Kateeva grasps Korea opportunity for Yieldjet

Kateeva has purchased Seoul-based OLED Plus to expand its capacity to deliver mass produced printed OLEDs using its Yieldjet technology right into the heart of the critical Korean market. The company reports that commercial sales of what is being hailed as the first high volume, production-worthy OLED manufacturing technology are imminent.

Yieldjet was successfully demonstrated as a system for non-vacuum inkjet production of OLEDs in late 2013. It has the potential to drastically reduce the cost of plastic electronics components. Throughout its evolution the US developers worked at the local manufacturing facilities of several Korean companies. Now that the viability of Kateeva's technology has been demonstrated, there was a clear priority to access one the world's leading regions for OLED production as quickly as possible.

Plus points
OLED Plus, the new acquisition, will now be renamed Kateeva Korea and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Kateeva. As an existing player in local the OLED production equipment field, it will give an immediate presence and established contacts to allow Yieldjet to penetrate this vital market. The new parent company has had a relationship with OLED Plus since 2011, when it started using it to increase its access and profile with Korea producers.

Alain Harrus, CEO of Kateeva, says: 'Companies like Kateeva are stepping up with production equipment innovations that are transforming the manufacturing economics. Korea is home to consumer electronics leaders known for consistently pushing technology boundaries to create dazzling products. Today, their most ambitious products are made possible by OLED technology. Now, with commercial shipments imminent, we have established a firm foothold in the region and forged strong relationships with key players.'

Technical advantages to yield sales
The precision inkjet deposition provided by Yieldjet is suited to both the more established rigid OLED screen and the burgeoning flexible display markets. The company is in the process of scaling up the process to allow printing of Gen 8 (2,300mm x 2,500mm) sheets. The system has a number of innovations to minimise the intrusion of foreign particles into the printed material, these radically reduces the number of faults caused by the particles in the finished OLED sheet. Yieldjet also works in a nitrogen atmosphere, eliminating many of the problems and long maintenance cycles associated with alternative vacuum-based methods, thus cutting costs.

A strategic move into Korea is now even more vital as Yieldjet could be an ideal technology to help produce the next generation of cheaper OLED televisions. The new TVs would be developed over the next two to three years from the first such displays demonstrated in by LG and Samsung 2013. The marketability of these was handicapped by high failure rates in production materials that were reflected in hefty price tags.

Kyung Bin Bae, general manager at OLED Plus who will retain the same role under the new ownership, says: 'Kateeva and OLED Plus make an excellent match. Customers are excited about inkjet printing for OLED mass production. The Yieldjet technology is impressive, long considered the ideal technique for OLED, there is keen interest in Kateeva's solution which is the industry's first production-worthy approach. We are happy to join the team that is bringing this game-changing production technology to Korea.'

An exclusive interview with Harrus and Kateeva president Conor Madigan is available in the Plus Plastic Electronics subscriber area now. Not yet a subscriber? Why not find out more about how to subscribe and gain access to this and other exclusive content.

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Smart glasses to take $2 billion of $3 billion wearable electronics market in 2014

A projection from market analysts at Deloitte has suggested that smart glasses will account for two thirds of wearable electronics sales in 2014, in what is set to be the burgeoning market's breakthrough year. It is estimated that the smart glasses products, like the high profile Google Glass, will sell 4 million units at an average price of $500 (€360) this year.

It is predicted that the early purchasers in 2014 will be a niche private technology enthusiasts who will use them for non-professional, leisure activities. Professional applications will develop in the second half of the decade and might for example include the displaying of schematics or instruction manuals for workers in high risk industries like petrochemicals.

In its Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions 2014 Deloitte identifies several key barriers for smart glasses to overcome. First will be the establishment of a foundational base of apps to promote functionality, and secondly evolving lightweight batteries to permit them to be worn comfortably for prolonged periods. Another grey area is likely to be future regulation of use, with for example road traffic authorities unlikely to be keen on their use.

Other significant products in the wearables sector in 2014 will be smart fitness bands, 4 million of which Deloitte expect to see sold at an average of $140 each, and smart watches which have estimate sales of 2 million at a mean price of $200. Overall it is estimated that the volume of wearable electronic devices sold increase tenfold over the next six years, from 10 million sales in 2014 to 100 million in 2020.

The consultants' report also suggests that 2014 could see a peak in sales of consumer media devices like smartphones, consoles and tablets at $750 billion. Starting in 2015 this is forecast to diminish as users increasingly use existing devices for an array of functions, cutting the need for multiple devices. 

