Flexible high-voltage thin-film transistors (HVTFTs) operating at more than 1 kV are integrated with compliant dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) to create a flexible array of 16 independent actuators. To allow for high-voltage operation, the HVTFT implements a zinc-tin oxide channel, a thick dielectric stack, and an offset gate. At a source-drain bias of 1 kV, the HVTFT has a 20 µA on-current at a gate voltage bias of 30 V. Their electrical characteristics enable the switching of DEAs which require drive voltages of over 1 kV, making control of an array simpler in comparison to the use of external high-voltage switching. These HVTFTs are integrated in a flexible haptic display consisting of a 4 × 4 matrix of DEAs and HVTFTs. Using a single 1.4 kV supply, each DEA is independently switched by its associated HVTFT, requiring only a 30 V gate voltage for full DEA deflection. The 4 × 4 display operates well even when bent to a 5 mm radius of curvature. By enabling DEA switching at low voltages, flexible metal-oxide HVTFTs enable complex flexible systems with dozens to hundreds of independent DEAs for applications in haptics, Braille displays, and soft robotics.
Studies of the real-time dynamics of embryonic development require a gentle embryo
handling method, the possibility of long-term live imaging during the complete
embryogenesis, as well as of parallelization providing a population’s
statistics, while keeping single embryo resolution. We describe an automated
approach that fully accomplishes these requirements for embryos of Caenorhabditis
elegans, one of the most employed model organisms in biomedical research. We
developed a microfluidic platform which makes use of pure passive hydrodynamics to
run on-chip worm cultures, from which we obtain synchronized embryo populations, and
to immobilize these embryos in incubator microarrays for long-term high-resolution
optical imaging. We successfully employ our platform to investigate morphogenesis
and mitochondrial biogenesis during the full embryonic development and elucidate the
role of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) within
C. elegans embryogenesis. Our method can be generally used for protein
expression and developmental studies at the embryonic level, but can also provide
clues to understand the aging process and age-related diseases in particular.
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