Biodegradable electronics

 

Long-lasting, reliable operation is a hallmark of traditional integrated circuit technologies.  Recent work suggests that electronics whose distinguishing characteristic is an ability to completely or partially disappear in a well-defined manner after a prescribed functional lifetime can yield unique and alternative types of devices. Attractive applications for this kind of biodegradable electronics range from biomedical implants that resorb, thereby obviating the need for surgical retrieval, to environmental sensors that dissolve, thereby eliminating solid electronic waste. Combining a wide range of biodegradable electronic materials, including semiconducting materials, interconnect metals, interlayer and gate dielectrics, and polymer substrates, diverse classes of bioresorbable devices can be achieved to provide novel solutions for biomedicine.