Solvay in pole position to takeover struggling Plextronics

Electronic inks firm Plextronics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US on 16 January, following the failure of a move to secure extra investment in late 2013. Global chemicals firm Solvay, which led the original consortium which financed the setting up of the company, has emerged as the leading candidate to buy it out.

The bankruptcy notification estimates that Plextronics currently has liabilities of $10-50 million (€7-36 million) including debts to plastic electronic development partners like Holst Centre. In October, Plextronics sought to guarantee its short-term future by raising an extra $5 million through debt-based securities, but was able to raise less than a fifth of this figure.

The company was founded in 2007 and has developed a series of conductive inks intended for use in OLED screens, lighting and solar power applications under the Plexcore brand.

Solvay America has now come forward as a stalking horse bidder, who will make an initial bid to buy out all of Plextronics assets in a deal that would likely be completed by 1 April 2014. Richard McCullough, chairman of Plextronics says: 'The Board and management team have conducted a rigorous assessment of all of our strategic options and concluded that this process represents the best possible solution for Plextronics to help unlock the value of Plexcore inks.'

Plexcore and the company's other products will still be available as it continues to trade pending a decision on the eventual sale, which is being overseen in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. 

Analysis shows OLED screens to drive booming market for plastic electronics

Screen technology will play a pivotal role in kick-starting a boom global demand for plastic electronics technology in the second half of this decade according to two separate reports from independent market researchers. OLED and AMOLED displays are the first products to reach consumers, and will drive improvements in production, that will then cross-fertilise other applications in areas such as security, medicine and photovoltaics.

OLED sales helping to ripen market
The first report Unmet needs in Plastic Electronics: Market and Technology Forecasts to 2018 from Smithers Apex, suggests that a lot of the necessary technical groundwork has already been done for an explosion in the plastic electronics market in years to come. Worth €6.2 billion in 2012, this is estimated to reach €47 billion in 2018. However with over 1,000 companies now involved in plastic electronics, commercial supply chains as they develop will be complex and have not yet stabilised.

OLEDs, and especially the market for touchscreens used in smartphones, will be standard bearers and remain the most profitable sectors in the short term. Large OLED displays offer great potential and the market will boom rapidly after a few years. Smithers identifies that production technology will have to be refined so as to produce OLEDs and other printed electronics at a competitive price, a flaw which hamstrung volume sales of the first large consumer OLED TVs in 2013. Once this is achieved, the technology will cascade down, cutting the price of OLEDs in new and existing applications and for other plastic electronic components too.

A substitute for indium
Smithers see another key barrier directly affecting two core predicted markets, solar panels and displays, as the need to develop alternative transparent electronic materials to substitute for indium tin oxide (ITO). A study released in November 2013 from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) listed the supply of indium to the EU as a 'medium to high risk' in the long term.

Several replacements for ITO using conductive inks are now approaching the market. German firm Henkel is marketing its new range of ECI 5000 inks towards this application, and AGFA is making its Si-P1000x nanosilver ink, which has already been demonstrated as an effective substitute for ITO in screen backplanes, available for sale in large volumes in 2014.

LTPS LCD to surpass AMOLED smartphone screens
The second report from NPD Display Research on flat panel displays [], confirms the pioneering role of smartphone displays as a medium for putting consumers in touch with AMOLED technology. AMOLED screens will account for 36% of the global revenue for these products in 2014. In the longer term however AMOLEDs will lose market share (down to 30% by the end of the decade) to low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) thin film transistor (TFT) LCD technology. Ultimately the latter will be the growth screen technology up to 2020, when it is predicted to account for 51% of the total worldwide smartphone screen market.

Significantly Samsung has chosen to fit Sharp's LTPS TFT LCD technology for the Galaxy Tab Pro, because current AMOLED production techniques will not be able to meet projected demand. The NPD authors note that the projected boom for LTPS TFT LCD is built upon a decade of research in evolving the manufacturing capacity and its low power consumption. It is now steadily displacing amphorous silicon, which is predicted to lose around a third of its 2013 market share in 2014. 

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UK pledges £5 million to research the future of electronics manufacturing

The UK's plastic electronics industry could receive a boost in research funding under the Technology Strategy Board's new Manufacturing for Electronic Systems of Future programme. The initiative has a total of £4.75 million (€5.8 million) to pass on to UK companies, academic or research organisations and consortia for various types of project to run over the next two years.

The principal focus of the TSB programme is to explore novel manufacturing processes to promote early exploitation and effective scaling up of production to safeguard the future of the British electronics industry, which at £78 billion per annum accounts for 5% of the country's GDP.

