Cross-buckled structures for stretchable and compressible thin film silicon solar cells

Abstract

Increasing interests in stretchable electronic devices have resulted in vigorous research activities, most of which are focused on structural configurations. Diverse structural configurations are available for stretchability, including stiff-island, serpentine, and buckled structures. With easily deformable shapes and simple fabrication processes, buckled structures have the potential to realize stretchability. However, conventional buckled structures exhibit stretchability only in a single-axis direction. In the present study, a new type of cross-buckled structure, which can overcome the limitations of conventional buckled structures is developed. The stretchable thin film solar cells with the cross-buckled structure showed stable mechanical and electrical characteristics under both stretching and compressing conditions. The cross-buckled structure for stretchable electronic devices is expected to broaden the fields of wearable electronics, stretchable displays, and biocompatible applications.