Isotropically stretchable gold conductors on elastomeric substrates

Abstract

Designers of stretchable circuits need to orient stretchable interconnects in any direction. Conductors of gold film deposited on radially pre-stretched elastomeric substrates meet this condition because their wrinkles are oriented randomly. The continuous nature of those conductors makes them attractive as large area electrodes in thin film electronics. The electrical resistance of such conductors changes less with applied uniaxial strain than that of microcracked gold films and of an ideal strain gauge.