NO 26, 2019 ORGANIC AND PRINTED ELECTRONICS

Mobility & 3D Structural Electronics components “One plus one” equals more than two! KROENERT and Coatema discuss their alliance events All eyes on Munich LOPEC 2019 preview

including news | www.ope-journal.com ORGANIC AND PRINTED ELECTRONICS OPE journal is the renowned globally circulated magazine for the organic and printed electronics industry. OPE journal provides its readers with: • analyses of the latest market trends • most recent industry news • independently researched economic and business reports • reports on new technologies, methods and processes In every issue we publish detailed information on selected technical focus areas. In addition current news stories are released on our website www.ope-journal.com on a daily basis.

Place your advertisement in OPE journal - get your personal offer! EDITORIAL PREVIEW Nina Pirchmoser • Phone +49 8033 302-1275 • [email protected]

OPE journal Issue 26 OPE journal Issue 27 OPE journal Issue 28 OPE journal Issue 29

Mobility & OLEDs & Energy, Packaging & 3D Structural Displays Photovoltaics, Sensors Electronics Smart Cities

Editorial deadline: Editorial deadline: Editorial deadline: Editorial deadline: February 12, 2019 May 31, 2019 August 27, 2019 November 7, 2019

LOPEC, Munich Touch Taiwan, Taipei INPRINT, Munich innoLAE 2020 20.-21.03.2019 28.-30.08.2019 12.-14.11.2019 (tbd) IDTechEx Show Europe, Berlin IDTechEx Show USA, 10.-11.04.2019 Santa Clara 20.-21.11.2019

@OPEjournal EDITORIAL 3 ORGANIC AND PRINTED ELECTRONICS OPE journal is the renowned globally circulated magazine for the organic and printed electronics industry. OPE journal provides its readers with: • analyses of the latest market trends • most recent industry news • independently researched economic and business reports • reports on new technologies, methods and processes In every issue we publish detailed information on selected technical focus areas. In addition current news stories are released on our website www.ope-journal.com on a daily basis.

Martin Hirschmann Editor OPE journal EDITORIAL PREVIEW Mail: [email protected]

Dear Readers,

Can you believe that it has been almost seven years since the inaugural edition of OPE journal? We think that it is time for a little makeover. I hope you like our new cover and layout. In any case, design is important, and our industry also offers products with numerous design benefits. While OLED lighting might be the first application that comes into mind here, we will focus on another aspect: mobility and 3D structural electronics.

This issue includes an insightful interview with representatives from Airbus and Altran, and the message is clear: Printed electronics has also found its way into the sky. Moreover, players such as TactoTek, IEE and New Cable Corporation are featured here with their latest innovations and projects for the mobility of the future.

Recently, I also had the opportunity to visit the excellent innoLAE Conference in Cambridge. In my opinion, it was a bold move by the organisers to highlight the topic of sustainability in a full multi-hour workshop. We barely ever talk about the disposal of the products that are made by PE companies – and considering the urgency that is needed to combat climate change, environmental pollution and ocean plastics, it is about time to change that. Fortunately, I am convinced that this young industry is willing to walk the walk, instead of just talking about change.

OPE journal Issue 26 OPE journal Issue 27 OPE journal Issue 28 OPE journal Issue 29 We are not only dealing with flexible materials, but we are also more flexible ourselves than more traditional sectors such as automotive or agriculture – and we can use that to our advantage! When an entire youth movement rallies behind climate activist Greta Thunberg, it is not wise to antagonise Mobility & OLEDs & Energy, Packaging & these future consumers, voters and corporate leaders. Instead, we should play our part in designing sustainable products, energy-saving solutions and 3D Structural Displays Photovoltaics, Sensors a functional circular economy – and we should offer pathways for the above- Electronics Smart Cities mentioned traditional sectors to follow our example. I am certain that we will also have the chance to discuss sustainability at this year’s LOPEC in Munich. Meet the OPE journal team at booth 111 – we are Editorial deadline: Editorial deadline: Editorial deadline: Editorial deadline: looking forward to hearing about your ideas! February 12, 2019 May 31, 2019 August 27, 2019 November 7, 2019 Best regards LOPEC, Munich Touch Taiwan, Taipei INPRINT, Munich innoLAE 2020 20.-21.03.2019 28.-30.08.2019 12.-14.11.2019 (tbd) Martin Hirschmann IDTechEx Show Europe, Berlin IDTechEx Show USA, 10.-11.04.2019 Santa Clara 20.-21.11.2019

www.linkedin.com/company/ope-journal @OPEjournal @OPEjournal 4 EVENT DIARY

2019

Location: Messe München, Germany 19-21 March 2019 Organisers: OE-A, Messe München

www.lopec.com

IDTechEx Show! 2019 Location: Estrel Convention Center, Berlin, Germany 10-11 April 2019 www.idtechex.com/ Organiser: IDTechEx printed-electronics-europe/show/en/

Nanotexnology 2019 Location: Thessaloniki, Greece 29 June – 6 July 2019 www.nanotexnology.com Organiser: Nanotexnology

