Flexible Zinc–Tin Oxide Thin Film Transistors Operating at 1 kV for Integrated Switching of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators Arrays |
| |
Authors: | Alexis Marette Alexandre Poulin Nadine Besse Samuel Rosset Danick Briand Herbert Shea |
| |
Affiliation: | Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchatel, Switzerland |
| |
Abstract: | Flexible high‐voltage thin‐film transistors (HVTFTs) operating at more than 1 kV are integrated with compliant dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) to create a flexible array of 16 independent actuators. To allow for high‐voltage operation, the HVTFT implements a zinc–tin oxide channel, a thick dielectric stack, and an offset gate. At a source–drain bias of 1 kV, the HVTFT has a 20 µA on‐current at a gate voltage bias of 30 V. Their electrical characteristics enable the switching of DEAs which require drive voltages of over 1 kV, making control of an array simpler in comparison to the use of external high‐voltage switching. These HVTFTs are integrated in a flexible haptic display consisting of a 4 × 4 matrix of DEAs and HVTFTs. Using a single 1.4 kV supply, each DEA is independently switched by its associated HVTFT, requiring only a 30 V gate voltage for full DEA deflection. The 4 × 4 display operates well even when bent to a 5 mm radius of curvature. By enabling DEA switching at low voltages, flexible metal‐oxide HVTFTs enable complex flexible systems with dozens to hundreds of independent DEAs for applications in haptics, Braille displays, and soft robotics. |
| |
Keywords: | amorphous metal oxides dielectric elastomer actuators flexible electronics haptic displays thin film transistors |
|
|