Printing Technology for Ubiquitous Electronics

July 16, 2010

Technology for printing relatively small circuits such as are used in RFID tags, smart cards and wirelessly connected sensors is analyzed with respect to cost and suitability for the requirements of these devices. A technique for transfer printing is described, which is able to place virtually any electronic component of a form suitable for conventional surface mount processes, but which works also for those which are very thin (30 micrometers or less) and small (160 micrometers or less lateral dimension). The process uses a photosensitive polymer to achieve complete (“digital”) adhesion selectivity at high speed and with solid state control over position at all times.

This was chosen as a Highly Commended Paper at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2011. It was later selected in 2012 for inclusion in the Precision Engineering reading list of Emerald’s Reading ListAssist, a peer-reviewed reading list compiled by faculty experts to facilate teaching and learning.

See the full published article from Circuit World vol. 36, pp. 40-47, 2010 (requires registration and payment) or download the manuscript here.