Team develops incredibly thin and flexible e-skin display

The next level in wearable technology may be here sooner than you think, as researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed a new and improved ultrathin organic material that can attach to your skin.

Researchers around the world have been working tirelessly to create electronic devices that can measure, enhance, or restore bodily function. And thanks to items like the Fitbit, a lot of this focus has been shifted to the development of new wearables. The general goal is to create wearables that are extremely thin and flexible that can be worn on the skin. However, up until now, most of these have been composed of glass or plastic that offers too little by way of flexibility.

Paving the way for new technologies

Thanks to the University of Tokyo team, however, there is now an exciting new option for wearable technology: They have developed high-quality protective film less than two micrometers (0.00007874 inches) thick, which now allows for the creation of devices that are ultrathin, ultraflexible, and high-performance.

According to the paper in Science Advances, the protective film they developed consists of layers of inorganic (Silicon Oxynitrite) and organic (Parylene) material, which together have overcome a major hurdle of previously-developed wearables—device life. In similar prior devices, they worked perhaps a few hours before exposure to oxygen and water vapor destroyed them. The new layer, however, blocks these molecules, extending the lifetime of the device to a few days.

Further, the team was able to use this film and ITO electrodes to create fully-working devices: Polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs)—or, in simple terms, an LED partially made of polymers—and organic photodetectors (OPDs)—sensors that detect light and other forms of energy.

When placed on human skin, these devices were able to distort and crumple as the body did, thanks in part to their thinness—the PLEDs were only three micrometers (0.00012 inches) thick. Even better, the PLEDs were more than six times more efficient than other previously reported ultrathin PLEDs—which reduced the heat generated and the power consumed by the device. This, in turn, makes the device even more suitable for attachment to the body for medical applications, like pulse rate measurements.

The PLEDs were also combined with a photodetector, which together measured and displayed blood oxygen levels, as an example of what this technology made be used for in the future.

“The advent of mobile phones has changed the way we communicate. While these communication tools are getting smaller and smaller, they are still discrete devices that we have to carry with us,” said Professor Takao Someya, of the Graduate School of Engineering, in a statement.

“What would the world be like if we had displays that could adhere to our bodies and even show our emotions or level of stress or unease? In addition to not having to carry a device with us at all times, they might enhance the way we interact with those around us or add a whole new dimension to how we communicate.”

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Image credit: Someya Laboratory

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