Ultra-thin, ultra-lightweight, and multifunctional skin for highly deformable structures

One of the challenges that space exploration encounters is creating deployable structures that are lightweight and that can survive, monitor, and mitigate the harsh and extreme environments in space. It is also evident that future space structures will require flexible and multifunctional electronics embedded onto its skin to carry out the desired multiple functions of the structures in low launch weight and volume. This paper presents an architecture and fabrication method for a multifunctional skin with integrated electronic components that can be embedded onto highly deformable structures. This multifunctional structural skin is ultra-thin and ultra-lightweight. The skin includes multiple passive and active components, including strain sensors, temperature sensors, and micro-heater. The fabrication method combines advanced micro/nano-fabrication technologies, which are well established in semiconductor industry, with novel transfer printing techniques. The fabrication method developed in this paper exploits the high-performance electronic materials and enables the flexibility of devices. Experiments have shown that the structural skin can be embedded on highly deformable structures. Initial efforts on creating lightweight origami multifunctional structures have been demonstrated as well.