Team effort: Photonics and plastic electronics

Dan Rogers - 16 Mar 2011

The photonics community is becoming a relevant partner in commercial development for plastic electronics.

In February 2010 the European Commission's Photonics Unit was instructed to make organic and large-area electronics part of its agenda. It was a reorganisation that was not based on consolidating research funding or management. The combination of photonics and plastic electronics has instead aligned two overlapping, but also differing, technologies closer together in development and goals.

In the UK, a similar step was taken by the government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. In July 2010 the electronics, sensors and photonics knowledge transfer networks (KTNs) - government-managed communities that aim to aid the development of businesses through collaboration and networking opportunities - were brought together into a single group, the ESP KTN.

The KTN, run by the UK government's Technology Strategy Board, indicates the increasing unity of photonics and plastic electronics - and speakers such as photonics firm Oxford Lasers at the ESP KTN's recent Plastic Electronics Showcase (see +Plastic Electronics 3.4) indicate the opportunities to bring photonics and organic electronics together.

The overlapping technology - exploiting light in electronic devices - can be seen in organic solar cells, solid-state lighting or flexible displays, for instance, which could be correctly categorised as both photonics and organic electronics.

Differences

There are differences between the interests of the photonics and organic electronics communities too: devices like LEDs are not being made printable, until they move into the rather distinct alternative of OLED lighting, for example.

Regardless of these differences though, there is a compelling case for developers that identify with the plastic electronics field, and those from the photonics field, to understand the mutual benefits that are being found in the cooperation of these two disciplines.

Solid-state lighting is a clear example. The photonics industry is now seeing LEDs being adopted as an appealing alternative to incandescent bulbs, fluorescent tubes and other conventional lighting.

As a technology, LEDs have matured to the point of being commercially viable.

Government-funded initiatives in the US and Asia are encouraging adoption of LEDs, and raising awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of these alternative lighting technologies.

For plastic electronics developers creating OLED lighting devices, the precedent of a more mature technology like LEDs is a significant advantage. Wider acceptance of the concept of solid-state lighting prepares the market for the introduction of OLEDs. And, as LEDs cover point-source applications (lamps and other instances where light is needed in a concentrated area) and OLEDs are suited to area lighting, the combination of the two means existing lighting can be entirely replaced.

Want to read more?
This article appears in full in Volume 3, issue 4 of +Plastic Electronics magazine, looking at the convergence of photonics and organic electronics, and promising markets for both technologies.
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