Thinfilm on track for addressable memory prototypes

Sara Ver Bruggen - 30 Mar 2011

Norwegian printed electronics start-up Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) will have prototypes of its addressable polymer memory ready in 2011, with transfer to production anticipated in 2012.

The company has made rapid progress towards commercialising its technology since announcing its memory circuits could be produced on high-volume, roll-to-roll production machinery two years ago.

In January Thinfilm finalised the design of a printed rewritable memory array with logic, which combines its memory technology with Parc's printed transistor technology, to produce compact higher-density printed memories that can be integrated with other printed elements, such as sensors, power sources, and antennas.

Stake

Earlier this month Parc acquired a minority stake, equal to 0.6% of the outstanding number of shares in Thinfilm, which has a market capitalisation of $90 million (€63.9 million). The cash raised will be used to fund ongoing R&D and early commercialisation activities over the next 12-18 months.

During 2010 Thinfilm repositioned itself as a product company, with the release of its Memory Controller for smaller and more cost-effective reader-writer units. The company also launched a toy development kit and a demonstrator game, Oba Solar Systems, to enable potential end-users to simply prototype interactive toys and games exploiting the technology.

Orders

Following an order for its development kits from a Japanese company in late 2010, Thinfilm has taken additional orders from brands in the global toys and gaming market.

Several of these are working on Thinfilm powered concepts, to make transactional card, fantasy character and other types of games interactive. Games exploiting the technology typically allow players to pick a character or avatar, either as a card or figurine, and with the enclosed memory customise the figure. When placed into the reader-holder, the character adapts based on the selections and data stored on these made at the previous gaming session.

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