Among the priority topics the TSB has identified to steer research towards are several that either directly or indirectly concern plastic electronics. These include, methods to manufacture complex flexible substrates for high-density electronics, integrating printed and conventional electronics, and new ways of embedding sensors or high-tolerance components into materials, like substrates.

The main focus of the programme is to establish collaborative business-led R&D studies; companies of coalitions working on these could choose to be supported by an outside team of designers at the initial stage. R&D projects are expected to last no more than two years and have maximum costs of £500,000. Organisations will be required to secure 50% of the funding for these themselves, for small or medium size enterprises (SMEs) the board's contribution may rise to 60%.

The process for accessing the funds for R&D work opened on 17 February, a briefing day will be held on 26 February. Initial applications must be submitted by 26 March, there will then be a second phase for projects chosen to move forward which will close on 29 May. Applications for the preliminary supported design phase have closed already.

The TSB says it will give particular interest to ideas which enhance lifecycle efficiency or end-of-life processing and are providing access to Horizons, a free sustainability assessment tool, to allow these benefits to be recorded.

For the feasibility studies £750,000 is being set aside, again on a matched funding basis. The studies should run for nine months and cost no more than £75,000; industry can receive 65% of this from the TSB allocation or 75% if they are SMEs. The final application deadline for these is on 2 April 2014. 

Will SI-P1000x nanosilver ink drive flake inks off the market?

With high production volumes and improved technical characteristics, a new nanoink from Agfa could quadruple the efficiency of silver conductive inks.

Agfa has developed a nanosilver ink SI-P1000x whose superior performance will allow users to cut their materials cost and drive miniaturisation in many key applications. Besides outperforming silver flake inks it has already been demonstrated as an effective replacement for indium tin oxide (ITO) in displays. It will be available for large-volume orders in 2014.

The Belgian developer has moved beyond the laboratory stage with the new technology and is speaking with product manufacturers about contracts for the ink, which it is preparing to supply at the 10's of kilograms per month scale in 2014. Combining nanosilver's peerless electrical performance in tiny printed circuits with relatively high manufacturing volumes could see Agfa secure a large early slice of this nascent market.

Flake out?
Peter Willaert, product manager for printed electronics at Agfa Materials, hopes the performance of his new ink will see it displace silver flake inks in many applications.

He explains: 'The competitive advantage lies mainly in the high conductivity. If you have a target resistance for you application, you can obtain that target resistance with either a much thinner layer - 1-2µ versus 10-20µ, by using a finer printing mesh - or by reducing the dimensions of the printed traces, or a combination of both.

'In all cases, the coverage obtained with the ink [the conductive area per kilogram of ink] will be much higher when compared to traditional flake inks. We estimate 60-80m²/kg, compared to 15-20m²/kg for traditional inks. As a bonus, it is possible to print much finer lines and spaces, so this ink supports the ongoing trends for miniaturisation. As an example, one customer has designed and printed a circuit with 150µ lines and spaces, which was previously not possible with standard inks.'

Nanosilver screen
One of the spurs for developing SI-P1000x was the desire to improve Agfa's existing products, based around the Orgacon PEDOT:PSS conductive polymer. This is used to form a transparent antistatic layer used in the manufacturing of LCDs. Beyond that application, PEDOT:PSS finds applications in flexible transparent electrodes, for which the incumbent technology based on ITO is less than ideal.

Willaert explains: 'ITO has limitations in conductivity when applied on polymer (film) substrates, due to the requirement to be annealed at high temperature during manufacturing, and its brittleness.'

The new ink has been used to produce a conductive grid for screens that is so fine it is practically invisible and delivers increased overall conductivity. Research has predicted that by finding niches like a replacement for ITO, demand for new copper and silver conductive inks could be €538 million by 2018, around 22% of the total conductive ink market.

Other opportunities
Replacing ITO in displays has previously been identified as a future application for conductive inks, but Agfa is pursuing other opportunities too.

Willaert says: 'We have seen interest from companies that are active in the membrane keyboard market, but that are looking to deploy their expertise in new markets geared towards printed electronics. This is especially true of products where the conductive ink forms a big part of the bill of materials cost. People are looking to reduce the amount of ink they need.'

Electronic product code (EPC) companies have also responded to SI-P1000x as a means to integrate RFID antennas into products.

