Curved electronic pixel arrays using a cut and bend approach

• Journal of Applied Physics

Electronics fabricated on a flat flexible substrate can readily be bent into a cylinder or cone but not into a general 3-dimensional curved shape. We describe a solution to this problem, in which an electronic device is first fabricated on a flat surface and then shaped to a good approximation of any curved shape, using a cut and bend approach. Curved devices of interest include focal plane arrays (FPA), shaped displays and other devices in which shape is an important attribute to its function. Besides being a common and symmetrical curved shape, the sphere is of particular interest because of the utility of a spherical FPA modeled after the human eye. Hence, to illustrate our fabrication approach, we describe the design of a curved FPA, which is cut and bent to a geodesic dome approximation to a spherical surface.

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citation

Street, R. A.; Wong, W. S.; Lujan, R. Curved electronic pixel arrays using a cut and bend approach. Journal of Applied Physics. 2009 May 15; 105: 104504.