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Gravure's role in tomorrow's printed electronics
If any print process has high potential to make printed electronics a reality, it's gravure. Some of the latest advancements toward that end as well as new research into gravure's potential role for tomorrow's printed electronics was a highlight of Friday's session at the PLGA Operational Conference in Miami.
But first, here are a couple shots from the Thursday night tabletop exhibition and reception. As for the food, I loved that epitome of oxymorons, the Jumbo Shrimp.
Attendees to the PLGA's 11th Operational Conference in Miami last week visit the Comexi North America stand at the event's tabletop exhibition on Thursday night.
Examples of Karlville's finished packaging converted and filled at the company's Miami facilitiy.
Matik North America's Steve Liebin talks about the company's OMET printing presses with a PLGA attendee and potential customer.
Now, to get back to the topic at hand...Jay Sperry, a faculty member in the Dept. of Graphic Communications at Clemson University, covered current benchmarking studies into gravure, flexo and screen for printing electronics. He says collaboration is definitely needed among vendors, material suppliers and printers to make printed electronics a reality because the slightest defect basically equals failure of the device.
Their studies have so far centered on ink-film thickness, smoothness of the ink film, pinholing, substrate compatibility and drying requirements--all as they related to gravure. Nineteen engravings (from 1-70 microns) were tested in a single pass. A 15-micron engraving was the thinnest to achieve a consistent ink-film thickness of 1.6 microns. One example of a 7-micron engraving yielded a finished, thin ink film but with 34-micron-sized holes in it. And as mentioned above, holes (defects) mean failure.
This spring, students at Clemson will begin studies of all types of flexographic plates to see what achieves the finest lines possible.
Bill Ray, senior research fellow with Nth Degree Technologies in Tempe, AZ, brought up two major problems facing investigators in this fledging field. In terms of materials, nothing that really works seems to be available now. In manufacturing, "people are playing with inkjet, pad printing, flexo and gravure. However, without the materials problem being resolved, much doubt remains" about the viability of truly printed electronics.
Ray did show off a folding carton for Crest White Strips with an all-printed, flashing Crest logo. The box uses no traditional electronics and has a reported 10,000-hr lifetime. The package is expected to hit store shelves this spring.
Alejandro de la Fuente, a doctoral student in electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California-Berkeley, described the results of current research into gravure applications as well. Silver-flake inks appear to allow much thinner line resolution, and that this is not equally clear using nanoparticle inks. Ink viscosity also needs to be carefully tuned. Too high and the doctor blade is lifted; too low and the image bleeds after transfer.
Because the goal of any electronics manufacturing method is to build something that uses the least amount of electricity at the lowest cost, de la Fuente showed how their work has achieved low-voltage, printed organic transistors using a special smoothing process. The result: a sub-10V operation in printed devices.
So far, current research seems to show the best promise for printed electronics through gravure. It's consistent quality, micron-level engravings and line work, and integrated digital accuracy just may prove the key to tomorrow's breakthrough technologies.
Gravure's role in tomorrow's printed electronics
March 3, 2008
If any print process has high potential to make printed electronics a reality, it's gravure. Some of the latest advancements toward that end as well as new research into gravure's potential role for tomorrow's printed electronics was a highlight of Friday's session at the PLGA Operational Conference in Miami.But first, here are a couple shots from the Thursday night tabletop exhibition and reception. As for the food, I loved that epitome of oxymorons, the Jumbo Shrimp.
Attendees to the PLGA's 11th Operational Conference in Miami last week visit the Comexi North America stand at the event's tabletop exhibition on Thursday night.
Examples of Karlville's finished packaging converted and filled at the company's Miami facilitiy.
Matik North America's Steve Liebin talks about the company's OMET printing presses with a PLGA attendee and potential customer.
Now, to get back to the topic at hand...Jay Sperry, a faculty member in the Dept. of Graphic Communications at Clemson University, covered current benchmarking studies into gravure, flexo and screen for printing electronics. He says collaboration is definitely needed among vendors, material suppliers and printers to make printed electronics a reality because the slightest defect basically equals failure of the device.
Their studies have so far centered on ink-film thickness, smoothness of the ink film, pinholing, substrate compatibility and drying requirements--all as they related to gravure. Nineteen engravings (from 1-70 microns) were tested in a single pass. A 15-micron engraving was the thinnest to achieve a consistent ink-film thickness of 1.6 microns. One example of a 7-micron engraving yielded a finished, thin ink film but with 34-micron-sized holes in it. And as mentioned above, holes (defects) mean failure.
This spring, students at Clemson will begin studies of all types of flexographic plates to see what achieves the finest lines possible.
Bill Ray, senior research fellow with Nth Degree Technologies in Tempe, AZ, brought up two major problems facing investigators in this fledging field. In terms of materials, nothing that really works seems to be available now. In manufacturing, "people are playing with inkjet, pad printing, flexo and gravure. However, without the materials problem being resolved, much doubt remains" about the viability of truly printed electronics.
Ray did show off a folding carton for Crest White Strips with an all-printed, flashing Crest logo. The box uses no traditional electronics and has a reported 10,000-hr lifetime. The package is expected to hit store shelves this spring.
Alejandro de la Fuente, a doctoral student in electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California-Berkeley, described the results of current research into gravure applications as well. Silver-flake inks appear to allow much thinner line resolution, and that this is not equally clear using nanoparticle inks. Ink viscosity also needs to be carefully tuned. Too high and the doctor blade is lifted; too low and the image bleeds after transfer.
Because the goal of any electronics manufacturing method is to build something that uses the least amount of electricity at the lowest cost, de la Fuente showed how their work has achieved low-voltage, printed organic transistors using a special smoothing process. The result: a sub-10V operation in printed devices.
So far, current research seems to show the best promise for printed electronics through gravure. It's consistent quality, micron-level engravings and line work, and integrated digital accuracy just may prove the key to tomorrow's breakthrough technologies.
Posted by Mark Spaulding on March 3, 2008 | Comments (1)
Industries: Printed Electronics/RFID
March 4, 2008
In response to: Gravure's role in tomorrow's printed electronics
terry@hanitausa.com commented:
In response to: Gravure's role in tomorrow's printed electronics
terry@hanitausa.com commented:
Hi. Can I find out what the thinness line width and space width was in this exercise? The application is HF antennae.
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