David Savastano, Editor03.06.18
Interest in flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) is growing quickly, as businesses see the potential benefits of combining silicon-based electronics and flexible systems. 2018FLEX, organized by FlexTech, a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, recently highlighted some of the interesting advances being made in the field.
Held from Feb. 12-15 in Monterey, CA, 2018FLEX was the largest event in the show’s 17-year history, with more than 600 attendees, 100 market and technical talks and 60 exhibitors. Show organizers said that. Feedback on the program was excellent, as was the fit with MEMS & Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC), which was co-located this the conference this year.
“In my view it has been phenomenal,” said FlexTech president Michael Ciesinski. “The feedback we are getting from traffic on the exhibit floor is really heartening. We are especially happy with the opportunity we presented for our MEMS and Sensor group to interact with our flexible technology group.”
The conference began with four short courses on its opening day, and then moved into its three-day program. The first Plenary program began with “2018FLEX Introduction & Welcome” by Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI.
“We are creating opportunities for flexible electronics entities to connect and collaborate,” Manocha said. “The combination of flexible substrates, printed components and thin interconnects have great potential in medical and infrastructure applications, while MEMS and sensors are game-changing.”
Paul Gagnon, executive director, research and analysis for IHS Markit, talked about “Market Opportunities for Flexible Displays.”
“AMOLED is the key display technology for flexible displays, though flexible LCDs are in development,” said Gagnon. “Not all AMOLED is flexible, but the majority will be from 2020. Flexible displays are already in use on mobile phones. We can see benefits for tablets, wearables and TVs, and automotive displays are very intriguing as well. Automotive displays are a rapidly growing segment, and flexible displays enable unique display configurations and benefits. These automotive displays must last more than 15 years.”
Catching the attention of end-users is a challenge for smartphone manufacturers, who are seeing consumers holding onto their phones for longer.
“Smartphones are good enough for longer now, and incremental hardware updates are hard to communicate to end-users,” Gagnon reported. “The iPhone 6 is still the third-most used phone.”
Foldable displays are coming, according to Gagnon. “We believe the first foldable displays will be integrated into a product by the end of 2018 or early 2019,” he observed.
Rikky Muller, co-founder and CTO, Cortera Neurotechnologies, covered “Minimally Invasive Wireless Neural Interfaces.” Muller noted that flexible systems would be ideal to replace rigid in-plants.
“Solutions today are large and rigid,” Muller said. “Flexible technologies enable the future of in-plants, and connectivity is important. We need materials and form factors that cause no reaction in the human body at all.”
Tatsuo Ogawa, Panasonic’s director, manufacturing technology & engineering, then discussed “Market and Technology Overview of Li-ion Battery.”
“How to power FHE technology is a great issue.,” Ogawa noted. “There could be trillions of sensors needed for the Internet of Things , and FHE has a great potential for home IoT. Smaller, thinner, lighter and low cost batteries are key drivers. Flex technologies have already been inside Li-ion battery manufacturing.”
The second Plenary session followed, beginning with Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist for exploration technology with NASA Ames Research Center, who focused on “In-Space Manufacturing: A Multimaterial Fab Lab for the International Space Station.” Seth Coe Sullivan, VP and CTO of Luminit, followed with “Automotive Head-Up Displays in the Era of Driverless Cars,” a look at Head-Up Displays (HUD).
“Heads-up display features (HUD) are safety features creating a man-machine interface,” said Coe-Sullivan. “HUD components can be manufactured roll-to-roll. Flexible, roll-to-roll, plastic thin optics will play a major role in enabling these trends.”
Greg Fritz, materials scientist at Draper, covered “Printing Thermally Stable Conductors Using Low Temperature Processing for Power Electronics, RF, & UAV Applications,” and Peter Fischer, Thin Film Electronics COO, closed the Plenary talks with “Commercializing Flexible Electronics.”
“ NFC solutions allow consumer engagement directly with the brands,” Fischer said. He noted that the company is scaling up to billion-unit volumes.
Outside of the Plenary sessions, there were a number of highlights among the presenters. The panel discussion, “Identifying Opportunities for Small Businesses to Partner with the DoD in FHE Innovations,” was moderated by Joseph Kunze of S12 Technologies, and featured panelists Tracy Frost, director, DoD Manufacturing Institutes, Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing & Industrial Base Policy; James Zunino, project officer, Army Armament Research, Development, & Engineering Center; Christian Whitchurch, chief scientist, Defense Threat Reduction Agency J9-CBA; James Christensen, Airman Sensing & Assessment portfolio manager, Air Force Research Laboratory Airman Systems Directorate; and Kevin Kluska, program lead for tailored solutions, US Government. They all gave excellent insights into collaborating with the US Department of Defense.
Mike Hack of Universal Display discussed the development of organic vapor jet printing. “ OLED TVs outperform LCDs,” Hack noted. “Organic vapor jet printing is maskless and solvent-less printing, and is ideal for large area TV.”
Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) said that he believes OLEDs will overtake LCDs in smartphones by 2021. Young also discussed the possibilities of foldable displays
“Samsung will be the first to launch foldable displays,” Young said. “If panel manufacturers can produce foldable OLEDs at sufficient yields to bring down costs and prices and brands can develop products that unleash the form factor advantages of OLEDs and better communicate the performance and power benefits of OLEDs, the whole OLED supply chain will benefit. We believe the industry will get there given the new life that foldable OLEDs can bring to so many applications. The beginning of the foldable era is now expected in Q4’18/Q1’19.”
The Feb. 14 2018FLEX schedule featured sessions on Health Monitors, RF & Security, Health Monitoring Systems, Flexible Electronics Applications I and II, Direct White & 3D Printing I and II, and FE Tools & Methods.
Azar Alizadeh of GE Global Research discussed research on a microfluidics patch.
“There are a lot of groups developing applications for electrolytes and sweat,” Alizadeh reported. “We developed a microfluidics patch with a printed sensor and made all of our connectors with printed technology. Sweat fills the gap first, then flows laterally to microchannels and sensors.”
David Schwartz of PARC, a Xerox Company, offered insight into PARC’s work with the University of California - San Diego on a mouthguard sensor that analyzes saliva.
“This is an application that made sense for flexible electronics,” Schwartz reported. “Saliva is ideal for testing as it is non-invasive. We made a label to affix to the mouthguard. It can sense glucose, lactate and uric acid. The sensor has to be encapsulated to protect the electronics from the saliva and features a two-layer screenprinted IC.
Linh Le of Bonbouton focused on monitoring diabetes through the use of temperature sensors for the foot.
“Thirty million people in the US suffer from diabetes, at a cost of $322 billion annually,”Le said. “Skin temperature monitoring reduces the risk of foot ulceration in high risk patients. We developed a flat insole with sensors. The system can take the temperature throughout the day and communicate it wirelessly.”
Janos Veres of PARC, a Xerox Company, discusses the capabilities of smart labels .
“We can customize smart labels to monitor different aspects. An additive platform is very powerful for this,” said Veres. “Hybrid smart labels have printed sensors, an antenna and bare die chip, and can either be RF powered or add a battery. A printed gas sensor network is an offshoot. It can determine where leaks are occurring, and what gases are present. We are working to reduce the footprint of these chips to be more flexible and less weight. We created a new inkjet prototyping platform, and we are using carbon nanotube-based sensors with extrusion techniques.”
2018FLEX concluded on Feb. 15 with eight sessions and 40 presentations, reporting on topics ranging from Emerging Capabilities, Standards & Reliability, Flexible Electronics Manufacturing, Sensors & Power, Substrates, FHE Chip Integration, Conductors, Next Gen Advancements, and Process Controls
Held from Feb. 12-15 in Monterey, CA, 2018FLEX was the largest event in the show’s 17-year history, with more than 600 attendees, 100 market and technical talks and 60 exhibitors. Show organizers said that. Feedback on the program was excellent, as was the fit with MEMS & Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC), which was co-located this the conference this year.
“In my view it has been phenomenal,” said FlexTech president Michael Ciesinski. “The feedback we are getting from traffic on the exhibit floor is really heartening. We are especially happy with the opportunity we presented for our MEMS and Sensor group to interact with our flexible technology group.”
The conference began with four short courses on its opening day, and then moved into its three-day program. The first Plenary program began with “2018FLEX Introduction & Welcome” by Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI.
“We are creating opportunities for flexible electronics entities to connect and collaborate,” Manocha said. “The combination of flexible substrates, printed components and thin interconnects have great potential in medical and infrastructure applications, while MEMS and sensors are game-changing.”
Paul Gagnon, executive director, research and analysis for IHS Markit, talked about “Market Opportunities for Flexible Displays.”
“AMOLED is the key display technology for flexible displays, though flexible LCDs are in development,” said Gagnon. “Not all AMOLED is flexible, but the majority will be from 2020. Flexible displays are already in use on mobile phones. We can see benefits for tablets, wearables and TVs, and automotive displays are very intriguing as well. Automotive displays are a rapidly growing segment, and flexible displays enable unique display configurations and benefits. These automotive displays must last more than 15 years.”
Catching the attention of end-users is a challenge for smartphone manufacturers, who are seeing consumers holding onto their phones for longer.
“Smartphones are good enough for longer now, and incremental hardware updates are hard to communicate to end-users,” Gagnon reported. “The iPhone 6 is still the third-most used phone.”
Foldable displays are coming, according to Gagnon. “We believe the first foldable displays will be integrated into a product by the end of 2018 or early 2019,” he observed.
Rikky Muller, co-founder and CTO, Cortera Neurotechnologies, covered “Minimally Invasive Wireless Neural Interfaces.” Muller noted that flexible systems would be ideal to replace rigid in-plants.
“Solutions today are large and rigid,” Muller said. “Flexible technologies enable the future of in-plants, and connectivity is important. We need materials and form factors that cause no reaction in the human body at all.”
Tatsuo Ogawa, Panasonic’s director, manufacturing technology & engineering, then discussed “Market and Technology Overview of Li-ion Battery.”
