The first kind is that the piezoelectric nanowire was put on a flexible substrate with two ends fixed by the electrodes.

However, many companies are also looking at lighter and more flexible substrates such as polyimide or metal foils.

A web is a flexible substrate.

This approach also enabled Nanomix to make the first transistor on a flexible and transparent substrate.

Both flexible substrate itself as well as the process of bending the device introduce stress into the materials.

Dr. Tour has developed oxide based electronic memories that can also be transparent and built onto flexible substrates.

A startup company demonstrates a cheap and efficient method of printing complex electronics onto flexible substrates.

To realize these attributes, a growing trend is to fabricate macroelectronic products directly on flexible substrates, such as polymers.

In this application a photovoltaic material may be applied to a flexible substrate, often a polymer.

"You'd use a kind of 'ink,' stamped on using a roll technology with a flexible substrate," Talapin said.