David Savastano, Editor09.08.10
The field of printed electronics is clearly evolving, and it is interesting to hear the perspective of people who have long been involved in the field. From time to time, Printed Electronics Now is going to interview some of the leaders in the field, and present their viewpoints.
This week, we spoke with Dr. Stephan Kirchmeyer, head of production and technology for H.C. Starck Clevios GmbH. A member of the board of the Organic Electronics Association (OE-A), Dr. Kirchmeyer studied chemistry at the University of Hamburg and at the University of Southern California, and finished his Ph.D. thesis in 1987 in Hamburg.He joined Bayer AG in 1988, where he headed laboratories in Bayer's Central R&D and silicone division until 1997, when he transferred to the electronic chemicals group and developed the conductive polymer PEDOT. In 2002, the electronic materials business was transferred to H.C. Starck GmbH, which at that time was an affiliate company of Bayer. At H.C. Starck, Dr. Kirchmeyer worked as R&D manager, plant site manager and global business manager. Since March 2009, he is manager for operations and technology at H.C. Starck Clevios GmbH, a daughter company of H.C. Starck focusing on PEDOT.
Printed Electronics Now: What is your background in the field of PE?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: I have been active in the field of PE since 2001, and since 2002 with H.C. Starck. H.C. Starck Clevios develops printing inks for PE based on conducting polymer dispersions. In addition, we work on organic semiconductors for OTFT and OPV. Recently I became a member of the OE-A board, where I act as a spokesman for the OE-A technology roadmap and the demonstrator project.
Printed Electronics Now: How has the printed electronics industry changed since you first joined the field?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: PE has changed from a vision dominated by scientific research to a development field in which targets clear technology milestones. Such milestones relate to materials, manufacturing processes, components and products for the markets.
Printed Electronics Now: What are the key advancements that have allowed for these changes to occur?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: Scientific research started with the vision to develop new materials, which subsequently would convert into products. Within the last two to three years, such materials have become – at least partly – commercially available. This includes standardization, quality control and reliability. Based on this development, the next target will be to develop standardized high quality processes. The success of OLED displays, mainly based on vapor phase deposition processes, has contributed to make machinery available that will be another building block to achieve stable, controlled processes. Similar achievements have been made for wet processing, especially in the area of inkjet printing. These achievements will trigger the next step, to assemble various process steps into integrated manufacturing processes.
Printed Electronics Now: What are the technical hurdles that need to be overcome to move PE forward?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: This will depend on each technology area. I think the common requests to increase the mobility of semiconductor or the lifetime for PLED, OTFT, OPV etc. need not to be repeated. Some more hurdles may become more visible in near future.
OTFT will have to demonstrate its potential either as backplane transistors in flexible displays or as logic elements in printed IC, e.g. RFID chips. Backplane transistors for displays appeared to be a straightforward approach, therefore the cancellation of Plastic Logic's QUE reader is a step backward that has led to some disappointment in the community. However this might also serve as a lesson-to-be-learned. Apparently the focus of activities still is very much on the PE components. The success of end use devices might be dominated by design, available functions, software etc. rather than the switching speed of an OTFT.
In this regard I see two clear hurdles to be overcome: system integration of PE components and the availability of electrical engineering for PE. In most cases the electrical engineering for standard IC based on silicon is based on software, which develops the circuit design, masks, etc. on demand. Up to the present, there is nothing similar available for PE.
On the other hand, PE components slowly penetrate into the market, which are commonly overlooked. Two examples might illustrate this development: Polymer caps have revolutionized the electronic market by giving access to capacitors which can handle high frequencies and high capacities at the same time. Although conducting polymers are a key component, nobody calls this plastic electronics. Polymer touch screens based on conducting are starting to compete with touch screens made with TCO. In this application, polymers benefit from their inherent flexibility compared to brittle TCO.
