The US-based Flextech Alliance has showcased practical printed and flexible electronics processes and devices, in partnership with industry developers.
The Extreme Electronics TechXPOT session at Semicon West 2011 on 14 July demonstrated how the plastic electronics industry is moving from R&D into volume manufacturing for practical applications.
Developments included a new series of copper-oxide reduction inks for inkjet and screen printing. According to NovaCentrix report sheets these offer resistances as low as 60mΩ/sq on paper substrates, with ink costing less than $100 (€71) a kilogram in volume. NovaCentrix has developed a system using high-intensity flash lamps to heat the functional films but not the substrates, potentially allowing solution-based processes for photovoltaics and displays.
Nanoinks
Xenon demonstrated a different approach that uses pulsed flash lamp technology for low-temperature sintering of nanoparticle inks in roll-to-roll (R2R) processes.
Xenon flash lamps are able to deliver very high peak energies over a very short duration of a few milliseconds, allowing faster and more effective sintering in high-speed R2R processing compared to low-temperature bake ovens.
Applications-wise Thin Film Electronics presented on its printed non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) - which, when combined with printed transistor elements, serves as the basis of cheap, disposable and mass producible electronic devices.
In other commercial developments, a new method for fabricating printed semiconductors, developed by Nth Degree Technologies, allows a standard high-speed printing press to print conductive ink on to paper, plastic or other substrate materials.
Solarmer Energy explained how the firm's R&D work into organic solar cells is approaching the under 50 cents per watt cost needed to outperform traditional power production on a financial basis.
The next issue of +Plastic Electronics magazine is a displays special, with a series of articles on the latest technologies and emerging markets for printed and organic displays.
To sign up for your copy immediately, click the link below, contact publications@pira-international.com or visit our subscriptions page.
Documents and links
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Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine, published six times a year, for just £100/€110/$160. Find out more here
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Flextech Alliance
The Flextech Alliance represents the flexible and printed electronics industries
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Semicon West 2011
The Semicon West event takes place on 12-14 July 2011 in San Francisco, California, the US
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EU project to deliver conductive inks for printed electronics
A project funded under the European Seventh Framework Programme will develop the low-cost conductive inks needed to produce high-volume printed electronic devices
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