Printing options
Agfa has developed a screen printing technique for applying SI-P1000x and, although it requires temperatures of 130°C and above to sinter it onto the substrate, this is comparable with standard mechanisms for applying silver flake inks. The company is actively pursuing developing inkjet, flexo, and other application methods for SI-P1000x to increase the choice for customers.

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Growing activity in OLED lighting design represented in Japan

The growing body of lighting designers aiming to break OLEDs into the market presented some of their best product designs and concepts at Lighting Japan in January 2014.

A highlight of the event was Bridge, which consisted of a selection of artistic design pieces from the likes of Zaha Hadid. Included among the lighting designs was an OLED chandelier from French firm Blackbody.

There were also firms displaying more standardised product designs based on OLEDs. Panasonic and Philips exhibited a range of OLED lighting products on their stands, while Lumiotec took an extensive stand space to present a wide range of uses for OLED.

The 2014 edition of Lighting Japan incorporated the 6th LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo, as well as the 4th LED/OLED Light Expo. The addition of Design Lighting Tokyo to the expo's co-located shows has helped introduce OLEDs, with inventive designs grabbing the attention of important companies and organisations in the lighting value chain.

Growth
The event aims to build its representation of the OLED community in the coming years. With a substantial amount of OLED lighting activity taking place in Europe, organiser Reed Exhibitions is keen to reach over to firms in the supply chain based in Europe.

Hajime Suzuki, overseas director at Reed Exhibitions, comments: 'Our goal is to make the event truly international. Lots of lighting designers are outside of Japan, and we want to attract a greater number of designers from countries like Germany and the US to the event.'

One possibility for future editions of the event is to host the international meetings for relevant organisations, co-locating the group meetings with the event in Tokyo.

Organisation meetings
A similar approach has been taken with other associations and consortia in the printed and organic electronics industry. The International Electrotechnical Commission's (IEC's) Technical Committee 119 (IEC-TC 119) for standards in printed electronics will host its next meeting alongside the Manufacturing for Printed Electronics Conference in Cambridge, UK, in March 2014.

In January 2014, the Organic Electronics Association held a working group meeting, organised in partnership with the Japan Advanced Printed Electronics Technology Research Association at the Printable Electronics 2014 event in Tokyo.

Lighting Japan 2015 will be held on 14-16 January 2015 at Tokyo Big Sight.

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OLED partners unveil all-plastic display

UK firm Plastic Logic and OLED materials supplier Novaled have announced a partnership in the development of truly flexible, all-plastic displays.

The partners have unveiled the first all-plastic OLED display demonstrator produced with an industrialised manufacturing process.

All-plastic OLED displays would be ideally placed to achieve the bendability, robustness and light weights that will be needed for future flexible devices in consumer electronics and the fast-growing wearable technology markets.

All-plastic OLED
The demonstrator was unveiled at the Flextech Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on 6 February 2014.

Plastic Logic CEO Indro Mukerjee states: 'Flexible electronics is a reality, already proven through the development and manufacture of plastic, bendable displays and sensors. For the first time a fully organic, plastic, flexible AMOLED demonstration has been achieved with a real industrial fabrication process.

'This marks the start of a revolution in wearable products, the next frontier in consumer electronics - 2014 will be the year that wearable technology starts to go mainstream.'

The two partners plan to release a series of technology demonstrators during 2014, which will be part of each company's development of partnerships to enable the market for truly flexible, unbreakable AMOLED displays - a market segment forecast to be worth over $10 billion by 2020 (IHS 2013 report).

Partnership programme
The partnership will combine Plastic Logic's plastic, or organic, thin-film transistor (OTFT) - a technology that has been proven in a high-yield production process - with Novaled's OLED materials, already a feature in commercially available OLED-based products.

Gildas Sorin, CEO of Novaled, adds: Novaled has been developing its leadership in the doping of OLED devices. When applied to the OTFT Novaled technologies and materials will play a driving role in fully organic displays as well as in opening the fields of new organic devices.

Plastic Logic has already established a partner programme to work with leading global display makers and consumer electronics companies to enable flexible, plastic OLED supply chains, through licensing and technology transfer to mass-volume producers.

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UK scientists develop for nanosilver circuit printing onto garments

The UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has developed a new technique for directly printing circuits onto fabrics to create robust, functional wearable electronics.

Importantly the new system can be applied directly to finished garments with nanosilver bonding to the cloth and encapsulating fibres as thin as 20nm in diameter. This approach offers several benefits compared to existing weave-in methods for creating smart garments.

NPL's project leader Chris Hunt says: 'The technique has many potential appications. One particularly exciting area is wearable sensors and antennas. It offers particular benefits over the "weaving in" approach, as the conductive pattern and flexibility ensure that sensors are always positioned in the same location on the body.'

