Designer electronics out of the printer
(June 16, 2015) They
are thin, light-weight, flexible and can be produced cost- and
energy-efficiently: printed microelectronic components made of synthetics.
Flexible displays and touch screens, glowing films, RFID tags and solar cells
represent a future market. In the context of an international cooperation project,
physicists at the Technische Universität München (TUM) have now observed the
creation of razor thin polymer electrodes during the printing process and
successfully improved the electrical properties of the printed films.
Solar cells out of a printer? This seemed unthinkable only a
few years ago. There were hardly any alternatives to classical silicon
technology available. In the mean time touch screens, sensors and solar cells
can be made of conducting synthetics. Flexible monitors and glowing wall paper
made of organic light emitting diodes, so-called OLEDs, are in rapid
development. The “organic electronics” are hailed as a promising future market.