Developing an effective roll-to-roll process would provide cost-effective barrier solutions for many packaging applications - including production of fibre-based materials, polymer films and flexible packaging - as well as encapsulation processes for flexible electronic devices.
David Cameron, who manages Astral, says: 'Our immediate work is on moisture diffusion barriers for packaging applications, but we also have plans for work in diffusion barriers in OLEDs and also PVs, among others.'
Barrier
Working with Finnish partner Beneq, Astral has carried out breakthrough work into developing a roll-to-roll ALD process. Commercial ALD tools are designed for batch processing on stationary substrates. Roll-to-roll would exploit ALD technology's ability to produce nanoscale layers in a controlled manner to produce exceptionally dense, pinhole-free and completely conformable barrier coatings and films but on a high-volume process making it cost-effective.
Beneq recently announced that Astral is the first customer for its roll-to-roll ALD Web Coating System 500. The system will be ready for trial in early 2012, and builds on earlier collaboration between Beneq and Astral, where the lab produced moisture barriers on various paper and polymerised paper substrates with Beneq's TFS 200R equipment.
The roll-to-roll ALD barrier project, led by LUT, includes Tampere University of Technology (Paper Converting and Packaging Technology) and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The project financiers are Teke, Stora Enso, UPM Raflatac and Innovia Films in the UK.
The next issue of +Plastic Electronics magazine is a nanotechnology special, with a series of articles on the latest technologies and emerging markets for printed nanoelectronics.
To sign up for your copy immediately, click the link below, contact publications@pira-international.com or visit our subscriptions page.
Documents and links
-
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine, published six times a year, for just £100/€110/$160. Find out more here
External Link
-
Advanced Surface Technology Research Laboratory
The Finnish laboratory is developing a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition process for plastic electronics
External Link
-
New breakthrough achieves air-stable OFET material
The plastic electronics industry could benefit from an advance in organic field-effect transistor (OFET) technology
External Link
-
Widening horizons for OLED televisions
The OLED television market is touted as one of the most lucrative for the organic and plastic electronics industry. Brilliant, vibrant and extremely thin displays that can be produced at a fraction of the cost of LCDs have been a source of much of the coverage of organic electronics
External Link