Register

Introduction to Printed Electronics

Updated in Q1 2010

Your essential report on printed electronics markets, technologies and companies

By Dr Peter Harrop

Vital reading to understand the technology, players, needs and timelines.

すべて見る説明 Contents, Tables & Figures List Order Information

Description

Printed electronics is a term that encompasses thin film transistor circuits (TFTCs), displays, interconnects, power, sensors and even actuators. Over one thousand companies have now entered this market. These printing, materials, paper and chemical companies of today will be the new electronic giants tomorrow. This report introduces the technologies, companies, timelines and opportunities for those looking to get involved in the subject."

Here, for the first time is the big picture, including how printed electronics is the gateway to edible, foldable, rollable, conformal, wearable, biodegradable and other electronics and electrics. It covers the future of lighting and the newly created mass markets for disposable electronics and affordable solar cells in vast areas but it also covers the impediments to some rollouts including materials shortages and incremental improvements to existing products instead of "thinking outside the box". For the first few years it will be "electronic printing", mainly replacing print such as barcodes, books, signage and billboards not electronics and this is explained with a profusion of examples.

This report is vital reading to understand the opportunity of the technology, players, needs and timelines, giving global coverage. It is a sister publication to Printed & Organic Electronics Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2008-2028 which focusses on forecasts.

All significant developments in printed electronics are closely analysed in this report. Unusually, we also look at the many printed electronic devices and displays - electrochromic, electroluminescent, etc. - that are already a commercial reality even on flexible substrates, not just the promise of so-called OLEDs. Today's successes also employ conductors, batteries, inductors, antennas, capacitors and electrically active materials that are printed. The moving colour billboard, the gift card and the smart skin patch that are printed on flexible plastic are a reality today and there are lessons to be learned. Other advances are close behind, including printed thin film fuel cells and lasers. Later will come self-adjusting 'use by' dates, printed microprocessors, ubiquitous printed lighting and other wonders, including printing electronics directly onto things. All this is explained in simple language.

For the first time, this report describes the technical and market development and the many new applications, new suppliers and new users being created as a result. There are many comparison tables and new and dramatic illustrations from the smart airport to the next smart military aircraft, the car interior of the next Jaguar car and even examples of electronics as art - newly made possible. Nothing is more up to date than this compelling read.

Stay Updated with Free IDTechEx Research

All purchases of this report include the independent IDTechEx report Encyclopedia of Printed Electronics, worth $1500, to explain over 380 terms.

In addition, all report purchases include one hour free consulting with a report author from IDTechEx, by email or telephone. This needs to be used within 3 months of purchasing the report.

Further information

If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact Raoul or call + 1 617 577 7890 (US).

