Printed electronics – from displays to sensing devices

Printed electronics is projected to have substantial market growth in the near future. Although printing techniques have been routinely used for electronics applications in the past, the recent activities in printed electronics address a much wider materials set with the intent to achieve fully printed functional electronic devices. In the pursuit of this goal, the definition of ‘printing’ becomes often rather broad. This talk will give an overview of printed electronics and address prospects and challenges. The emphasis will be on inkjet technology which has the advantage of digital data printing and non-contact materials deposition. PARC’s activity in printed electronics includes flexible backplanes for electrophoretic displays and disposable sensor tapes to record events that can trigger traumatic brain injury.