Hewlett Packard prints aSi backplanes reel to reel

At the acclaimed IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe event in April, Hewlett Packard described one of the most accomplished feats of engineering in reel to reel production of transistor circuits - producing aSi active matrix backplanes. Working with PowerFilm Solar, HP concludes that "R2R manufacturing of electronics on flexible substrates is feasible and will be cost effective. Its Self-Aligned Imprint Lithography (SAIL) solves the key challenge of high resolution, high throughput, patterning and alignment on dimensionally unstable flexible substrates in a R2R environment. Basic materials, processes, and architectures have been demonstrated. More work remains to be done to improve yield and scaling and it now has a complete toolset for R2R processing capable of pilot production."

Source: Hewlett Packard~

 

Imprint Lithography is seen as the best choice for R2R patterning in this application.

 

In the HP equipment, the web rolled on the core is its own clean room.

 

The basic imprint lithography process is shown below, the bottom picture showing multi-level structures on flex at 5 m/min.

 

If you missed Printed Electronics Europe 2008 you can purchase the proceedings on line and you should attend Printed Electronics USA 2008.

 

Also read Printed and Thin Film Transistors and Memory 2008-2028.