| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 10, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 10, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1721719 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Benaiah Schrag
bschrag@nsf.gov (703)292-8323 TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $225,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $225,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
840 F AVE PLANO TX US 75074-6864 (917)755-4905 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
17217 Waterview Parkway, Suite 1 Dallas TX US 75252-8004 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | SBIR Phase I |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will assess the commercial viability of a new substrate material specifically designed for reducing the manufacturing complexity of stretchable electronics. Currently a $1.6 million market, stretchable electronics are expected to grow at a cumulative annual growth rate of 101.3% to reach $412 million in sales by 2023 due to the surge in wearable technologies, structural health monitoring devices, and medical diagnostic tools. In part, the current market size for stretchable electronics is limited by the immature manufacturing tools and techniques required, such as transfer- and nano-printing. The research and development funded by the Phase I SBIR could lead to a drastic reduction in manufacturing complexity, allowing stretchable electronic devices to be manufactured using current industry standard photolithographic techniques.
The intellectual merit of this project lies in the ability to create electronic substrate materials with intrinsic stiffness differences (those without laminated layers, patterned fillers, etc.) that are defined using standard lithography techniques. Specifically, these substrates can be spatially segregated into regions of low Young's modulus (the soft matrix) and regions of high Young's modulus (the stiff islands) with a difference in modulus between these two regions reaching ratios of 1000:1 (stiff:soft). In the initial work, demonstrations of these spatially-heterogeneous modulus substrates show that spatial resolution can be achieved at the millimeter scale, and can introduce localized strain across the substrate as a function of the patterned stiff regions. The objectives for this project are focused on (a) engineering an optimal starting substrate material with the desired properties for the soft region and (b) demonstrating microfabrication of micropatterned thin-film components (feature sizes < 20 microns) of stiff regions introduced into the material. This Phase I grant will culminate in prototype thin-film electronic components which maintain electrical performance at high global strains, while also showing the capacity of the substrate materials to withstand the harsh thermal and chemical conditions observed during microfabrication.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Ares Materials specializes in the development and application of polysulfide thermosetting materials for flexible and stretchable electronics. The goal of this SBIR Phase I grant was to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of a new manufacturing method for enabling stretchable electronics. Specifically, a method to cheaply and quickly create multi-modulus substrates was studied to combine highly strain-sensitive inorganic electronic components with the stretchability of elastomeric substrates.
Traditional stretchable electronic manufacturing technologies rely on the complex, slow and costly stacking of carefully aligned existing materials. To combat this, throughout the course of this award novel substrate chemistries were formulated and patterned using the Ares developed one-step, multi-modulus substrate definition process. These patterned materials were then shown to survive the harsh chemical and thermal conditions of inorganic electronic component fabrication. Materials with up to 750x modulus contrast between soft and stiff regions were shown as patternable substrates materials with high strains-to-failure soft regions and tough, high-strength stiff regions. Additionally, stretchable circuits that take advantage of the low-cost and simplicity of manufacturing were shown through scalable methods such as screen-printing combined with pick-and-place, traditional semiconductor photolithography and mixtures of the two.
Commercially, a portfolio of new research-grade materials was developed as substrate materials which promise a lower manufacturing cost for stretchable devices that could make up an estimated $412 million stretchable electronics market in 2023. We are currently using this technology to validate multiple stretchable devices both internally, as well as with academic and industrial partners. Concept prototypes currently show promise primarily as substrates for wearable applications in healthcare and consumer electronics.
Last Modified: 07/02/2018
Modified by: Radu Reit
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