Touch Taiwan 2019 Location: Taipei Nangang Exhibition, 28-30 August 2019 www.touchtaiwan.com/en Taiwan Organiser: TDUA, Chan Chao

ICFPE 2019 Location: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center (International Conference on 23-25 October 2019 Flexible and Printed Electronics) Hall 1, Taiwan Organiser: ICFPE https://expo.itri.org.tw/2019ICFPE

IDTechEx Show! USA 2019 Location: Santa Clara Convention Center, 20-21 November 2019 www.idtechex.com/ California, USA Organiser: IDTechEx printed-electronics-usa/show/en

THINKING FORWARD

We at Polytype Converting understand our mission working day-by-day on towards our customers and their products. Polytype Converting is a global better solutions for constantly new challenges. This is coating technology supplier of coating technology and coating equipment for the surface for inspiring performance. Our activities are geared fi rst and foremost fi nishing of a wide variety of fl exible substrates.

www.polytype-converting.com No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal

RZ4_c2_Image_07201713.indd 15 13.07.17 14:27 CONTENTS 5

8 NEWS FROM OPE-JOURNAL.COM MOBILITY & 3D STRUCTURAL ELECTRONICS 8 Exciting perspectives IEE [Member of OE-A]

10 Making cables flat, flexible, lightweight and resource efficient New Cable Corporation Ltd [Member of OE-A]

12 The heat is on! KEX Knowledge Exchange AG

14 13 Beautiful and durable TactoTek / Geely Design / CEVT

COMPONENTS 14 “One plus one” equals more than two! KROENERT / Coatema [Members of OE-A]

16 Printing the IoT PARC [Member of OE-A]

18 Connect everything! PragmatIC [Member of OE-A]

RESEARCH 19 Detecting Phosphorescence Fraunhofer FEP [Member of OE-A]

EVENTS 19 20 Essential knowledge exchange innoLAE 2019 review

23 All eyes on Munich LOPEC 2019 preview

32 Out of academia, into industry “IDTechEx Show!” preview

MILDNER’S COLUMN 34 Printed electronics – spread the news

BEYOND THE DESK 23 35 Celebrating failures VTT [Member of OE-A]

SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY

NEWS 2 OE-A’s Activities at LOPEC 2019 3 OE-A successfully brought the future of printed electronics to CES 2019 4 OE-A presented its initiative on sustainability at innoLAE 2019 THINKING FORWARD 5 First Conference on Organic and Printed Electronics in Dubai

We at Polytype Converting understand our mission working day-by-day on towards our customers and their products. Polytype Converting is a global 6 OE-A at ISPO 2019: Flexible and Printed Electronics for better solutions for constantly new challenges. This is coating technology supplier of coating technology and coating equipment for the surface Electrifying Sportswear for inspiring performance. Our activities are geared fi rst and foremost fi nishing of a wide variety of fl exible substrates. 7 OE-A Calendar of Events www.polytype-converting.com

RZ4_c2_Image_07201713.indd 15 13.07.17 14:27 6 NEWS FROM OPE-JOURNAL.COM

CSEM: Artifical intelligence to Schreiner MediPharm’s NFC label monitor pilot drowsiness supports smart self-medication

Providing tools to evaluate pilots’ fatigue state: this is the aim of Schreiner MediPharm (Oberschleißheim, Germany) in cooperation the Clean Sky project HIPNOSIS. Coordinated by CSEM (Neuchâtel, with Swiss-based Ypsomed developed an NFC-Label that is applied Switzerland) and under the guidance of Honeywell, the project will to the YpsoMate autoinjector and transmits stored information combine artificial intelligence (AI) with aeronautics expertise, con- about the medication to its electronic add-on – the novel SmartPilot. tributing to the advent of next-generation cockpits. Consisting of Thus, the data recorded about the use of the autoinjector logged smart cameras and wearable electronics, a safety kit will enable the by the SmartPilot are ideally complemented. The resulting con- real-time detection of signs of drowsiness, thus improving fatigue- nected device enhances the safety of patients and assists them in risk management. the self-administration of medicines in order to better comply with Human fatigue is a serious issue affecting the safety of the traveling prescribed therapies. public in all modes of transportation. Nearly 20 percent of the major US Transportation Safety Board investigations completed between 2001 and 2012 identified fatigue as a probable cause, contributing factor, or a finding. To address this issue, the HIPNOSIS consortium, led by CSEM, aims to improve the evaluation of pilot fatigue by pro- viding innovative monitoring tools – namely, a specific vision-based system combined with a bio-physiological signal sensor. HIPNOSIS won the tender launched by the Clean Sky 2 Joint Under- taking, a European research programme dedicated to aeronautics. YpsoMate is an autoinjector for self-medication of a wide range of Andrea Dunbar, head of Embedded Vision Systems at CSEM, explains pharmaceutical substances and in diverse therapeutic areas. To turn its main features: “We will implement computer vision and machine this injection platform into a smart device, Ypsomed developed the learning algorithms in order to detect signs of drowsiness in pilots in SmartPilot – a reusable add-on with embedded sensor technology real time.” These algorithms will be integrated into a specific camera that is easy to handle: The autoinjector is pushed into the SmartPilot developed by the French startup Innov+, which already commercial- and automatically recognised by means of the NFC-Label applied to ises similar solutions for the automotive industry. the injection aid. The information about the medication stored on “CSEM will also use its know-how in the measurement of physiologi- the NFC chip is used by the SmartPilot and transmitted to a related cal parameters to develop a wearable sensor that monitors pilots smartphone app via a Bluetooth connection. before and during a flight,” Dunbar adds. “The collected data will be At the heart of the technology behind this connected device is the fused with eye-gaze-related measures as well as head pose, observed interlinking of diverse sensors and the label with an integrated NFC by the vision system.” The French company SERMA Ingénierie will chip which Schreiner MediPharm adapted to YpsoMate. The NFC be in charge of integrating HIPNOSIS into a cockpit prototype for chip identifies and authenticates the medicine and checks its expira- preliminary testing. tion date. According to the prescribed therapy, the patient can be guided in real time through the injection process by means of the SmartPilot sensors or feedback on the correct administration of the medicine can be transmitted. It is also possible to store the entire injection history in detail – from the injection time and its success through to the patient’s well-being – and to share it with other stakeholders. The attending physician, for instance, is then able to use this information to adjust the continuing therapy plan.

