Flexible Hybrid Electronics For The IOT (Printed Electronics Europe 2018)

The future Internet of Things (IOT) will require custom solutions to sense and interpret the world. Printing is a promising approach to both mass produce and customize sensor systems for the IOT. Hybrid, flexible printed sensor systems can address both the desired form factor and the sensing modality for a variety of applications. For example, structural monitoring or wearables, require unique form factors, often personalized or customized. Arrays of sensors can be readily fabricated through printing, whilst data acquisition and communication are best performed by thin silicon microcircuits. Printed sensor arrays with combinatorial capabilities are especially powerful for accurate detection and selectivity. Our team has been focusing on the integration of printed electronics with sensors, microchips and other discrete components. Examples of these projects include wireless biosensors in mouthguards, networks of chemical sensors for methane, "peel and stick" sensor labels for environmental monitoring in buildings as well as smart tags for packaging and supply chain monitoring. The key to the success of such IOT systems is to make them configurable, seamless with their environment, manufactured on-demand at low cost.

A global center for commercial innovation for 40 years, PARC, a Xerox Company, is a pioneer in the development and commercialization of thin film transistors, circuits, and sensors. With deep knowledge of printing technology applied in domains such as displays, image sensors, and medical sensors, PARC's technical expertise and facility support printed dielectrics, nanoparticle metals, organic, oxide, and silicon (amorphous, polycrystalline, printed nanowire) semiconductors. PARC's clients include display manufacturers, consumer electronics firms, IT companies, government agencies, and materials suppliers to the printed and flexible electronics markets.