A TEAM of Chinese researchers has become the first in the world to develop a “fiber chip,” packing high-density integrated circuits into a fiber thinner than a human hair, according to findings published in the journal Nature. The advance represents a radical departure from conventional silicon chips.

The fiber chip, developed by a Fudan University team led by Peng Huisheng and Chen Peining, contains about 100,000 transistors per centimeter of fiber. Its information-processing capability rivals that of many conventional commercial chips while offering unique advantages such as extreme flexibility, including the ability to stretch, bend, twist and be woven. The technology could support future industries such as brain-computer interfaces, electronic textiles and virtual reality.

The researchers, from Fudan University’s State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and the Laboratory of Advanced Materials under the Institute of Fiber Materials and Devices’ Department of Macromolecular Science, were the first to propose the concept of “fiber devices” and have developed more than 30 types to date.

“Wearable technology will be a key field in the future, and fibers are an ideal platform for it,” Chen said. Because fiber chips do not require an external processor, they can be woven directly into soft, breathable electronic fabrics, opening broad commercial possibilities. Clothing, for example, could one day double as a smart display.

“Fully flexible, fiber-based smart gloves might give doctors a much more sensitive sense of touch during remote surgical procedures,” said Wang Zhen, a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Advanced Materials. Looking ahead, once brain-computer interfaces are implanted, no external equipment would be needed to collect, process or analyze data.

The breakthrough has also drawn interest from medical-device developers. “Fiber chips could eventually rewrite the rules for implantable medical devices. Integrating circuits and signal transmission onto a single fiber will dramatically shrink device size, making the technology tailor-made for implants inside the human body,” said Zhu Rui, founder and CEO of Shenzhen-based Vivolight.

(SD-Agencies)