The printed circuits produced using NPL's new technology demonstrate good physical qualities, adhesion and flexibility, working even when the cloth has been refolded and rearranged many times, combined with good electrical conductivity.

US start-up to produce silver ink for drawing circuits

Two former academics are developing a silver conductive ink that could make designing circuits as easy as drawing a picture with a pen. Through their start-up company, Electroninks, the researchers are planning to cash in on the commercial viability of the ink, developed during their time at the University of Illinois.

The pair is using online crowdsourcing via Kickstarter to secure backing for Electroninks, and such has been the enthusiasm that it has quickly exceeded its investment target of $85,000 (€62,000).

To make the technology as easy as possible to use, the ink is being made available in a rollerball pen, Circuit Scribe. It is designed to integrate fully with existing development hardware like Makey Makey and Audrino. Electroninks believes the product will find multiple uses in areas such as education.

Electroninks has several development projects in the pipeline, including allowing the ink to be deposited using an inkjet printer and a second pen that would allow resistors to be drawn into ink circuits.

Academics in Taiwan secure OLED imprinting patent in USA

A team of Taiwanese researchers have been granted a US patent for a new imprinting process for OLED production.

Details of the new production process has not been revealed, though in their application for the patent the authors state that it will allow large-area, full-colour, high colour rendering OLEDs to be produced. It will also overcome some of the shortcomings of existing vacuum evaporation, spin coating and injection printing production processes.

The group from the National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan initially filed the patent in 2010.

FlexTech connects companies to US Army development funds

US plastic electronics trade body FlexTech has received a mandate to distribute $3.5 million (€2.6 million) to companies to develop flexible and printed electronics in 2014. The funds have since been allocated to a number of flexible electronics development projects, in partnership with the US military.

The money is being provided by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). In late 2013, FlexTech announced that military support had also been secured for two separate development projects, involving member companies American Semiconductor and Soligie.

Smart propaganda
Minnesota-based Soligie will design and make scatterable media cards with 30 seconds of audio recording, to be mounted on flyers distributed by US forces during information campaigns targeting foreign civilians and enemy combatants. The digital flyers will be based around an existing integrated circuit made by American Semiconductor and will need to be robust enough to withstand the stresses of printing and airborne distribution.

The US Special Operations Command (Socom) is providing roughly half the $527,000 (€386,000) budget for the project which will be delivering prototypes by the middle of 2014.

Customisable biosensor
The second project will see Soligie leading a coalition of companies to develop a lightweight integrated biosensor platform using plastic electronics technology. The customisable sensor package will utilise wearable plastic electronics components for vital sign, structural health and environmental monitoring, as well as point-of-care diagnostics. This will have immediate applications for soldiers in a warzone, and could have a wider role in wearable electronics markets.

The platform will be composed of a power source, a microcontroller, a display and a wireless communications channel. American Semiconductor will also provide the printed electronics for this $335,000 (€245,000) project, with the flexible batteries coming from Imprint Energy and Boeing supplying test services. The ARL is providing 45% of the funding.

John Heitzinger, president of Soligie, said: 'We look forward to delivering these novel devices and, with our ecosystem partners, demonstrating the value of printed and flexible electronics. Support of these projects by the FlexTech Alliance, ARL and Socom is vital to the development and commercialisation of printed electronics technologies, enabling companies in the space to focus efforts on meaningful prototypes.'

Primary applications
For the 2014 programme, the ARL has identified four key applications it is looking support:

- The ARL wants to see work developing a means to process plastic electronics and circuits on to surfaces in 3D
- Production of portable power solutions, like batteries and chargers, for use by soldiers
- The ARL is also keen to see the development of a method for integrating hybrid silicon CMOS components with sensors
- Any other product - such as thin-film batteries, sensors, display screens, solid-state lighting, superconductors or photovoltaics - that can have military applications.

Access to the funding will be controlled by FlexTech via its Request for Proposalsprogramme. Industry will be expected to share the cost for any development work with the ARL.

The US military has been quick to embrace printed electronics, but much of the technology could very easily be translated to commercial applications in the flexible electronics market. The contracts FlexTech's members have secured highlight the public sector backing in accelerating this development.

In welcoming the opportunities federal funding will give the industry in 2014, FlexTech CEO Michael Ciesinski says: 'FlexTech is excited to embark on a programme with the ARL; tool development, novel power sources and sensors, and integrated demonstrators provide a rich opportunity for companies to consider and propose innovative projects.'

