The Shape of Things to Come – Interacting Within the World of Printed Electronics

This presentation will cover the increasingly broad world of printed electronics – including displays, photovoltaics, sensors, batteries, logic and various novel developments. Challenges for implementation, both technological and market-driven, will be highlighted, as well as the enormous opportunities presented by several large market needs. Of particular emphasis will be the link between flexible electronics generally, and the fast-rising implementation of touch-capable technologies. Both flexible devices and touch-enabled devices (which are likely to become a single category of flexible and touch-enabled devices) share many of the challenges associated with printing on multiple layers while maintaining electronics-industry tolerances and performance requirements. Speakers: Mark Fihn Veritas et Visus

Imaging Techniques for Electronics Circuit Production

The use of printing for producing electronic components is often complemented by other methods for creating conductive patterns. Additive and subtractive techniques utilize a range of solutions, from hard tooling to vapor deposition, to laser ablation and stacked assemblies. This presentation will walk through various practices, and how they are selected on their own or combined to make a final product. Key lessons or learning objectives: Imaging means more than printing A different view of looking at making electronics “circuits” (Circuit being the potential for a completed path) Speakers: Chris Walker Preco Inc.

	Inkjet Inroads in Printed Electronics
Printed Electronics, and material deposition using digital technologies, is the next big frontier. With all the money being spent in R&D, this session will cover the technologies/methodologies involved in digitally producing the next generation of electronics. Speakers: Rich Baker Integrity Industrial Ink Jet Integration Chuck Griggs FUJIFILM Dimatix Chris Lynn Xaar Americas

The Power of PEDOT — The Practical Alternative to ITO

The presentation will focus on recently developed PEDOT:PSS formulations that have shown significantly improved performance for use as transparent conductive films. These superior formulations are coated in-line during PET base manufacture with commercially available roll formats in a range of conductivities. The quality and uniformity of the conductive films (less than 1 µ thick) has opened the window for a range of new applications. These films provide high transparency and conductivity with low haze and neutral color, with a feature set that meets the design specifications of touch panels and related applications. We will describe a practical patterning procedure that creates invisible conductive circuits with a process that is simpler, faster and cheaper than current processes for ITO. With cost advantages in materials and processes, and improved design freedom, these new films offer real promise in new application areas that have cost or performance requirements that cannot be met by ITO technologies. Key lessons or learning objectives: Recently developed PEDOT formulations offer real performance benefits with excellent conductivity enabling practical devices today Patterning of invisible conductive circuits provides expanded design freedom with applications in signage and smartphone markets Highly efficient manufacturing and patterning processes make new applications accessible at low cost Speakers: Michael Wobser Eastman Kodak Company

Rapid Prototyping of Capacitive Touch Keypads

A capacitive touch interface works using body capacitance. When a person gets close (proximity sensor) or touches (touch sensor) the "button" or electrode, an increase in the total capacitance is seen by an IC, which then triggers an output. The incorporation of this capacitive touch technology into every day devices such as tablets and mobile phones has created an expectation for all other devices to follow suit. In order to create such an interface, a product developer needs a graphic overlay and some driver electronics. However, the current industry standard for obtaining a graphic overlay and custom driver electronics to prototype a capacitive touch interface is about four to seven weeks, and manufacturing lead times are eight to fourteen weeks after sourcing the components and obtaining all the required approvals. In an environment where product developers are very mindful of their time to market, a four- to seven-week lead time to prototype a touch interface simply does not work. In order to offer a rapid prototyping service, two challenges arose: The first, replacing the silver ink conductive layer that is traditionally printed using a silk screen process with a high-speed digital printing method; the second was to supply custom driver electronics to clients that will power their capacitive touch interfaces, and communicate button presses to the main controller via USB, SPI, I2C, RS-232 or any other custom protocol. RapidKeypads.com has successfully overcome these challenges, and has been providing capacitive touch system design and manufacturing services to its clients. In this presentation, we will provide a brief overview of the challenges faced while developing a capacitive touch system, and how our Fast Touch™ capacitive touch system can be configured to surpass these challenges. Key lessons or learning objectives: Digitally printing circuit layer/graphics Configuring custom driver electronics Creating a custom capacitive touch USB keypad in five days, or less Production adjustments to deal with manufacturing issues Speakers: Jameel Ahed Blue Sparq, Inc.

Through-Hole Printing for Conductive Results

Screen printing that provides conductivity on the front and backside of the switch can be done via through-hole printing. Screen printing gives a manufacturer the ability to through-hole print onto a backing filter paper for membrane switches that require this back-to-back construction. The conductive ink is pushed through a tiny hole to the back of the substrate, therefore providing conductivity on the backside of the switch. Screen printing offers the repeatability and tight tolerances required for this type of printing. Transdermal patches and other everyday items can be produced using through hole punching, but only by tightly controlling the ink coverage, mesh type on the screen, repeatability the squeegee on the frame AND the filter paper printed against. Key lessons or learning objectives: New technology for screen printing New drying technology for conductive inks Speakers: Reinhard Zimmermann Systec Grafische Maschinensysteme GmbH

Printed Batteries and Their Applications

Hear how innovations in printed battery technology are enabling a host of new applications in printed and traditional electronics. The presentation will include an overview of printed battery technology, its capabilities and exciting new applications, such as interactive packaging, sensors and RFID. Live demonstrations of the technology will be included. Key lessons or learning objectives: Understanding of printed battery technology and its capabilities Applications for thin, flexible, printed batteries Hands-on demonstrations of printed batteries and electronics Speakers: John Gannon Blue Spark Technologies

Optimal Screen Mesh & Emulsion Stencil Thickness for Printing Fine-line Conductive Silver Ink in High Aspect Ratio on Solar Cells

