Growth in Printed Electronics  By Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, Technology Analyst, IDTechEx

At end of November, IDTechEx held the world's largest printed electronics and photovoltaics conference and tradeshow in Silicon Valley at the Santa Clara Convention Center. This show brought together more than 1300 attendees from 28 countries. Players active across the entire value chain were present; covering the full range from research organisations to end-users, and from small start-ups to multi-billion internationals.

Mr Raghu Das, CEO, IDTechEx, opened the show with his keynote speech, arguing that there lies a great untapped market opportunity in offering final integrated products. Indeed, product integrators are in the privileged position of being able to cherry pick the best materials from an ever expanding range of options. This conclusion is supported by IDTechEx statistics showing that 97% of all companies profiled are currently offering only materials and/or components, and not final products. Therefore, IDTechEx is excited to see the printed electronics world evolve towards its next step, which will witness more and more final solutions and/or products appearing on the market.

New printed electronics products
Indeed, things are already moving quickly, as testified by a range of end-user companies including Proctor and Gamble (P&G), MWV Packaging, Boeing, Decathlon SA and more. A notable example was from P&G, the world's largest consumer packaged goods company with sales of more than $80 billion, which unveiled a decorative tissue box featuring an electroluminescent (EL) display. Here the product consisted of two parts: an interchangeable tissue box featuring the display and a fixed base providing the circuitry and power required to drive the EL display. This will be in stores this season. Also interesting was the novel anti-theft packaging produced by MWV Packaging in collaboration with Vorbeck. This product, which won IDTechEx's Best Product Development award, features a low-cost printed flexible graphene conducting layer and will be used in Home Depot stores in 2012.

Boeing discussed their current use of printed electronics as a bird strike detector in aircraft.

Rollable Displays
System and device manufacturers also presented their latest progress. PolymerVision showcased their truly rollable display capable of showing animated images. This is good news for printed electronics as flexible displays could provide a platform for a plethora of printed components, enabling large new markets. These include flexible Indium Thin Oxide (ITO) replacement, printed thin film transistors (TFTs), printed OLEDs, etc. However, replacing vacuum processed devices still remains ambitious, not least because printed TFTs will struggle in the near future to match the performance of the mature organic and the emerging metal oxide TFT technologies. For more information on Thin Film Transistors read the report from IDTechEx; "Printed and Thin Film Transistors and Memory 2011-2021" www.IDTechEx.com/tftc. 

Sensor Technologies
Printed sensors and actuators are also showing very promising signs of rapid improvement. PST Sensors offered a printed silicon-based temperature sensor that could be employed as a touch screen. Peratech offered a quantum-tunnelling ink that would change its conductivity by as much as 16 orders of magnitude when pressed with a finger! The Peratech ink can be formulated in opaque, translucent and transparent formats. This technology, which won IDTechEx's Best Commercialisation Award, could extend touch screen capability to a vast array of substrates and products. Artificial Muscle, Inc showcased their morphiepulseTM technology in the "Demonstration Street" area. This technology can bring a high definition feel to touch screens by printing voltage-controlled actuators. This means that touch screens can respond back to users in a fun and intelligent way, giving rise to different vibration modes for different events.

Conductive Inks
A large variety of different conductive inks were also on show. The inks were differentiated on the basis of their conductivity and price. Nanoparticle inks (Nanogap, Nanomas, Intrinsiq, PChem, Applied Nanotech etc) claimed the higher conductivity ground with higher cost. Traditional flake-based polymer thick films (Dupont, Dow International, etc) offered low-cost and familiarity, but that came at the expense of conductivity at the same temperature. All have an opportunity depending on the application. Copper oxide nanoparticles (Novacentrix) offered truly low-cost inks suitable for high-volume applications such RFID tags, but mandate the use of special equipment to provide high-intensity light pulses. Graphene inks (Vorbeck) were also presented, plugging a gap in the market which requires low cost, moderate conductivity and flexibility.

ITO replacements
Conductive inks offering high levels of optical transparency are also becoming a viable ITO replacement option. Most notably, Cambrios announced that their silver nanowire inks are now in hundreds of thousands of Samsung cell phones. This represents a significant endorsement of their technology and a clear leapfrog towards capturing a portion of the $3 billion ITO market. Moreover, Evonik brought an exciting nanoparticle ITO ink to the play that could be printed only where needed thus doing away with the subtractive and wasteful sputter-etch process predominantly used today. 

There is currently no one-size-fits-all solution on the conductive ink market. They are a variety of technologies, each sitting in its own niche based on its own attributes. Breaking into mature multibillion dollar markets traditionally served by polymer thick films is one strategy - the other is to deploy the new functionality (such as better conductors on flexible substrates) to do new things. This however still remains a challenge.

While such presentations bear testimony that printed electronics is indeed fast making significant progress and inroads into markets, they also highlight critical challenges that lie ahead. From the end user prospective, these include the fact that the current state of the market largely requires them to take on the challenge of product design and integration. And from the prospective of material/component providers, these include the delay in the realisation of high-volume markets that would enable printed electronics to realise its ultimate promise of being truly low cost.

IDTechEx anticipate the next few years to be fast moving as more and more partnerships are formed from across the value chain to realise products that not only attempt to substitute an existing product, but add a new functionality or concept into the market. That was certainly clear at the event. The next event in the series, also focusing heavily on market needs and adoption, will be in Berlin, Germany on 3-4 April.

IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe 2012 in Berlin,
April 3-4, focuses on Technology Commercialisation   By Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx

IDTechEx, the organiser of the World's largest global series of Printed Electronics events will hold its European show in Berlin, Germany on April 3-4 (www.IDTechEx.com/peEUROPE). The focus, as at all IDTechEx events, is to address the needs and experiences of adopters of the technology.  Raghu Das, CEO of consulting firm and event host IDTechEx states, "Printed electronics is reaching a critical point. The huge investment in the technology has yet to result in strong commercialisation, yet there is huge interest from many end use verticals. There is a disconnect between adopters who need realistic appraisal of the technology and vendors who, in the main, supply pieces but often fall short of fulfilling the need for complete products. The IDTechEx events are designed to bridge that gap and help accelerate adoption of the technology."

Scheduled  Events:

Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea & Air USA 2012 | March 27-28 | San Jose, CA | www.IDTechEx.com/evUSA

Printed Electronics & Photovoltaics Europe 2012 | April 3-4 | Berlin, Germany| www.IDTechEx.com/peEUROPE

Energy Harvesting & Storage EUROPE 2012 | May 15-16 | Berlin, Germany | www.IDTechEx.com/eh

Wireless Sensor Networks & RTLS EUROPE 2011 | May 15-16 | Berlin, Germany | www.IDTechEx.com/eh

Printed Electronics & Photovoltaics USA 2012 | December 5-6 | Santa Clara, CA | www.IDTechEx.com/peUSA  Refer to next page

Walki-4E technology: a new, sustainable way of producing RFID antennas

The manufacturing of RFID antennas through the process of etching is now being challenged by a new patented technology: Walki-4E, a new way of producing flexible circuit boards efficiently and sustainably. This is possible through a dry production process, involving no liquid chemicals and using paper as the substrate. It also allows for computer to antenna production and extremely accurate laser cutting of the circuit board patterns.

The traditional way of producing RFID antennas by etching has for a long period undergone only modest development. Walki, a leading producer of technical laminates, looked for ways to simplify the manufacturing process, while making use of their knowledge in lamination.

"We think that Walki-4E technology is the first feasible alternative to etching and that it will bring new dimensions of cost efficiency and sustainability to the industry," says Sami Liponkoski, Global Product Manager at Walki.

In brief, the idea is to make a special laminate of aluminium and paper substrate, then aluminium foil is cut in patterns using a laser.

Image left: Walki-4E technology is a new way of producing flexible circuit boards using a dry process and paper as the substrate, the first real alternative to the wet, chemical based process of etching. Image right: Computer to antenna production and laser cutting of the flexible board patterns allow for a speedy production process and extremely high accuracy. An example: the laser cuts with an accuracy of 20 microns while a human hair has the thickness of 100-120 microns.

The technology can be used for any production of flexible circuits boards, ranging from RFID antennas to boards for radiators and flexible displays. The first product to be launched using Walki-4E technology is Walki-Pantenna, a UHF RFID antenna.

One step shorter
The four E's of Walki-4E stand for efficient, exact, economical and ecological. Compared with etching, the technology eliminates a whole step from the tag production process or from the converter's process, thus combining efficiency and economy.

"Since paper is used as a substrate, the RFID manufacturers can leave out the insertion of the PET inlay into paper, a necessary step when the antenna has been produced by etching. Moreover, the computer to antenna production method speeds up design and development, an advantage especially when it comes to producing short series, involving a fewer number of antennas," Sami Liponkoski says.

Cost efficiency comes hand-in-hand with environmental benefits. The dry process does not involve any chemicals, thus resulting in process residue that is easily recyclable. The absence of liquid chemicals also leaves the RFID manufacturers with a product, the ready antenna, that is 100 % recyclable.

"Since the antenna is free from plastics, made of paper and aluminium only, it is easily recycled in a fibre recycling process, where metal detectors sort out the aluminium." Sami Liponkoski says.

Towards digitalisation
The precision of the laser cutting of the patterns allows for smaller chips, greater repeatability in the production process and higher accuracy of the antenna.

"This does not only overcome certain accuracy problems that etching brings, but also gives new possibilities for developing the antennas and the chips," Sami Liponkoski says.

Digitalisation of the production process, i.e. computer to antenna production, brings efficiency and allows for an endless number of variations in the patterns.

"Our vision is that the antenna production eventually will be completely digital. Laser cutting can speed up the production process by ten times, and taking into account the development that laser technology undergoes every year, the possibilities of producing flexible circuit boards with lasers are almost limitless," Sami Liponkoski says.

"We are now in the ramp-up phase for our new production line in Pietarsaari, Finland, and we are looking forward to introduction in the market. There is a lot of interest in our product and we strongly believe it has the capacity to change the industry," Liponkoski says.

Walki in profile
Walki Group is a leading producer of technical laminates and protective packaging materials, specialising in the production of fibre based, intelligent, multilaminate products for markets as diverse as energy saving construction facings to barrier packaging applications. Walki Group has operations in Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the UK and China with a workforce of about 1,000 people. Annual net sales for the Group are 320 million Euros.

For further information, e-mail: sami.liponkoski@walki.com or view website: www.walki.com