Table of Contents

	EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1.	INTRODUCTION
1.1.	Definition and destination
1.1.1.	Background
1.1.2.	Stretchable Electronics
1.1.3.	Rollable electronics
1.1.4.	Foldable electronics
1.1.5.	Edible electronics
1.1.6.	Interactive paper
1.1.7.	Ubiquitous Sensor Networks
1.1.8.	Electronic packaging
1.1.9.	Conformal electronics / electronic wallpaper
1.1.10.	Wearable and very portable electronics
1.1.11.	Old concepts revisited - fault tolerant electronics, hard programmed electronics
1.1.12.	Electronics without circuits
1.2.	The technical needs for printed electronics
1.2.1.	Replacing and enhancing conventional print
1.2.2.	Replacing the silicon chip
1.2.3.	Replacing conventional displays
1.2.4.	Replacing conventional lighting
1.2.5.	Transforming the human interface and new forms of safety and security
1.2.6.	New forms of amusement and merchandising
1.2.7.	New forms of drug delivery
1.2.8.	Products that are light, rugged and extremely low cost
1.3.	Smart locations
1.4.	Industries that need to collaborate
1.5.	Value chain and life beyond plastic electronics
1.6.	Interim products with silicon chips
1.7.	Impediments to printed electronics
2.	PRINTABLE CIRCUIT ELEMENTS
2.1.	Substrates
2.2.	Conductors
2.2.1.	Choice of conductors
2.2.2.	Printing with inks - the options
2.2.3.	Progress with conductive inks
2.3.	Semiconductors
3.	LOGIC AND MEMORY
3.1.	Logic
3.1.1.	Transistor design
3.1.2.	Benefits and applications envisaged for TFTCs in general
3.1.3.	Development path
3.1.4.	Company strategy and value chain
3.2.	Memory
4.	DISPLAYS
4.1.	Display technologies
4.2.	Non-emissive displays
4.2.1.	Thermochromic
4.2.2.	Electrochromic
4.2.3.	Electrophoretic
4.2.4.	Electrowetted displays
4.2.5.	Electrochemical displays on paper
4.3.	Emissive displays
4.3.1.	AC Electroluminescent
4.3.2.	OLED
5.	LIGHTING AND SIGNAGE
5.1.	AC electroluminescent lighting.
5.2.	OLED lighting
6.	POWER
6.1.	Photovoltaics
6.2.	Batteries
6.2.1.	Button batteries vs laminar batteries
6.2.2.	Choices of laminar battery
6.2.3.	Applications of laminar batteries
6.2.4.	Leeds Lithium Power
6.2.5.	Infinite Power Solutions
6.2.6.	Solicore, USA
6.2.7.	SCI Engineered Materials, USA
6.2.8.	Power Paper
6.2.9.	Thin Battery Technologies
6.2.10.	Rocket Electric
6.2.11.	Printed battery research
6.3.	Fuel cells
7.	SENSORS AND FILTERS
7.1.	General situation and examples
7.2.	Photodetector arrays
7.2.1.	Printed flexible scanners
7.2.2.	Nanoident - world's first printed semiconductor factory
7.3.	Printing metamaterials
8.	CO-DEPOSITED COMPONENTS
9.	BROAD OVERVIEW OF TIMELINES AND MARKETS
9.1.	General scenario to 2025
9.2.	OLEDs
9.3.	Lighting
9.4.	Ubiquitous Sensor Networks (USNs)
9.5.	Photovoltaics
9.6.	Conductive patterns
	APPENDIX 1: IDTECHEX PUBLICATIONS
	APPENDIX 2: GLOSSARY
	TABLES
1.1.	Some factors driving the rapid growth of printed electronics.
1.2.	Progress in making printed and thin film components.
1.3.	Examples of printing technologies used in 2007 for printed electronics
1.4.	Some organizations developing wearable electronics are shown
2.1.	Choices of process for printed and thin film conductor
2.2.	Examples of development work on printed conductive technology.
2.3.	Evolution of conductive ink 2003-2006
2.4.	Comparison of performance of conductive layers for RFID antennas in ohms per square
3.1.	Envisaged benefits of TFTCs in RFID and other low-cost applications when compared with envisaged silicon chips
3.2.	Overall choices of semiconductor
3.3.	Typical carrier mobility in different potential TFTC semiconductors (actual and envisaged) vs higher mobility silicon, not printable.
3.4.	Some organisations that are developing TFTCs and their priorities
3.5.	Some of the small group of contestants for large capacity printed memory.
4.1.	Some new and established display technologies compared
4.2.	Advantages and disadvantages of electrophoretic displays
4.3.	Comparison between OLEDs and E-Ink of various parameters
4.4.	Examples of companies developing OLEDs
4.5.	Advantages and disadvantages of ink jet printing of OLEDs
6.1.	The leading photovoltaic technologies compared
6.2.	Efficiency and commercialization dates of laminar organic, CdTe and DSSC photovoltaics
6.3.	Performance of various types of photovoltaic cell compared
6.4.	Some recent results for inorganic and organic-fullerene photovoltaic cells and commercialisation
6.5.	Shapes of battery for small RFID tags advantages and disadvantages
6.6.	Examples of suppliers of button batteries by country
6.7.	The spectrum of choice of technologies for laminar batteries
6.8.	Examples of potential sources of flexible thin film batteries
6.9.	Some examples of marketing thrust for laminar batteries
6.10.	Examples of universities and research centres developing laminar batteries
