Materials, processing, and characterization for flexible electronics

Summary form only given. Conventional methods of monolithic integration, such as photolithography and vacuum deposition, are reaching a practical limit for large-area electronics. In applications such as liquid-crystal display, the processed substrates continue to expand, with conventional fabrication of the displays becoming increasingly complex. The integration of inexpensive flexible substrates with organic and inorganic semiconductors provides an alternative method to reduce cost and complexity of large-area electronics fabrication. In addition to cost reduction, the integration of thin-film devices on plastic provides the opportunity for functionally-enhanced electronics where conformal image sensors provide enhanced resolution and potentially simplified optics.