Researchers from Hanyang University, Seoul National University, and Hankuk University of South Korea have taken a step toward flexible devices by producing a thin film that keeps its electric and magnetic properties when bent. Typically, flexible electronics are difficult to manufacture. Many materials with useful electronic properties tend to be rigid. Other researchers have addressed the problem by embedding small pieces of materials like silicon in flexible plastics. The researchers in South Korea have taken this same approach with bismuth ferrite, which is a multiferroic material – material whose electronic properties can be controlled by a magnetic field.The researchers synthesized nanoparticles of bismuth ferrite and mixed them into a polymer solution. The solution was dried in a series of steps at increasing temperatures to produce a thin, flexible film. The resulting material had electric and magnetic properties that remained even as the material was curved. Flexible multiferroric electronics could have applications in wearable devices for health monitoring or virtual reality or it could be used in high-density, energy-efficient memory and switches.
Source: AIP
