This paper reports the characteristics of a-IGZO TFTs and circuits fabricated on conformable aluminum substrates. TFTs with field-effect mobility of up to 15.3 cm(2)/V s, average threshold voltage of 5.2 V, and off current less than 10(-12) were demonstrated at zero strain; applying mechanical tensile strain up to 1.25% through bending was found to have a beneficial result to the device characteristics as mobility increased and threshold voltage decreased. These results highlight the potential of aluminum substrates for the use in future display and other large area electronics applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.