Electronics With A Twist
Electronics come in all shapes and sizes—but there’s been a limit on their flexibility. Now, researchers say they’ve created electronics that can be shaped in virtually any way, including bent, stretched and even tightly coiled. They published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Silicon is the principal ingredient in electronics, and it’s inflexible and brittle. To overcome this constraint, the researchers first developed one-dimensional, single-crystal silicon electronics, which they reported in 2005. The crystals could be stretched without losing their properties.
Then last summer they demonstrated that they could build tiny circuits that were connected by tiny metal bridges. The final product could be bent and placed over a curved surface. Most recently, the researchers modified the bridges into an S shape. The additional step takes the flexibility further—the electronics can now be twisted into curves as well. One use could be a sensor on a human body. But the scientists see applications beyond the biological—they’re trying to develop flexible solar cells. Flat cells need to move to follow the sun. But a flexible cell could always receive direct rays without constant repositioning.
可摺疊的電子產品
電子產品的形狀和大小多種多樣---但是它們的一個弱點就是不具有可塑性。現在，研究人員們稱他們已經開發出了新的電子產品，這些電子產品可以被任意加工，比如可以彎曲、伸展甚至緊緊地纏繞起來。研究人員在美國科學院院刊上《Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences》發表了他們的研究結果。
硅是電子產品的主要組成部分，但是它不具有可塑性而且易碎。爲了克服這個限制，研究人員們首先開發了一維單晶硅電子產品。這項研究在2005年被報道。這些晶體可以被伸展，同時又不失去特們的性質。
今年夏天研究人員展示的結果表明：他們能構建非常小的由細微的金屬橋連接而成的電路。最終的產品可以彎曲並置放在曲面上。最近，這些研究人員把金屬連接橋改進成S形狀。這進一步提高了可塑性---這些電子產品現在同樣可以被扭曲成曲線。這些電子產品的一個用途可能是做爲人體傳感器。但是，科學家們認爲它們的應用不僅僅侷限於生物領域----他們正試圖研發可摺疊太陽能電池板。使用平板太陽能電池的`時候需要隨着太陽的移動來移動電池板，但是可摺疊太陽能電池板就能一直接受太陽的直射，從而無需調整太陽能電池板的位置了。
Vocabulary:
Twist: 扭曲
Flexibility: 可塑性;柔韌性
Virtually: 實際上
Coil: 繞成線圈
Silicon: 硅
Ingredient: 組成部分
Brittle: 易碎的
Constraint: 侷限;限制
Demonstrate: 展示
Tiny: 微小的
Circuit: 電路
Sensor: 傳感器
Reposition: 重新定位
