CAREER: Mechanical Behavior of Flexible Electronic Films

职业：柔性电子薄膜的机械行为

• 批准号: 1554322
• 负责人: Brendan O'Connor
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-02-15 至 2022-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1554322&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Mechanical; Behavior; Flexible; Electronic

The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant is to improve the understanding of the mechanical behavior of organic (polymeric) semiconductor films. Insight into the relationships between mechanical and electrical properties will provide guidelines to achieve mechanically robust flexible electronics for applications such as wearable electronics and low cost solar energy. Organic semiconductors are particularly promising for flexible electronics due to their relatively compliant nature associated with their molecular structure. Mechanical failure in use, primarily due to repeated flexing, has hindered the commercial adoption of organic films for flexible electronic applications. This award provides support to investigate the impact of molecular structure, film microstructure, and device design on performance variation and failure modes of devices under flexure. Research will also include the role of cyclic bending and environmental factors such as moisture on mechanical stability. This research crosses multiple disciplines including mechanics of materials, materials processing, and semiconductor device physics and will provide a stimulating training environment for students. The education plan includes the development of a certificate program in manufacturing and mechanics of emerging thin film electronics to train future leaders in this emerging field. The research objectives will be addressed through the following interrelated tasks: (i) determining the effect of molecular structure and molecular packing characteristics on the mechanical behavior of conjugated polymer films, (ii) establishing the impact of multi-component polymer blend morphology on electrical and mechanical response, (iii) characterizing interfacial features in heterogeneous films, such that delamination and cohesive failure modes can be mitigated, (iv) determining the features that drive performance variation and degradation under sub-critical mechanical loading under various loading protocols and environmental conditions, and (v) developing standardized mechanical test methods for flexible electronics. A focus will be on organic thin film transistors and organic photovoltaic devices that capture unique and fundamental operating characteristics so that the research products may be extrapolated across broad device platforms. Mechanical properties of interest include film stiffness, ductility, fracture strength, and cohesive and adhesive fracture energy that will be measured using four-point bending, double cantilever beam testing, and buckling metrology methods. The intellectual merit of the proposed research is found in the development of a fundamental framework relating polymer semiconductor structure to mechanical and optoelectronic characteristics enabling mechanically robust layered organic and organic-inorganic systems.

该学院早期职业发展（CAREER）资助的目的是提高对有机（聚合物）半导体薄膜机械行为的理解。深入了解机械性能和电气性能之间的关系将为实现可穿戴电子产品和低成本太阳能等应用的机械稳健的柔性电子产品提供指导。有机半导体由于其与分子结构相关的相对顺应性，对于柔性电子产品特别有前景。使用中的机械故障（主要是由于反复弯曲）阻碍了有机薄膜在柔性电子应用中的商业应用。该奖项为研究分子结构、薄膜微观结构和器件设计对弯曲器件性能变化和失效模式的影响提供支持。研究还将包括循环弯曲和湿度等环境因素对机械稳定性的作用。这项研究跨越材料力学、材料加工和半导体器件物理等多个学科，将为学生提供一个刺激的训练环境。该教育计划包括开发新兴薄膜电子制造和机械方面的证书课程，以培训这一新兴领域的未来领导者。研究目标将通过以下相互关联的任务来实现：（i）确定分子结构和分子堆积特性对共轭聚合物薄膜机械行为的影响，（ii）确定多组分聚合物共混物形态对电气和性能的影响机械响应，(iii) 表征异质薄膜中的界面特征，从而可以减轻分层和内聚破坏模式，(iv) 确定在各种加载协议和环境条件下在亚临界机械加载下驱动性能变化和退化的特征， (v) 制定标准化柔性电子产品的机械测试方法。重点将放在捕获独特和基本操作特性的有机薄膜晶体管和有机光伏器件上，以便研究产品可以在广泛的器件平台上推广。感兴趣的机械性能包括薄膜刚度、延展性、断裂强度以及内聚和粘合断裂能，这些性能将使用四点弯曲、双悬臂梁测试和屈曲计量方法进行测量。所提出的研究的智力价值在于开发了一个将聚合物半导体结构与机械和光电特性相关联的基本框架，从而实现了机械坚固的层状有机和有机-无机系统。