Biocompatible Materials for Transient Electronics

Transient electronics can be broadly defined as a new class of technology whose defining characteristic is the ability to physically disappear, in whole or in part, at some programmed rate or triggered time, via any of a range of different possible mechanisms including hydrolysis, dissolution, corrosion, de‐polymerization, or disintegration. This chapter describes, silicon nanomembranes combined with other water‐soluble semiconductors, conductors, insulators, and substrates can enable diverse types of electronic systems whose key defining characteristic is an ability to dissolve via hydrolysis in natural water, biofluids, and other solutions at well‐defined, controlled rates after a designated period of high‐performance operation. Although the dissolution of monocrystalline silicon can be described, almost exclusively, by surface reactions, diffusion can be important for dissolution of metals for conductors, and of insulators for gate and interlayer dielectrics. Biocompatibility and biodegradation mechanisms for transient electronic materials are critically important for envisioned applications in implantable biomedical systems.