Printed Electronics - Answering the Big Questions

Magic or reality?

Should we contrast this with the little understood magic of quantum dots, the remarkable properties of carbon nanotubes and so on all being in the distant future? Not so, says George Gruner of Unidym. “We are confident that carbon nanotubes will have a significant impact on printed electronics in the very near future. The meeting is an excellent opportunity to explain why this is the case.” Then there is the increasing shortage of precious metals where Raghu Das of IDTechEx will explain the problem and H.C. Starck will give one solution - its increasingly popular organic replacement for indium oxide transparent electrodes.

Truly global news and new possibilities

With over 100 speakers, visits to six local state-of-the-art facilities, four optional masterclasses and an exhibition, this event provides a cornucopia of opportunities and that includes device design and manufacturing technology. For example, out of 200 organizations now developing printed transistors, only 10% or so stray from the traditional design of field effect transistor that dates back about forty years. However, although “vertical” transistors, where the controlled current moves vertically, has only become a niche market in the form of silicon chips, there is reason to believe that it has far more potential in the form of printed transistors. Higher current and frequency, smaller feature size and lower cost seem possible. For example, speaker David Margolese ORFID seems to agree with the many Japanese giants patenting new variants of Vertical Organic FETs called VOFETS. He says, “We continue to believe that printed vertical transistors have a great future and we are working toward bringing several variations of this device to printed applications.” Even state of the art electroactive substrates will be covered. Apply a voltage and they change shape.

Codeposition of power?

We must not forget power. Indeed batteries, photovoltaics, transistor circuits and displays are all going to be co-deposited before long. Professor Bernard Kippelen of Georgia Institute of Technology and its spinoff LumoFlex says, “The efficiency at which organic photovoltaics can be commercialized has been variously quoted between 5% and 10%. We feel it depends on the products offered and we shall share our work on flexible power for wireless sensor networks, a major market need.”