivo recording from regenerating nerv
 es.
LOCATION:CO 017 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==CO%20017
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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