PARC Produce First Jet Printed Plastic Semiconductor Array

The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) have developed the first plastic semiconductor transistor array entirely patterned using jet printing.

Jet printing provides an alternative to more conventional vacuum deposition and photolithography for production of active matrix display backplanes. The technology opens up possibilities for wall-sized televisions, unbreakable mobile phone displays, rollable displays and electronic paper.

The jet printing technique uses additive and subtractive methods and can be applied to rigid or flexible substrates. The additive process jets polymer inks onto the substrates only where they are needed. Other materials are deposited everywhere and a mask is jet printed on top. The subtractive process then dissolves away materials that are not protected by the printed mask.

The technology relies upon patent pending computer technology to align the layers. This is especially the case when dealing with flexible substrates.

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