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FlexTech connects companies to US Army development funds

US plastic electronics trade body FlexTech has received a mandate to distribute $3.5 million (€2.6 million) to companies to develop flexible and printed electronics in 2014. The funds have since been allocated to a number of flexible electronics development projects, in partnership with the US military.

The money is being provided by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). In late 2013, FlexTech announced that military support had also been secured for two separate development projects, involving member companies American Semiconductor and Soligie.

Smart propaganda
Minnesota-based Soligie will design and make scatterable media cards with 30 seconds of audio recording, to be mounted on flyers distributed by US forces during information campaigns targeting foreign civilians and enemy combatants. The digital flyers will be based around an existing integrated circuit made by American Semiconductor and will need to be robust enough to withstand the stresses of printing and airborne distribution.

The US Special Operations Command (Socom) is providing roughly half the $527,000 (€386,000) budget for the project which will be delivering prototypes by the middle of 2014.

Customisable biosensor
The second project will see Soligie leading a coalition of companies to develop a lightweight integrated biosensor platform using plastic electronics technology. The customisable sensor package will utilise wearable plastic electronics components for vital sign, structural health and environmental monitoring, as well as point-of-care diagnostics. This will have immediate applications for soldiers in a warzone, and could have a wider role in wearable electronics markets.

The platform will be composed of a power source, a microcontroller, a display and a wireless communications channel. American Semiconductor will also provide the printed electronics for this $335,000 (€245,000) project, with the flexible batteries coming from Imprint Energy and Boeing supplying test services. The ARL is providing 45% of the funding.

John Heitzinger, president of Soligie, said: 'We look forward to delivering these novel devices and, with our ecosystem partners, demonstrating the value of printed and flexible electronics. Support of these projects by the FlexTech Alliance, ARL and Socom is vital to the development and commercialisation of printed electronics technologies, enabling companies in the space to focus efforts on meaningful prototypes.'

Primary applications
For the 2014 programme, the ARL has identified four key applications it is looking support:

- The ARL wants to see work developing a means to process plastic electronics and circuits on to surfaces in 3D
- Production of portable power solutions, like batteries and chargers, for use by soldiers
- The ARL is also keen to see the development of a method for integrating hybrid silicon CMOS components with sensors
- Any other product - such as thin-film batteries, sensors, display screens, solid-state lighting, superconductors or photovoltaics - that can have military applications.

Access to the funding will be controlled by FlexTech via its Request for Proposalsprogramme. Industry will be expected to share the cost for any development work with the ARL.

The US military has been quick to embrace printed electronics, but much of the technology could very easily be translated to commercial applications in the flexible electronics market. The contracts FlexTech's members have secured highlight the public sector backing in accelerating this development.

In welcoming the opportunities federal funding will give the industry in 2014, FlexTech CEO Michael Ciesinski says: 'FlexTech is excited to embark on a programme with the ARL; tool development, novel power sources and sensors, and integrated demonstrators provide a rich opportunity for companies to consider and propose innovative projects.'

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Kovio purchase could see NFC-readable ThinFilm smart label by 2015

Printed electronics label firm Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) has made a potentially critical strategic acquisition, leading to full integration with smartphones, by buying Kovio.

This move secures rights to the Kovio NFC Barcode, a near-field communication (NFC) protocol for printed electronics that is widely compatible with smartphones. The Kovio technology is supported commercially by the Google Android operating system. By combining Kovio's NFC technology with its own, Thinfilm will be able to ensure that its printed electronic labels will be able to interact with the 400 million NFC-enabled smart phones now in circulation; a figure set to top 1 billion in 2015.

Thinfilm has announced that it expects to have developed NFC-readable smart labels before the close of 2014.

A centre for development
Under the €2.7 million deal, Thinfilm has taken over all of the US firm's technology, intellectual property and its 5570m2 manufacturing and development facilities in San Jose, California. Showing clearly where its business priorities lie, the Kovio facilities will now be converted into a NFC Innovation Centre, giving Thinfilm a base within easy distance of Silicon Valley's biggest technology firms. As part of the deal 20 former Kovio employees will now work for Thinfilm at the new centre.

Davor Sutija, CEO of ThinFilm, says: 'We're launching the Thinfilm NFC Innovation Center with a strong NFC team, significantly expanded intellectual property, and pilot manufacturing. Adding NFC to our printed electronic memory and sensor platform will allow the seamless exchange of information between Thinfilm's Smart Labels and NFC-enabled phones and tablets.'

