Mechanics of hemispherical electronics

Abstract

A simple analytical model is established for the development of hemisphere electronics, which has many important applications in electronic-eye cameras and related curvilinear systems. The photodetector arrays, made in planar mesh layouts with conventional techniques, are deformed and transferred onto a hemisphere. The model gives accurately the positions of photodetectors on the hemisphere, and has been validated by experiments and finite element analysis. The results also indicate very small residual strains in the photodetectors. The model provides a tool to define a pattern of photodetectors in the planar, as-fabricated layout to yield any desired spatial configuration on the hemisphere.