The Department of Electrical Engineering

Membranes of poly dimethyl siloxane, a silicone polymer, are used as substrates for electronic skin. These are large-area circuits that can be stretched over surfaces of arbitrary shape. Much of e-skin technology requires making thin-film devices atop poly dimethyl siloxane. This silicone is quite soft, while most device materials are hard. When hard films are put on the silicone membrane, their surface easily forms wrinkles. When the hard material is gold, it reflects the profile of the surface, which can assume beautiful structures like the one in the picture.This photograph is one fringe benefit of doing research on electronic skin.  This picture has been adopted for a Material's Research Society postcard.    Photo by Wenzhe Cao.