Flexible Electronics:Revolutionary Products and

Career Opportunities for Creative Engineers

TAPPI - PIMA Student Summit 2011

Michael CiesinskiPresidentJanuary 15, 2011

Flexible, Printed Electronics

•Microelectronics changed theworld by putting intelligence inproducts, enabling many newproducts

•A new field of electronics isemerging which cannot be madesmall, but must be big in order tointeract with big things

•This is flexible, printedelectronics and its salient featureis that it can conform to surfacesto impact a wide range ofapplications

•Opportunities exist for jobcreation and manufacturingdevelopment

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Lightweight, flexibledisplay from Army/ASU FDC

Printed RFID fromSunchon National Univ.

and Rice Univ.

Konarka’s FlexibleOrganic Photovoltaic

Material

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What is the FlexTech Alliance?

• FlexTech Alliance is a North American organization focused on promoting

the electronic displays and flexible, printed electronics industries.

•The mission of the FlexTech Alliance is to advance

the growth, profitability and success of our member

companies and organizations.

•Our programs are designed to share practical

experience and develop solutions for advancing

displays, flexible and printed electronics, and

related technologies from R&D to commercialization.

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The Vision for Flexible Electronics:An Evolution of Human-Scale Systems

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• New products and industries– Intelligent medical bandages– Intelligent solar cells– Interactive clothing– Environmental monitoring

Large Flex andDeform

Human-ScaleSystems

Large, Flexible & Deformable – these attributes will enable productsthat are “human-scale” and directly interact with people or the

environment on a large scale!

“Scientific research and technological developments are repletewith examples of breakthroughs that have advanced the frontiersof knowledge, but in themselves do not constitute paradigm shifts.

Flexible electronics, however, represents a highly promisinginterdisciplinary pursuit that will provide greatly increasedfunctionality and the potential to meet future technologicalchallenges.”

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Dr. Usha VarshneyNational Science Foundation2nd International Symposium in Plastic ElectronicsOctober 2006

The National Science FoundationRecognizes the Potential of Flexible

Electronics

Nanomarkets Forecast 2010 - 2017

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<$2B

$19B

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OLED $900 million

Photovoltaics $400 million(Excluding CdTe and Conventional Silicon)

Other inks: $400 million

Sensors: $120 million

E-paper displays $100 million

Inorganic Electroluminescentdisplays $60 million

Others $80 million(Batteries, other displays etc)

34% Predominately Printed

18% Flexible

Logic and memory $10 million

The Market Will ShiftBetween 2010 and 2020

Source: IDTechEx

OLED Display & Lighting $19 billion

Photovoltaics $17 billion(Excluding CdTe and Conventional Silicon)

Other inks: $2 billion

Sensors: $1.6 billion

E-paper displays $6 billion

Inorganic Electroluminescentdisplays $0.4 billion

Others $2.75 billion(Batteries, other displays etc)

Transistors: $8 Billion

83% Predominately Printed

75% Flexible

$56.75B$2.1B

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Challenges Remain In Commercialization

• Obtaining R&D funding

• Developing prototypes

• Transitioning to manufacturing• Cost of initial tooling/ROI• Establishing high volume

production capability• High volume quality

assurance & control

• Identifying future technology and market needs

What is Needed for Flexible Electronics?

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FlexTech fundedR&D in all theseareas

(source: Nanomarkets)

Flexible TFT Array

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Ultra Flexible TFT Array Sheet from Tokyo University

© MeadWestvaco Corporation

Promotes

Entertain

Lights

Sounds

Interactive

Multiple Touch Points

Informs

PromptsResetsRemindsRecommendsHelpfulMotivates

Communicates

ConnectionWired or Wireless

InteractiveUpdatesEase of UsePrograms

Secures

Theft DeterrenceTamper EvidentScreamer TagRFID:Attached tosmart packageAnti-counterfeit

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Smart Packaging Enhances the Customer’sExperience

Flexible Displays

Solid State LightingOLEDs Have a Bright Future

OLED lighting is already beingimplemented in high end automobiles

Other auto makers will follow suit.

Look for more OLED lighting for usein homes as fluorescent bulbs arebeing phased out due to efficiencyrequirements and manufacturersdevelop low cost production techniques.

OLED Lighting

Photovoltaics Provide Plentiful, Clean Energy

Printed solar power is already a reality and is making the movefrom the laboratory into the marketplace – reducing carbonemissions and providing power to remote areas.

Flexible PV

Sensors Are Ubiquitous

Monitor Vital Health Signals•Researchers have created and tested a new type ofimplantable device for measuring the heart’s electrical output.• The device represents the first use of flexible silicontechnology for a medical application.

Track Inventory•One of the world’s largest retailersplans to use electronic ID tags to track clothing.•This is the first step in a system that may better

control inventory.

Integrate Physical and Virtual WorldsTouch technology improves communications,business efficiency, and accuracy of on-screen actions.

1st Movers

Apparel supervisor Sonia Barrett uses a handheld scanner to readEPC labels on men's denim jeans on July 19, while checkinginventory at the Walmart Supercenter Store No. 1 in Rogers, Ark.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to roll out sophisticated electronic IDtags to track individual pairs of jeans and underwear, the first stepin a system that advocates say better controls inventory but somecritics say raises privacy concerns.

East Asia600 Organizations

North America750 Organizations

Europe775 Organization

•Most work in Japan (Koreamoving fast, may overtake)

•Strong government backing inmost aspects

•Few startups but many giantsinvolved

•Defending the massive displaybusiness – buying those in theWest e.g. Eink, CDT etc. (OLEDdisplays, OLED lighting, e-paperetc)

•Developing transistors for displaybackplanes and other applications

•Weak government backingoutside of military

•Many startups involved. Giantsoften slow/unfocussed

•Strong in materials and processdevelopment (inorganic andorganic)

•Usually successfully large usermarket (Amazon Kindle reader,Hasbro/Tink games, skin patches)

•Most effort in Germany. Holland,UK, Sweden also hot

•Strongest government backing inmost aspects (Germany)

•Many large and small companiesinvolved. Few startups

•Strong in materials and processdevelopment (mainly organic)

•Strong in PV manufacture (butloosing ground)

2010 - Trends and Comparisons by Region

Source: IDTechEx

Many Opportunities Exist Within theValue Chain

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Two Paths to Commercialization?

Conformable substrate-Polymer-Metal foil(s)-Glass-Other

Substrate as a system of materials

High performance devices-Suitable substrate-Construct materials-Build prototype tools-Sheet or roll

-Lower processingtemperatures

Good enough devices-Suitable substrate-Identify materials set-Qualify a printing process-Move to R2R

Summary

Why Flexible Electronics?

Form and Fit

Conformable substrates open upenormous application spaces

Textiles, buildings, paper

Cost

Traditional IC lithography andvacuum processing are costly

Mix and match printing R2Rprovides significant savings if thetarget is “good enough”

Ecology

Additive processes vs. removal

Why Now?

Electronics industry alwayssearching for new technology formarkets

Start-up capital available

e.g., Kovio, Novaled, Plextronics

Early adopters available Military, Wal-Mart

High volume consumers seekingideas solutions

Dole, P&G, SmithKline Glaxo

Early results promising

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Thank you!

www.flextech.org

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