The internet of things
Technologists believe that by integrating Thinfilm's growing range of printed electronic sensor labels with NFC connectivity supplied by Kovio, the firm may be able to lay a vital foundation for the 'Internet of things.' The ease and low cost at which printed electronic sensor labels can be produced means this can be expanded to include a wide range of previously 'dumb' items.

Kovio's electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags will also be added to the product portfolio of its Norwegian acquirer. This will reinforce Thinfilm's position in another future market for smart labels.

In October 2013, Thinfilm demonstrated its first commercially available smart label. It incorporates a sensor designed to monitor temperature in food packaging applications. In January 2014, the firm announced that it was licencing a second printed electronic label sensing technology to corporate security suppliers Brady.

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Big screen ambitions for OLED displays

In January 2012, there was a rush of excitement surrounding the OLED industry. Once the preserve of the mobile phone market, suddenly the technology was being featured in large-size televisions. Twelve months later, the expectation is still there; the products however, are not.

At the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 (CES) in Las Vegas, US, LG unveiled the first 55-inch OLED television, On a stand not so far away, Samsung surprised by also unveiling a 55-inch OLED television. Media outlets predicted a war between the two companies that would revolutionise the way we watch television, all on OLED screens.

Both LG and Samsung stated their products would be available in 2012, but delays and silence on the latest developments have followed. Since then however, only LG has started taking orders for its television from consumers in Korea, with no details on a worldwide launch.

In the period since, a number of other manufacturers have seen the importance of OLED televisions in the industry. Struggling Japanese manufacturers Sony and Panasonic have announced a collaboration to produce manufacturing techniques for low-cost OLED televisions, while Taiwanese company AUO is also looking at launching a television using the technology.

Ultra HD

With OLED products being developed, LCD is moving back up the agenda. Rumours that both Samsung and LG had decided instead to focus on Super HD devices, and abandon their OLED programmes, in televisions at least - appeared in Australian media before being filtered around the world.

The truth seems to be that, while both companies will look at launching Super HD products, this is down to demand, rather than admitting defeat with OLED. While the organic electronic technology develops further, both companies are not likely to stand still and watch their potential market share erode, as others launch Super HD.

Problems producing the numbers of displays for televisions was suggested as a possible explanation why the technology has not made it to market yet.

For Samsung especially, this could be a factor in the delay. The company launched its new smartphone, the Galaxy SIII in Q2 2012, and was reported to be struggling to meet demand of the displays. As this is a main revenue stream for the company, diverting attention away to manufacture larger, more expensive and limited large-panel OLED displays was not an option.

Whatever the reasons, with more launches at the recent CES 2013, there is obvious interest in the market, and with increased competition, expect the two companies' leading the charge for OLED televisions to ensure their products are on the market this year.

This article appears in full in Volume 5, issue 4 of +Plastic Electronics magazine. To read this article, along with more high-value, exclusive content, subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine

IEC printed electronics standards committee to meet at new UK event

Further development work on establishing a series of international technical standards for printed electronics will happen in March 2014, when the third plenary meeting of the International Electrotechnical Commission's new Technical Committee 119 (IEC-TC 119) is held in Cambridge, UK.

The three-day discussion will be part ofPrinted Electronics Week (17-21 March), which includes the first Manufacturing for Printed Electronics Conference and visits to printed electronics organisations in the Cambridge area.

The Manufacturing for Printed Electronics Conference will be an international event covering the recent advances in fabrication techniques and materials for printable electronics. There will be specific focus on making the transition from 'Lab to Fab' and integrating devices into a final product. Its co-location with the IEC meeting will give UK businesses an opportunity to network with the international committee members, representing businesses across the printable and organic electronics value chain.

Standardisation
IEC-TC 119 was established early in 2013. Composed of technical experts drawn from across the world it has working groups for materials, printing performance and the equipment used in printing electronics. IEC standards are widely used for manufacturers and importers to demonstrate the performance and safety of their products. Once agreed, these standards should help harmonise technical parameters for printable electronics.

However on its current schedule the committee is not planning to publish any final standards until November 2016.

Developing a set of IEC standards for printed electronics will be an important step in the maturing of this sector. IEC documents are widely adopted to demonstrate regulatory compliance with legislation in the most major markets, including the EU, North America, Japan, South Korea and, increasingly, China. In Europe, for example, it is estimated that over 95% of consumer products use a standard derived from an IEC publication to demonstrate their safety for CE marking purposes.

