Presentation on

Flexible Electronics

P R E S E N T E D BY SOURABH KUMAR13ECIEC008

B.TECH, EC, VIII SEMCITM COLLEGE SITAPURA

Outline:

• Introduction to Flexible Electronics• Technologies and Integration Processes• Fabrication Technology• Flexible circuit board• Flexible electronic components• Manufacturing of flexible circuits & device• Material and thickness• Market Growth• Applications• Advantages and disadvantages• Reference & Conclusion

Introduction to Flexible Electronics

• Flexible electronics, also known as flex circuits, is a technology for assembling electronic circuits by mounting electronic devices on flexible plastic substrates.

• FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS can actually be defined as the electronic devices which can be bent and stretched into any shape at any time.

Flexible Electronics A generic large-area electronic structure is composed of :

SubstrateBack-plane Front-plane Encapsulation

TECHNOLOGIES AND INTEGRATION PROCESSES Any manufacturable device has four essential characteristics:

Superior and pre-specified performance, with reproducibility, uniformity, and reliability

High yield to acceptable tolerance Simulations exist for both reverse engineering during development

and right-first-time designProven adequate in-service lifetime.

FABRICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS

Fabrication on sheets by Batch Processing.. On a rigid carrier, facing up and loose; In a tensioning frame, facing up or down; In a frame, facing down and loose

Fabrication On Web by roll-to-roll Processing

Additive Printing

Flexible Circuit boards

Flex circuits are made up of

flexible plastic substrate

usually polyimide, Polyester or

thin sheets of glass

Flexible electronic componentsElectronic components such as transistors are

being made from silicon nanomembrane usually called

TFT’s(thin film transistors).

Flexible resistors & capacitors structures are

shown diagrammatically usually called thin flim resistors

and thin flim capacitors

Resistor Capacitor

Lithium-ion flexible battery

Non volatile Memories

Flexible DisplaysOrganic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are normally

used instead of a back-light for flexible displays.

Manufacturing of flexible circuits & devices

For the manufacturing of flexible electronics “Roll

to Roll” (R2R) processing inkjet printing and soft

lithography process is used.

Steps of R2R processing

Layers materials and their thicknessBase material or substrate

1.Flexible polymer flim2. Polyethylene terephthalate3. Thin glass sheet

12-125 µm

Conductive path

1. Copper foil2. Polyester3. Graphene

200 nm

Market Growth• The market for flexible, printed, and organic large-area electronics

is rapidly growing. Currently estimated at over $200M, the global

market is expected to increase to a $800M market by 2020.

Applications

Automotive field. Space crafts. Foldable displays.

Military. Electronics Devices. Health Care

Displays and Human- machine interaction

Energy management and mobile devices

Wireless systems

Electronics Embedded in the living environment

Flexible solar cells

Flexible outwears

Flexible Electronic products1 3

2

Stretchable Lithium ion battery

Developed by University of llinois at Urbana

Flexible Devices

ADVANTAGES

light weightSmaller dimensions requiredSpace savingFoldable and bendableIncreased circuitry densityWide Viewing Angle

DISADVANTAGES

Initial investment may be expensive

Integration of components would be challenge for engineers

Precision machines requiredLifetimeManufacturing

ConclusionFlexible electronics in future will play a part in

field of security, entertainment and may lead to

innovative applications

The demand for flexible electronic products at

present may not be noticed but upto 2020 there would

be huge demand and preference will be given to the

flexible products in market

References

• [1] www.wikkipedia.org.in/flexibleelectronics

• [2] "Printed Circuit Techniques" by Cledo Brunetti and Roger W. Curtis (National

Bureau of Standards Circular 468 first issued 15 November 1947)

• [3] Gleskova, H., Wagner, S., Gasˇpar k, V. & Kova´cˇ, P. 150uC Amorphous

Silicon thin-Film Transistor technology for Polyimide Substrates. J.Electrochem.

Soc.148, G370-G374 (2001)

• [4] Cotema, coating machinery GmbH www.cotema.de

Queries if any???