Printed Electronics Thin Film Writer

The patented Thin Film Printed Electronics Writer produces the highest speed printed electronics available. Printed electronics are created using organic semiconductor materials, and are thin, flexible, and inexpensive to produce. They have many uses including flexible displays such as an ebook where readers could roll it up like today’s newspapers. Other uses include RFID tags for supply chain management and printed solar cells. Current production methods for printed electronics such as ink jet do not produce circuits that are fast enough for these high performance electronics applications. This system produces more uniform thin layers with much better control of quality, supporting high performance applications. Electronic circuit speed depends on the size and alignment of semiconductor material crystals. Electrons can flow much faster along straight pathways of crystalline layers. The Thin Film Printed Electronics Writer method produces aligned organic semiconductor crystalline grain sizes that are at least 1000 times larger than those produced by other methods. The process is simple, and produces films that are much more uniform and without gaps as compared with the printed electronics produced using ink jet methods. These properties also contribute to the improved circuit speed. The Thin Film Printed Electronics Writer works on the same principle as a fountain pen where ink is drawn into and held in a nib using capillary action and then spread onto paper in a thin film. In the case of the Thin Film Printed Electronics Writer, solution containing the organic semiconductor material is held in a long narrow rectangular slot or capillary like the pen nib and then drawn across a surface (for example, a layer of polymer film) to write a controlled thickness thin film. As the liquid evaporates the semiconductor crystals continuously grow in the direction the film is spread across the surface. In addition to the issued patent, results have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Applied Physics Letters. We have developed two working prototypes of the system during the last five years and are continuing this development. The work has attracted grants from government sponsors that are supporting the ongoing development.

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