Fabrication of Stretchable Interconnects Embedded in Biocompatible Elastomers

All commercial components of electronic/optoelectronic technologies use rigid substrates. High degree of conformability and fitting on curvilinear surfaces is highly favorable in devices having interaction with human body. The recent advanced of electronics in biomedical applications has led to the emergence of the need for stretchable electronics, which significantly increases the patient's comfort. The emergence of conformable electronic devices creates new opportunities in various fields including the biosensors and point of care testing (POCT) devices. Fabrication of stretchable conducting interconnects is of paramount importance for the feasibility of flexible and stretchable electronics. Metal interconnects embedded in elastomer (e.g., polydimethylsiloxane) is one of the major approaches in the state-of-the-art literature. In this paper, we have developed a relatively simple straightforward process for the fabrication of
$\mathrm{250}\mu\mathbf{m}$
wide stretchable copper tracks. Our fabrication process is based on commercially available double-sided flex (Cu-PI-Cu) substrates. In addition to fabricating reliable stretchable interconnects, this fabrication process provides some level of biocompatibility as well. This is due to the reason that everything is embedded in PDMS polymer for which the biocompatible grades are available.