Fibers are the building blocks of a broad spectrum of products from textiles to composites, and waveguides to wound dressings. While ubiquitous, the capabilities of fibers have not rapidly increased compared to semiconductor chip technology, for example. Recognizing that fibers lack the composition, geometry, and feature sizes for more functions, exploration of the boundaries of fiber functionality began some years ago. The approach focuses on a particular form of fiber production, thermal-drawing from a preform. This process has been used for producing single material fibers, but by combining metals, insulators, and semiconductors all within a single strand of fiber, an entire world of functionality in fibers has emerged. Fibers with optical, electrical, acoustic, or optoelectronic functionalities can be produced at scale from relatively easy-to-assemble macroscopic preforms. Two significant opportunities now present themselves. First, can one expect that fiber functions escalate in a predictable manner, creating the context for a "Moore's Law" analog in fibers? Second, as fabrics occupy an enormous surface around the body, could fabrics offer a valuable service to augment the human body? Toward answering these questions, the materials, performance, and limitations of thermally drawn fibers in different electronic applications are detailed and their potential in new fields is envisioned.

中文翻译：

---

热拉伸多材料纤维电子学的最新进展和展望。

纤维是从纺织品到复合材料，从波导到伤口敷料的广泛产品的基础。尽管无处不在，但是与例如半导体芯片技术相比，光纤的功能并未迅速提高。认识到纤维缺乏更多功能的成分，几何形状和特征尺寸，几年前就开始探索纤维功能的边界。该方法侧重于纤维生产的一种特定形式，即从预成型坯中进行热拉伸。该工艺已用于生产单一材料的纤维，但是通过将金属，绝缘体和半导体全部结合在单根纤维中，已经出现了整个纤维的功能世界。具有光，电，声，可以从相对容易组装的宏观预成型件大规模地生产出或具有光电功能。现在出现了两个重要的机会。首先，可以期望光纤功能以可预测的方式升级，从而为光纤中的“摩尔定律”类似物创造环境吗？其次，由于织物在人体周围占据着巨大的表面，织物能否为人体提供有价值的服务？为了回答这些问题，详细介绍了热拉伸纤维在不同电子应用中的材料，性能和局限性，并展望了它们在新领域中的潜力。