PlasticArm is a 32-bit bendable processor

But most of the options aren't mature technologies with respect to their use in the fabrication of logic gates, so working with them involves two layers of experimentation—both with the materials themselves and with their flexibility.Amorphous silicon is a somewhat familiar option. That said, many of the potential uses for flexible electronics don't require much in the way of performance.In keeping with the idea of minimal performance requirements, the team at Arm worked with PragmatIC Semiconductor to implement a version of Arm's Cortex M0+ processor termed "PlasticArm." The M0+ is a 32-bit processor that can execute a simplified subset of the Arm "thumb" instructions; it's optimized for small sizes and low power use, and it is generally used as an embedded processor.Even by the standards of a very simplified processor, PlasticArm had some distinct features that set it apart. Right now, the ROM can't be updated (it's read-only), but the team hopes to change that in the next iteration.All the key pieces—the processor, the RAM, the ROM, and the interconnects—were made using amorphous silicon and fabricated on a flexible polymer.