Strain on the upper surface of a perpendicularly peeled soft film.

Abstract

Soft films serve as the primary support materials for flexible devices. These films are frequently peeled perpendicularly during device preparation and application, resulting in large compression on the upper surface of the bending region and significant damage to the device's performance. Accurately assessing this damage is challenging because of the difficulties in calculating the compression in perpendicularly peeled large-deformation films. In this study, we propose a method to calculate the compressive strain on the upper surface of a bending soft film using only its thickness as the key parameter. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the length of the compressive region is directly proportional to the soft film thickness, whereas the maximum strain is inversely proportional to the thickness. These results provide theoretical guidance for applying soft films in flexible devices.