Sun, Jeong-YunLu, NanshuYoon, JuilOh, Kyu-HwanSuo, ZhigangVlassak, Joost2010-06-282009Sun, Jeong-Yun, Nanshu Lu, Juil Yoon, Kyu-Hwan Oh, Zhigang Suo, and Joost J. Vlassak. 2009. Inorganic islands on a highly stretchable polyimide substrate. Journal of Materials Research 24(11): 3338-3342.0884-2914http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4263768For a flexible electronic device integrating inorganic materials on a polymer substrate, the polymer can deform substantially, but the inorganic materials usually fracture at small strains. This paper describes an approach to make such a device highly stretchable. A polyimide substrate is first coated with a thin layer of an elastomer, on top of which SiNx islands are fabricated. When the substrate is stretched to a large strain, the SiNx islands remain intact. Calculations confirm that the elastomer reduces the strain in the SiNx islands by orders of magnitude.en-USSiNx islandspolyimide substratesfracturestretchabilityJournal Article2010-06-2810.1557/JMR.2009.0417