A common goal for screen-printable front contact silver pastes is tall and narrow printed gridlines with high aspect ratios (tall line height/thin line width), which results in decreased series resistance and increased current in silicon solar cells. However, there are several limiting factors that exist in regards to achieving high aspect ratio prints, with a main contributor being screen design. Stainless steel mesh commonly used for printing conductive ink on silicon solar cells varies from approximately 45 to 60 percent open area per square unit. Emulsion stencil thickness over mesh (EOM) has been determined to be a critical screen component in maintaining desirable aspect ratio, acting to limit the effects of high open area mesh without compromising aspect ratio and print resolution due to excessive ink transfer. The purpose of this paper is to examine screen designs (i.e., different mesh, emulsion thickness, and emulsion composition) to determine the optimal screen build for processing commercially available high aspect ratio silver paste. Combinations of various fine-line printing screen meshes, EOM’s and emulsion formulations will be used for this experiment to determine their effect individually and in combination on both the printed and functional results. Key lessons or learning objectives: High aspect ratio screen printing Print test results using various mesh count/diameters with multiple EOM. Effect of EOM versus printed aspect ratio (printed line width and height) Effect of mesh type versus printed aspect ratio (printed line width and height) Effect of emulsion formulation on printed results. Speakers: Art Dobie Sefar Printing Solutions Inc

UV-LED Curing Technology Offers Advanced Capabilities

Factories often require UV curing for the assembly processes used to manufacture a variety of printed electronics applications. Traditional mercury lamps have been the standard for UV curing, but now more efficient LED technology is readily available, and gaining acceptance worldwide. Electronics manufacturers are under continued pressure to develop electronics that are more compact, of a better quality and operate at a faster pace. UV-LED, technology in combination with suitable chemistry, offers a solution that helps manufacturers speed up the process, and save significant energy at the same time. Application examples that successfully use LED curing technology include the manufacturing of OLEDs, photovoltaics, microphones, mobile phones, micro speakers and many others. Key lessons or learning objectives: Advances in LED curing technology, combined with suitable chemistry Benefits of LED technology LED curing technology applications Speakers: Richa Anand Phoseon Technology

Controlling Silver Migration in PTF Circuitry

Advancements in dielectric insulators greatly reduce or eliminate silver migration in Polymer Thick Film (PTF) circuitry, which helps PTF circuits replace copper circuitry where cost, versatility, and flexibility drives the buyer’s decision. PTF ink formulators continue to reduce the chance of silver migration with consideration of substrates, test regimen and inter-layer compatibility under physical and environmental stress. This paper will describe the problem and industry test methods, share ageing results on several material variations to exhibit the current state-of-the-art, and make suggestions for future improvements. By means of this and other improvements, PTF circuitry is an increasingly viable replacement for copper circuitry in harsh environments. Key lessons or learning objectives: PTF circuitry is an increasingly viable and low cost alternative to copper circuitry PTF circuitry challenges (versus copper circuitry) include silver migration The means to eliminate silver migration and supporting performance data Speakers: Leonard Allison Engineered Conductive Materials LLC

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Process Validation for Regulated Products

The session will communicate to the attendees the importance of following current Good Manufacturing Practices in order to meet the expectations of customers supplying products for regulated industries, such as medical, aerospace, automotive, etc. It will also provide information on when and how to validate processes, and the difference between validation and verification. Key lessons or learning objectives: Why use Good Manufacturing Practices in the Printing Industry? What is Process Validation and how does it apply to printing processes? What benefits does the printing industry receive by using GMP and process validation? Speakers: Martin Espinola GM Nameplate

Product Conversion Decisions (And Their Impact on Capacities, Margins and New Revenue Stream Opportunities)

There is considerable value in discussing the choices made about how and why you convert a product/part the way you do. Who is making this decision? What are the objectives in making this decision? With this decision being made multiple times per day, is the number one priority making sure you are positioned to have the best opportunity to win the business? There are many more options and more cost effective ways to achieve final results than ever before. Who are you leaning on to help you through this daily decision making process? Are they qualified? Who are the supplier team members working with you day in and day out, to help you win new business? Making the right decision will expand capacities, improve your bottom line and ultimately generate new revenue streams. Wrong decisions quickly add up to real costs and waste company resources. Key lessons or learning objectives: How to recognize when the right conversion decision has been made How the decision to convert to final part can result in additional revenue streams, increased capacities and improved margins How to gain access to the resources necessary to make the right decision Speakers: Joe Sampair Mathias Die Company

Photonic Curing: Technology, Simulation and Applications

One of the key limiting challenges in flexible printed electronics has been to reconcile the conflicting high-temperature processing requirements of high-performance materials, such as inorganic conductive inks with low temperature substrates (e.g. polymers and paper materials). Photonic curing has been shown to be effective in heating inks and functional films to very high temperatures, in excess of 1000C, on low-temperature substrates without damaging them. The photonic curing tools enable the use of traditional conductive inks on a wide variety of desired flexible substrates which do not have the ability to withstand sustained elevated processing temperatures. This processing method also enables the development of new high-performance, low-cost materials. The combination of tools, materials and processing methods has positive implications in a myriad of applications. Application with printed radio frequency identification tag antennae is presented. Photonic curing technology also shows promise for converting a-Si to micro-crystalline Si on low-temperature substrates, and for enabling new transistor structures. Key lessons or learning objectives: Understand the basics of photonic curing, and how it is different from traditional post-processing methods. Explore the application of the processing method on traditional silver inks and on new types of ink chemistry. Consider example applications based on use of photonic curing and a variety of material types. Speakers: Stan Farnsworth NovaCentrix