7.1.	Examples of companies developing organic sensors and other components and their main emphasis
9.1.	Milestones in the evolution of printed electronics 2008 - 2020
9.2.	Examples of possible sales of printed and part printed electronic devices in 2015.
9.3.	Possible breakdown of the market for printed electronics in 2025 by value
9.4.	Timeline for OLEDs to beat conventional lighting on power, cost and flexibility 2007-2025
9.5.	Potential of OLED lighting in the long term, in millions of square meters sold yearly worldwide
9.6.	The most popular printing equipment for production of conductive patterns as electrodes, interconnects etc 2007, 2008, 2025
	FIGURES
1.1.	Four generations of printed and thin film electronics
1.2.	The three main benefits of printed electronics, where the third stage of printing directly on to things hugely improves functionality and saves materials.
1.3.	Some of the radically new capabilities powered by printed electronics
1.4.	Stretchable Thermometer from the Stella Project
1.5.	Shuttered rollable calculator using screen printed touchpad.
1.6.	Unrollable personal device
1.7.	Origami electronics from Linkoping University Sweden
1.8.	Foldable solar panels from Orion Solar Israel
1.9.	Foldable photovoltaic chargers from Konarka
1.10.	Electronic printing on tablets.
1.11.	Interactive paper from the EU Superinks project. shown on left and, on right, smart package with printed touch sensor, blinking display and synthetic voice realized by ACREO in cooperation with AddMarkable AB
1.12.	The demographic timebomb.
1.13.	Concept of a smart package showing clearly that the contents have expired.
1.14.	Concept of a package monitoring the condition of the user and acting accordingly.
1.15.	European Community SUSTAINAPACK project.
1.16.	Next possible development of smart pill dispensing.
1.17.	The interactive game card and its terminal. The card has 16-bits printed.
1.18.	Some developments come later because they are tougher to achieve
1.19.	Calculator embedded in book
1.20.	Power Paper disposable paper timer.
1.21.	Ceiling lighting in the Mercedes Maybach
1.22.	Concepts of improved cockpit display
1.23.	Smart package projecting information
1.24.	Sensing, talking pot noodle
1.25.	Power Paper partly printed toys
1.26.	Slap on Slap Messenger communicator wristband licensed to Hasbro
1.27.	Concept of a future printed tearoff
1.28.	The percentage level of non-compliance by type of affliction
1.29.	Smart skin patches
1.30.	Compliance recording blisterpack with printed sensors and interconnects as used with 30,000 patients in the national Institutes of Health trial of the drug Azithromycin in 2006
1.31.	Price sensitivity curve for RFID
1.32.	Progression of potential markets for RFID
1.33.	Smart home
1.34.	Smart subway
1.35.	Smart shop
1.36.	Smart office
1.37.	Smart airport
1.38.	Industries seeking to collaborate.
1.39.	Examples of how the printing and electronics industries are collaborating
1.40.	Class 100 clean room at Nanoident.
1.41.	Typical value chain for printed electronics
1.42.	Theoretical importance of OLEDs
1.43.	Cypak smart postal package recording time of penetration.
1.44.	KSW Microtec time temperature recording label
1.45.	Inflatable pillow radio by T-Ink
1.46.	Examples of RFID tags by frequency and incidence of printed antennas.
1.47.	The varied impediments to rollout of thin film electronics.
2.1.	Change in stiffness of PET vs PEN substrate material with temperature.
2.2.	Biaxially oriented crystalline film
2.3.	Choices of substrate for printed electronics
2.4.	Factors influencing film choice- property set
2.5.	Some candidate materials for flexible substrates
2.6.	Choice of printing machine for silver antennas in RFID labels
2.7.	Development path for conductors.
2.8.	Amorphous silicon thin film transistor array on polymer film, a precursor of true printing of silicon.
3.1.	Traditional geometry for a field effect transistor
3.2.	The Plastic E print process
3.3.	Structure of SSD diode and device operation
3.4.	Options for high speed, low-cost printing of TFTCs
3.5.	Example of ZnO based transistor circuit.
3.6.	Value chain for TFTCs and examples of migration of activity for players
3.7.	An all-organic permanent memory transistor
3.8.	TFE memory compared with the much more complex DRAM in silicon
3.9.	Structure of TFE memory
3.10.	TFE priorities for commercialisation of mega memory
4.1.	Duracell battery tester
4.2.	Interactive game on a beer package by VTT Technologies in Finland
4.3.	Thermochromic display on a Valentine's card sold by Marks and Spencer in the UK in 2004 and thermochromic display with drive circuits in a laminate for smart cards..
4.4.	Principle of operation of electrophoretic displays
4.5.	Sony E-Ink reader
