Folding Circuits Just Atoms Thick Using the Principles of Origami
Origami, the well-known Japanese art of paper folding, generates complex 3-D structures from flat 2-D paper. While the creation of a paper swan may be intriguing, the idea of creating 3-D circuits based on similar design principles is simply mindboggling. This science fiction-sounding research is a project that Jiwoong Park and colleagues from the University of Chicago have been developing over the last few years.
Park’s focus on large scale synthesis and device fabrication using ultra-thin materials has led to improvements in 2-D models and the introduction of 3-D vertically integrated devices. He will present the details of their circuit construction and its potential applications at the AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition, being held Oct. 29-Nov. 3, 2017, in Tampa, Florida.
Using atomically thin materials, Park synthesizes large scale integrated circuits that can be stitched together laterally to form a 2-D module. In their most recent project, his team has vertically integrated these 2-D modules to produce 3-D stacks.
Circuits have traditionally been developed using bulky substrate platforms, like silicon, and until recently were unable to function independently. Circuits based only on atomically thin materials liberate research from these conventional limitations. Combining various ultra-thin building blocks also allows for the integration of different electric and thermal properties within the same circuit, exponentially increasing functionality.
“For our research, we first generate atomically thin paper with different color[s] representing different electrical, optical, or thermal properties. We combine them in the lateral direction, equivalent to stitching. We stack them on top of one another, which is vertical integration. By doing so we are trying to develop large scale, fully functioning integrated circuits using these atomically thin materials as 2-D building blocks or color paper,” Park said.
The use of these ultra-thin materials, as opposed to typical components and resources, allows for a smaller circuit, but surprisingly not one that is microscopically small and therefore difficult to manipulate. The 2-D ingredients are assembled in such a way that they can be viewed with a simple optical microscope or even with the naked eye and can be handled accordingly.
Potential applications of this technology are also extensive. Similar to the way folding is applicable in objects used in day-to-day life, such as umbrellas or parachutes, integrated circuits would be able to contain a large surface area in a relatively condensed volume. Functionality in this context could be applied to a diverse set of new devices using the capabilities of condensed circuitry.
“What we are interested in developing is this mechanism of taking all these surfaces and device elements and folding them into tight spaces. Upon our cue, we want them to deploy to really large functioning surfaces,” Park said.
Learn more: Folding Circuits Just Atoms Thick Using the Principles of Origami
The Latest on: 3-D origami circuits
[google_news title=”” keyword=”3-D origami circuits” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
- 3D Printing: The Latest Architecture and Newson March 17, 2024 at 5:00 pm
As an additive manufacturing method, 3D printing has been characterized by the construction of objects through the horizontal deposition of material, layer by layer. This still restricts ...
- 3-D reconstruction articles from across Nature Portfolioon March 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
3D reconstruction is the process of generating a computer model of the 3D (3-dimensional) appearance of an object from a set of two-dimensional images. It is common in computer vision and medicine ...
- These Are the Best Easter Basket Ideas for Boyson March 13, 2024 at 9:55 am
These Easter basket ideas for boys have everything from STEM kits to outlets for their artistic side. Shop these unique Easter gifts from Amazon and more.
- See 3-D models of animal anatomy from openVertebrate’s public collectionon March 6, 2024 at 12:01 am
These creatures are among more than 13,000 museum specimens that had their innards CT scanned as part of a six-year mission to create 3-D digital reconstructions. The effort, called openVertebrate ...
- One Way to Preserve Alcatraz? Capture Everything in 3-D.on February 27, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Scientists and technology experts spent three weeks in December using cameras, drones and a robot dog to gather four trillion bytes of data to build the first 3-D map of the entire island in full ...
- DNA Nanotechnology: Building Blocks of the Futureon March 26, 2023 at 12:45 pm
Gold nanoparticles, proteins, viruses, and other nanoscale species have all been organized, usually using origami. DNA nanostructures have been utilized in many applications in biology, chemistry, and ...
- 3-D Printer Safetyon September 7, 2022 at 4:23 pm
Recently, 3D printers have been increasing in both popularity and affordability. They are being used in laboratories, shops, and makerspaces across campus. The fact that there are known hazards ...
- 3-D Photogrammetry Modelson June 10, 2022 at 8:03 pm
GEOS 110: Earth & the Environment virtual mineral and rock labs. Digital specimens created using 3-D photogrammetry by Scott Wilkerson (Geosciences). Click on the link to visit the interactive story ...
- 3-D Globe highlights trouble spotson December 2, 2021 at 5:02 am
We've got an interactive 3-D globe that will let you find out what's going on in areas of political and/or military unrest around the world. First you'll need a VRML plugin and a PC with at least ...
- 3-D printingon August 18, 2020 at 2:47 pm
WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is ...
via Google News and Bing News