02.15.16
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Heidelberg Instruments announced that they have developed a new high resolution, high speed roll-to-roll digital lithography tool for the manufacture of flexible organic thin film transistors (OTFT) used in next generation applications such as foldable display screens, sensors, integrated circuits and photo-detectors.
The machine, which is installed at CPI’s National Printable Electronics Facility in County Durham, is a stepping stone in the commercialization of printable electronic devices because it provides the ability to continuously manufacture OTFTs directly onto rolls of plastic film at rates approaching 0.1 m2/min.
Products that use thin-film transistors with non-standard shapes and sizes or custom integrated circuits struggle to reach mass market adoption due to the high cost of manufacturing smaller volumes and the limitations imposed by print resolution and production speed. Digital lithography, sometimes referred to as “laser direct imaging” or LDI, eliminates the need for photomasks by guiding a laser with computer-generated imagery to directly expose light-sensitive material. This substantially reduces production time and lowers manufacturing cost, opening the technology up for shorter production runs and custom designs.
The key feature of the new tool is its ability to expose rolls of film with digital images generated in real time, thereby allowing it to dynamically compensate for any distortions present in each layer of the transistor as it is built up.
The machine, which is installed at CPI’s National Printable Electronics Facility in County Durham, is a stepping stone in the commercialization of printable electronic devices because it provides the ability to continuously manufacture OTFTs directly onto rolls of plastic film at rates approaching 0.1 m2/min.
Products that use thin-film transistors with non-standard shapes and sizes or custom integrated circuits struggle to reach mass market adoption due to the high cost of manufacturing smaller volumes and the limitations imposed by print resolution and production speed. Digital lithography, sometimes referred to as “laser direct imaging” or LDI, eliminates the need for photomasks by guiding a laser with computer-generated imagery to directly expose light-sensitive material. This substantially reduces production time and lowers manufacturing cost, opening the technology up for shorter production runs and custom designs.
The key feature of the new tool is its ability to expose rolls of film with digital images generated in real time, thereby allowing it to dynamically compensate for any distortions present in each layer of the transistor as it is built up.