Wearable Organic Electronics and Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E:Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 3338

Special Issue Editor

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnam-daero, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si 13120, Republic of Korea
Interests: wearable electronics; biomedical application; OLED; organic electronics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wearable organic electronic technologies include free-form electronics, skin electronics, flexible electronics, stretchable electronics, fabric-based electronics, and transparent electronics, among others.

By utilizing these various wearable organic electronics, their application can be extended to attachable/implantable applications, such as wearable health care monitoring sensors, wearable electroceuticals and optogenetics, which could not be achieved with conventional inorganic electronics.

In order to realize these wearable organic electronics, research that converges various fields, such as electronics, engineering, chemistry, physics, and materials science, is required. 

To address these challenges, this Special Issue encourages the submission of high-quality papers that offer significant scientific and technical contributions related to key topics in wearable organic electronics, such as the following:

  • Wearable organic/inorganic electronics
  • 2D and organic materials for flexible and stretchable electronics
  • Flexible and wearable sensor (Touch Sensor, PPG, EEG Sensor, Pulse Oximeter, etc.)
  • Attachable/implantable devices (Optogenetics, etc.)
  • Transparent and flexible & stretchable optoelectronic devices (OLED, QLED, etc.)
  • Element technology for flexible, stretchable and transparent devices (electrodes, encapsulation, etc.)

Dr. Yongmin Jeon
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • 2D Materials
  • organic/inorganic electronics
  • implantable/attachable/wearable devices
  • flexible/stretchable/transparent electronics
  • wearable sensors
  • optogenetics
  • wearable electroceuticals
  • OLED/QLED/OPD/PSC
  • electrode/encapsulation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 5555 KiB  
Article
355 nm Nanosecond Ultraviolet Pulsed Laser Annealing Effects on Amorphous In-Ga-ZnO Thin Film Transistors
by Sang Yeon Park, Younggon Choi, Yong Hyeok Seo, Hojun Kim, Dong Hyun Lee, Phuoc Loc Truong, Yongmin Jeon, Hocheon Yoo, Sang Jik Kwon, Daeho Lee and Eou-Sik Cho
Micromachines 2024, 15(1), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15010103 - 05 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 880
Abstract
Bottom-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) with n-type amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) active channels and indium-tin oxide (ITO) source/drain electrodes were fabricated. Then, an ultraviolet (UV) nanosecond pulsed laser with a wavelength of 355 nm was scanned to locally anneal the active channel at various [...] Read more.
Bottom-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) with n-type amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) active channels and indium-tin oxide (ITO) source/drain electrodes were fabricated. Then, an ultraviolet (UV) nanosecond pulsed laser with a wavelength of 355 nm was scanned to locally anneal the active channel at various laser powers. After laser annealing, negative shifts in the threshold voltages and enhanced on-currents were observed at laser powers ranging from 54 to 120 mW. The energy band gap and work function of a-IGZO extracted from the transmittance and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurement data confirm that different energy band structures for the ITO electrode/a-IGZO channel were established depending on the laser annealing conditions. Based on these observations, the electron injection mechanism from ITO electrodes to a-IGZO channels was analyzed. The results show that the selective laser annealing process can improve the electrical performance of the a-IGZO TFTs without any thermal damage to the substrate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wearable Organic Electronics and Applications)
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12 pages, 3157 KiB  
Article
Fabrication and Characterization of a Flexible Thin-Film-Based Array of Microelectrodes for Corneal Electrical Stimulation
by Natiely Hernández-Sebastián, Víctor Manuel Carpio-Verdín, Fabián Ambriz-Vargas, Francisco Morales-Morales, Alfredo Benítez-Lara, Mario Humberto Buenrostro-Jáuregui, Erik Bojorges-Valdez and Bernardino Barrientos-García
Micromachines 2023, 14(11), 1999; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14111999 - 27 Oct 2023
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Abstract
The electric stimulation (ES) of the cornea is a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of degenerative visual diseases. Currently, ES is delivered by placing a mono-element electrode on the surface of the cornea that uniformly stimulates the eye along the electrode site. [...] Read more.
The electric stimulation (ES) of the cornea is a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of degenerative visual diseases. Currently, ES is delivered by placing a mono-element electrode on the surface of the cornea that uniformly stimulates the eye along the electrode site. It has been reported that a certain degree of correlation exists between the location of the stimulated retinal area and the position of the electrode. Therefore, in this study, we present the development of a sectioned surface electrode for selective electric stimulation of the human cornea. The proposed device consists of 16 independent microelectrodes, a reference electrode, and 18 contact pads. The microelectrodes have a size of 200 µm × 200 µm, are arranged in a 4 × 4 matrix, and cover a total stimulation area of 16 mm2. The proposed fabrication process, based on surface micromachining technology and flexible electronics, uses only three materials: polyimide, aluminum, and titanium, which allow us to obtain a simplified, ergonomic, and reproducible fabrication process. The fabricated prototype was validated to laboratory level by electrical and electrochemical tests, showing a relatively high electrical conductivity and average impedance from 712 kΩ to 1.4 MΩ at the clinically relevant frequency range (from 11 Hz to 30 Hz). Additionally, the biocompatibility of the electrode prototype was demonstrated by performing in vivo tests and by analyzing the polyimide films using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The resulting electrode prototype is robust, mechanically flexible, and biocompatible, with a high potential to be used for selective ES of the cornea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wearable Organic Electronics and Applications)
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Review

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26 pages, 6016 KiB  
Review
Structural and Material-Based Approaches for the Fabrication of Stretchable Light-Emitting Diodes
by Hamin Park and Dong Chan Kim
Micromachines 2024, 15(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15010066 - 28 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1007
Abstract
Stretchable displays, capable of freely transforming their shapes, have received significant attention as alternatives to conventional rigid displays, and they are anticipated to provide new opportunities in various human-friendly electronics applications. As a core component of stretchable displays, high-performance stretchable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) [...] Read more.
Stretchable displays, capable of freely transforming their shapes, have received significant attention as alternatives to conventional rigid displays, and they are anticipated to provide new opportunities in various human-friendly electronics applications. As a core component of stretchable displays, high-performance stretchable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have recently emerged. The approaches to fabricate stretchable LEDs are broadly categorized into two groups, namely “structural” and “material-based” approaches, based on the mechanisms to tolerate strain. While structural approaches rely on specially designed geometries to dissipate applied strain, material-based approaches mainly focus on replacing conventional rigid components of LEDs to soft and stretchable materials. Here, we review the latest studies on the fabrication of stretchable LEDs, which is accomplished through these distinctive strategies. First, we introduce representative device designs for efficient strain distribution, encompassing island-bridge structures, wavy buckling, and kirigami-/origami-based structures. For the material-based approaches, we discuss the latest studies for intrinsically stretchable (is-) electronic/optoelectronic materials, including the formation of conductive nanocomposite and polymeric blending with various additives. The review also provides examples of is-LEDs, focusing on their luminous performance and stretchability. We conclude this review with a brief outlook on future technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wearable Organic Electronics and Applications)
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