“How to power FHE technology is a great issue.,” Ogawa noted. “There could be trillions of sensors needed for the Internet of Things , and FHE has a great potential for home IoT. Smaller, thinner, lighter and low cost batteries are key drivers. Flex technologies have already been inside Li-ion battery manufacturing.”
The second Plenary session followed, beginning with Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist for exploration technology with NASA Ames Research Center, who focused on “In-Space Manufacturing: A Multimaterial Fab Lab for the International Space Station.” Seth Coe Sullivan, VP and CTO of Luminit, followed with “Automotive Head-Up Displays in the Era of Driverless Cars,” a look at Head-Up Displays (HUD).
“Heads-up display features (HUD) are safety features creating a man-machine interface,” said Coe-Sullivan. “HUD components can be manufactured roll-to-roll. Flexible, roll-to-roll, plastic thin optics will play a major role in enabling these trends.”
Greg Fritz, materials scientist at Draper, covered “Printing Thermally Stable Conductors Using Low Temperature Processing for Power Electronics, RF, & UAV Applications,” and Peter Fischer, Thin Film Electronics COO, closed the Plenary talks with “Commercializing Flexible Electronics.”
“ NFC solutions allow consumer engagement directly with the brands,” Fischer said. He noted that the company is scaling up to billion-unit volumes.
Outside of the Plenary sessions, there were a number of highlights among the presenters. The panel discussion, “Identifying Opportunities for Small Businesses to Partner with the DoD in FHE Innovations,” was moderated by Joseph Kunze of S12 Technologies, and featured panelists Tracy Frost, director, DoD Manufacturing Institutes, Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing & Industrial Base Policy; James Zunino, project officer, Army Armament Research, Development, & Engineering Center; Christian Whitchurch, chief scientist, Defense Threat Reduction Agency J9-CBA; James Christensen, Airman Sensing & Assessment portfolio manager, Air Force Research Laboratory Airman Systems Directorate; and Kevin Kluska, program lead for tailored solutions, US Government. They all gave excellent insights into collaborating with the US Department of Defense.
Mike Hack of Universal Display discussed the development of organic vapor jet printing. “ OLED TVs outperform LCDs,” Hack noted. “Organic vapor jet printing is maskless and solvent-less printing, and is ideal for large area TV.”
Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) said that he believes OLEDs will overtake LCDs in smartphones by 2021. Young also discussed the possibilities of foldable displays
“Samsung will be the first to launch foldable displays,” Young said. “If panel manufacturers can produce foldable OLEDs at sufficient yields to bring down costs and prices and brands can develop products that unleash the form factor advantages of OLEDs and better communicate the performance and power benefits of OLEDs, the whole OLED supply chain will benefit. We believe the industry will get there given the new life that foldable OLEDs can bring to so many applications. The beginning of the foldable era is now expected in Q4’18/Q1’19.”
The Feb. 14 2018FLEX schedule featured sessions on Health Monitors, RF & Security, Health Monitoring Systems, Flexible Electronics Applications I and II, Direct White & 3D Printing I and II, and FE Tools & Methods.
Azar Alizadeh of GE Global Research discussed research on a microfluidics patch.
“There are a lot of groups developing applications for electrolytes and sweat,” Alizadeh reported. “We developed a microfluidics patch with a printed sensor and made all of our connectors with printed technology. Sweat fills the gap first, then flows laterally to microchannels and sensors.”
David Schwartz of PARC, a Xerox Company, offered insight into PARC’s work with the University of California - San Diego on a mouthguard sensor that analyzes saliva.
“This is an application that made sense for flexible electronics,” Schwartz reported. “Saliva is ideal for testing as it is non-invasive. We made a label to affix to the mouthguard. It can sense glucose, lactate and uric acid. The sensor has to be encapsulated to protect the electronics from the saliva and features a two-layer screenprinted IC.
Linh Le of Bonbouton focused on monitoring diabetes through the use of temperature sensors for the foot.
“Thirty million people in the US suffer from diabetes, at a cost of $322 billion annually,”Le said. “Skin temperature monitoring reduces the risk of foot ulceration in high risk patients. We developed a flat insole with sensors. The system can take the temperature throughout the day and communicate it wirelessly.”
Janos Veres of PARC, a Xerox Company, discusses the capabilities of smart labels .
“We can customize smart labels to monitor different aspects. An additive platform is very powerful for this,” said Veres. “Hybrid smart labels have printed sensors, an antenna and bare die chip, and can either be RF powered or add a battery. A printed gas sensor network is an offshoot. It can determine where leaks are occurring, and what gases are present. We are working to reduce the footprint of these chips to be more flexible and less weight. We created a new inkjet prototyping platform, and we are using carbon nanotube-based sensors with extrusion techniques.”
2018FLEX concluded on Feb. 15 with eight sessions and 40 presentations, reporting on topics ranging from Emerging Capabilities, Standards & Reliability, Flexible Electronics Manufacturing, Sensors & Power, Substrates, FHE Chip Integration, Conductors, Next Gen Advancements, and Process Controls
