Curved electronic pixel arrays using a cut and bend approach

Abstract

Electronics fabricated on a flat flexible substrate can readily be bent into a cylinder or cone but not into a general three-dimensional curved shape.

A solution to this problem is described, in which an electronic device is first fabricated on a flat surface and then shaped to a good approximation of any smooth curved shape, using a cut-and-bend approach, following the design principles of a geodesic dome. A small additional strain allows the surface to conform to an exact spherical cap. The array is fabricated with amorphous silicon thin film transistors and photodiodes on a plastic substrate.