Having a single standard for a process or piece of technology is very useful for component and equipment manufacturers with a global footprint, ensuring that their products and procedures will receive acceptance wherever they are traded. It also significantly cuts costs for regulatory compliance procedures, which can act as a major market barrier, especially for small innovative organisations which lack their own in-house expertise.

The call for papers for the Manufacturing for Printed Electronics Conference is open until Wednesday 29 January 2014.

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Smart Watches Just the Beginning: New White Paper Outlines Markets For ‘Truly Wearable Electronics’

Forget iPhones and tablets. The latest product shaking up the consumer electronics market is the smart watch, most notably the Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch, released in September 2013. Having been building steadily since 2012, consumer anticipation for wearable technology has now reached fever pitch, with global firms such as Sony and Apple also rumoured to be launching their own rival products.

Designed to interact with our existing array of electronic devices, the smart watch positions itself as a more convenient way to send messages, make calls, take photos and check emails. But just how wearable and convenient are these new devices? Smart watches may have brought wearable electronics technology closer to the market and into the homes of consumers, but are they really the start of the wearable electronics revolution?

The answer to this question seems to be: not quite yet. Described as a 'prototype masquerading as a product' by Samsung's own Mobile and Telecoms director, the consensus among consumers and retailers alike is that the Galaxy Gear smart watches have fallen short of providing truly wearable technology. By offering smartphone capabilities but limiting them to a watch format, the new products aren't giving an accurate picture of the potential of the wearable electronics market. However, the products do offer a glimpse of what's to come; technology which can deliver on the elusive promise of true 'wearability.'

Smart Watches: the start of a wearable electronics revolution?, a free whitepaper from +Plastic Electronics, delves deeper into the wearable electronics market place opportunities for manufacturers and retailers. From wellbeing and fitness to healthcare, there are numerous opportunities spanning multiple sectors for this new technology. Straps informing the wearer of their heart rate during exercise and devices which monitor a patient's vital signs throughout the day are just two examples of the potential this new technology has to offer in enhancing consumer's lives.

The whitepaper reveals that integral to this exciting age of wearable electronics will be conformal, flexible components seamlessly integrated into discreet and intuitive products. In order to realise these products, a core technology toolkit is required - and these technologies are in the process of coming to market. A number of start-up companies, including US-based mc10 and UK-based technology provider Plastic Logic, are currently developing the flexible displays, sensors, and other components required to enable wearable technology.Smart watches: the Start of a Wearable Electronics Revolution? explores the current state of this technology and tracks its progress in the industry.

The whitepaper also reveals the key opportunities the wearable electronics market offers to manufacturers and retailers.

Click here to download Smart Watches: the Start of a Wearable Electronics Revolution. 

Alan Hodgson, Printed Electronics standards committee chair

In 2012, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) launched a committee to develop standards for the emerging area of printed electronics. The TC119 committee is due to publish the first of its final standards by the end of 2016.

Alan Hodgson, technical development manager at 3M, is chair of the committee for TC 119. He provides an update on the standards development for +Plastic Electronics.

The work of TC 119 is progressing well and the committee is starting to establish some formal structure. TC 119 now has four working groups (WG), with three other groups that could yet achieve that status. These groups are now active and conducting meetings separate to the plenary sessions. As an example, WG3 (Equipment) and WG4 (Printability) have arranged a meeting together at a common location in Tokyo.

Work groups
WG2 (Materials) is currently working in two major areas. The first is standards for printed electronics substrates, with the focus currently being on glass and polymer media. I would urge readers with interest in other substrates to look into this work and consider involvement.

WG3 (Equipment) is setting standards for both contact and non-contact fabrication. Current work includes dimensions of printing plates and the patterns thereon, and performance metrics for inkjet heads in printed electronics applications.

Involvement in international standards activity is organised by country. TC 119 currently has 12 nations actively participating, with one more currently seeking association. There are also seven nations observing this work. Two of these have significant printed electronics programmes, so it is hoped that they will soon apply for participation member status.

Next meeting
The next full meeting of TC 119 will take place in Cambridge, UK. It will cover three full days, on 17-19 March 2014. The meeting will be followed by a one-day conference on 'Manufacturing for Printed Electronics' on 20 March, and visits to local institutions on 21 March. The agenda forms the UK's first Printed Electronics Week.

The Manufacturing for Printed Electronics Conference will be an international event covering the recent advances in fabrication techniques and materials for printable electronics. There will be specific focus on making the transition from 'lab to fab' and integrating devices into a final product.

Alan Hodgson, technical development manager at 3M, is chair of the committee for TC 119. Image: 3M

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