Printed Electronics Now: Where do you see the field of printed electronics heading in both the near term and, say, 10 years from now?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: PE will be a field that competes with classical electronics. Both vapor phase and wet processes will be used to manufacture PE components. The simpler, the earlier these components will start to generate a market. The success of these simple devices will help to go through the learning curve on how to develop more sophisticated components. Standard materials and equipment will be readily available from various sources. Polymer touch screens, OLED lightning, organic solar cells or at least organic light sensors will be standard components.
This week, we spoke with Dr. Stephan Kirchmeyer, head of production and technology for H.C. Starck Clevios GmbH. A member of the board of the Organic Electronics Association (OE-A), Dr. Kirchmeyer studied chemistry at the University of Hamburg and at the University of Southern California, and finished his Ph.D. thesis in 1987 in Hamburg.He joined Bayer AG in 1988, where he headed laboratories in Bayer's Central R&D and silicone division until 1997, when he transferred to the electronic chemicals group and developed the conductive polymer PEDOT. In 2002, the electronic materials business was transferred to H.C. Starck GmbH, which at that time was an affiliate company of Bayer. At H.C. Starck, Dr. Kirchmeyer worked as R&D manager, plant site manager and global business manager. Since March 2009, he is manager for operations and technology at H.C. Starck Clevios GmbH, a daughter company of H.C. Starck focusing on PEDOT.
Printed Electronics Now: What is your background in the field of PE?
Printed Electronics Now: How has the printed electronics industry changed since you first joined the field?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: PE has changed from a vision dominated by scientific research to a development field in which targets clear technology milestones. Such milestones relate to materials, manufacturing processes, components and products for the markets.
Printed Electronics Now: What are the key advancements that have allowed for these changes to occur?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: Scientific research started with the vision to develop new materials, which subsequently would convert into products. Within the last two to three years, such materials have become – at least partly – commercially available. This includes standardization, quality control and reliability. Based on this development, the next target will be to develop standardized high quality processes. The success of OLED displays, mainly based on vapor phase deposition processes, has contributed to make machinery available that will be another building block to achieve stable, controlled processes. Similar achievements have been made for wet processing, especially in the area of inkjet printing. These achievements will trigger the next step, to assemble various process steps into integrated manufacturing processes.
Printed Electronics Now: What are the technical hurdles that need to be overcome to move PE forward?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: This will depend on each technology area. I think the common requests to increase the mobility of semiconductor or the lifetime for PLED, OTFT, OPV etc. need not to be repeated. Some more hurdles may become more visible in near future.
OTFT will have to demonstrate its potential either as backplane transistors in flexible displays or as logic elements in printed IC, e.g. RFID chips. Backplane transistors for displays appeared to be a straightforward approach, therefore the cancellation of Plastic Logic's QUE reader is a step backward that has led to some disappointment in the community. However this might also serve as a lesson-to-be-learned. Apparently the focus of activities still is very much on the PE components. The success of end use devices might be dominated by design, available functions, software etc. rather than the switching speed of an OTFT.
In this regard I see two clear hurdles to be overcome: system integration of PE components and the availability of electrical engineering for PE. In most cases the electrical engineering for standard IC based on silicon is based on software, which develops the circuit design, masks, etc. on demand. Up to the present, there is nothing similar available for PE.
On the other hand, PE components slowly penetrate into the market, which are commonly overlooked. Two examples might illustrate this development: Polymer caps have revolutionized the electronic market by giving access to capacitors which can handle high frequencies and high capacities at the same time. Although conducting polymers are a key component, nobody calls this plastic electronics. Polymer touch screens based on conducting are starting to compete with touch screens made with TCO. In this application, polymers benefit from their inherent flexibility compared to brittle TCO.
Printed Electronics Now: Where do you see the field of printed electronics heading in both the near term and, say, 10 years from now?
Dr. Kirchmeyer: PE will be a field that competes with classical electronics. Both vapor phase and wet processes will be used to manufacture PE components. The simpler, the earlier these components will start to generate a market. The success of these simple devices will help to go through the learning curve on how to develop more sophisticated components. Standard materials and equipment will be readily available from various sources. Polymer touch screens, OLED lightning, organic solar cells or at least organic light sensors will be standard components.