4.6.	E-Ink and Episys electrophoretic displays
4.7.	Motorola mobile phone with electrophoretic display
4.8.	Electrophoretic display on a commercially sold financial card
4.9.	A Polymer Vision experimental rollable display
4.10.	The dollhouse. When energy is added to the system the colour of the wallpaper changes and a picture appears on the wall
4.11.	Two state electrolytic display on paper
4.12.	Seven segment display printed with bi-stable inks
4.13.	A designer and her concept of an ac electroluminescent window that becomes a decorative pattern as the sun rises.
4.14.	Animated AC electroluminescent screens with switching images
4.15.	Animated AC electroluminescent billboards on plastic film with sequential images emitting light and giving illusion of movement
4.16.	Switched billboard using AC electroluminescent film to give illusion of movement - a Microsoft promotion
4.17.	Coyopa rum with four segment sequentially switched pictures
4.18.	TV controller
4.19.	Switched image on face of Fossil watch
4.20.	The new Pelikon display tolerant of bright sunlight is shown left with the old display right.
4.21.	AC electroluminescent apparel
4.22.	A promotional display with sequentially switching images used at DeBeers in London
4.23.	Car instrument illumination by electroluminescent display
4.24.	Example of Quantum Paper light emitting paper displaying an advertisement
4.25.	Basic structure of an OLED
4.26.	Samsung OLED television, Philips OLED shaver and Eastman Kodak OLED camera.
4.27.	A 14 inch CDT flexible, ink jet printed phosphorescent OLED (P-OLED) display
4.28.	LEP process flow
4.29.	Some Add-Vision development P-OLEDs
4.30.	Novel OLED device structure
4.31.	Add Vision process
5.1.	Motion lighting concept
5.2.	Boardroom lighting in Alcatel France that switches to various modes
5.3.	EL décor, signage and instrumentation in the new Jaguar concept model
5.4.	Signage for jump jets
5.5.	Animated EL artwork in a two meter suspended ball for event lighting
5.6.	Educational AC electroluminescent floor covering
5.7.	Value chain for manufacture of OLEDs for lighting and signage
5.8.	Experimental OLED lights
5.9.	Timeframe for creation of improved, flexible OLED lighting.
6.1.	Some of the overlapping requirements for photovoltaics
6.2.	Organic compounds are the most promising
6.3.	Operating principle of fullerene organic photovoltaics
6.4.	Construction of a traditional bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cell
6.5.	Module stack for photovoltaics
6.6.	Reel to reel process of Leeds Lithium Power
6.7.	Infinite Power Solutions batteries.
6.8.	Power Paper printed battery
6.9.	Reel to reel screen printing of Thin Battery Technologies batteries
6.10.	Construction of Rocket Electric paper batteries.
7.1.	Plastic film scanner with no moving parts
7.2.	Example and construction of Nanoident photodetector arrays
7.3.	World's first high-resolution organic photodetector with 250 dpi resolution.
7.4.	Ink formulation and measurement of ink viscosity
7.5.	Measurement of chemical properties of the inks left and Class 100 clean room right.
7.6.	Substrate preparation left and ink jet deposition right
7.7.	Inkjet heads and high precision X-Y table of material deposition system left and OFAB Quality Assurance: Optical profiler enables high precision measurement of layer thickness on right
7.8.	Concept of display with integrated biometric sensor
7.9.	Nanoident technology roadmap
7.10.	World's first 7x21 wells Nanotiterplate with integrated readout. This lab on a chip can take blood to 300 antigens where the photodetector array detects reactions by colour change
7.11.	Nanoident has appointed Professor Sirdar Sariciftci, left, of the Department of Physical Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University, as scientific advisor. Centre is Klaus Schroeter CEO. On right is Franz Padinger, CTO and Co-Founder
7.12.	How negative refractive index works
7.13.	How to make a working printed metamaterial
8.1.	Experimental photodetectors with displays on them
9.1.	Printed electronics market breakdown in 2025.
9.2.	Global market for organic electronics 2006-2025
9.3.	Potential annual global sales of each type by 2020
9.4.	Evolution of printed electronics as predicted by Nokia 2005-2011
9.5.	OLED display roadmap
9.6.	Timeline for bulk materials, nano materials and quantum dots in printed electronics 2007-2017.
9.7.	Marketing roadmap for paper batteries
9.8.	Timeline for Ubiquitous Sensor Networks in Korea 2004-2010
9.9.	Photovoltaic cell installations in 2005, virtually all of which were inorganic and not printed.
9.10.	Projected global demand for photovoltaics of all types in MW 2004-2010
9.11.	Actual and potential choices of conductive patterning technology with some dates for production