Programmable e-textile composite Circuit

Due to the desirable mechanical properties (e.g. bendability) of flexible electronics and sensors, there has been an increased effort to bring them in the fields of flexible displays and smart textiles. The challenge of developing an integration principle for flexible electronic systems with multiple sensors and circuits still remains. In this paper, we show a novel integration approach that creates a composite of flexible electronics and woven textile with conductive fibers (etextile). The goal is to develop a programmable textile that can be used to configure a flexible system, e.g. turn on/off sensors or dynamically route signals. The main components of the programmable textile (SRAM cells and multiplexers) are fabricated on a 50 μm thick freestanding polyimide foil using amorphous-Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide as a semiconductor and packaged in 7 mm × 7 mm encapsulated electronic components. These components are then interconnected using two layers of e-textile that form a grid of orthogonal 280 μm thick Ag/Cu fibers with a pitch of 750 μm. A simulation is used to verify the circuit design and simulate the working principle of the programmable textile (a look-up table).