Water Soluble Electronics

Abstract

John Rogers - Lee J. Flory Founder Chair in Engineering Innovation, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, Director, F. Seitz Materials Research Laboratory.

A characteristic feature of modern silicon integrated circuit technology is its ability to operate in a stable, reliable fashion, almost indefinitely for practical purposes. Recent work demonstrates that carefully selected sets of materials and device designs enable a class of silicon electronics that has the opposite behavior -- it physically disappears in water or biofluids, in a controlled manner, at programmed times, and in an environmentally benign way. This talk summarizes recent work on this type of 'transient' electronics technology, ranging from basic studies of dissolution of the key materials, to development of components and systems with radio frequency operation, to invention of schemes for externally 'triggering' transient behavior.