Publis­hed by: Deutscher Fachverlag GmbH Editor: Martin Hirschmann,  +49 69 7595-1546, Postal address: Mainzer Landstr. 251  [email protected] 60326 Frankfurt/Germany  +49 69 7595-01,  +49 69 7595-2999, www.dfv.de Director Finances and Media Services: Thomas Berner,  +49 69 7595-1147 Executive Management Board: Angela Wisken (Speaker of the Management Board), Peter Esser, Production: Hans Dreier (Ltg.),  +49 69 7595-2463 Markus Gotta, Peter Kley, Holger Knapp, Sönke Reimers Logistics: Ilja Sauer (Ltg.),  +49 69 7595-2201 Supervisory Board: Klaus Kottmeier, Andreas Lorch, Graphics: Nadine Bauernfeind Catrin Lorch, Peter Ruß Advertising Director technical publications: Publishing Director: Rainer Miserre, Heidrun Dangl,  +49 69 7595-2563,  [email protected]  +49 69 7595-1291,  [email protected] Advertising Sales Director: Nina Pirchmoser, Publisher: Franz Hermann,  +49 69 7595-1227,  [email protected]  +49 40 30712170,  +49 40 94775247 OPE journal No 26  [email protected] Advertising fax:  +49 69 7595-1820 Editor-in-Chief: Nora Heise, Subscription service: Petra Petrasch, th March 2019 | 9 Edition  +49 151 4251581,  [email protected]  +49 69 7595-1973,  [email protected] 7

Ynvisible’s displays to be used Ubiquitous Energy demonstrates in the smart labels sector truly transparent solar technology

Ynvisible Interactive Inc. (Vancouver, Canada) has begun work on com- Ubiquitous Energy (Redwood City, California), a leader in transparent mercial contracts that are expected to reach market in 2019. The first solar technology, has produced the first demonstration commercial two contracts are with leading companies in the field of smart labels window façades using over one square metre of the company’s and related verification and tracking services. In both cases, Ynvisible truly transparent solar technology, ClearView Power. The fibreglass- provides visual indicators to the clients' smart label solutions. One of the framed ClearView Power window units demonstrate the transparent cases focuses on using an Ynvisible patented electrochromic solution photovoltaic technology’s aesthetic beauty, high transparency, and and ink for an end application in the electronics sector. In the other colour neutrality. “These window demonstrations are the result case, the electrochromics are printed onto an RFID sensor label aimed at of many years of development and represent the great progress packaging applications for the delivery and handling of sensitive prod- achieved with ClearView Power. Recent advances led to the creation ucts. These deliveries were the first orders produced in Ynvisible's new of these prototype façades, which are the world’s first large-area, commercial production facilities. Ynvisible and the clients are working truly transparent solar window façades,” said Ubiquitous Energy together to begin the process of transferring production to the client's co-founder and CTO, Miles Barr. existing manufacturing or dedicated 3rd party infrastructure to achieve Each façade is made of six insulated glass units (IGUs) that are each significant scalability advantages. 14 inches by 20 inches in size, totalling over 1m2 of ClearView Power "It has been great to witness the success of technologies like RFID glass. The windows produce solar electricity in sunlight that can in bringing added value to various intelligent packaging and logistic provide power to buildings for a wide range of applications includ- applications. Combining different sensors makes it increasingly easy ing lighting, while simultaneously maintaining the performance of to collect vast amounts of data to indicate authenticity or tampering. standard commercial window glass: over 50% transparency, neutral Collecting data is not a challenge anymore, rather the challenge is to in colour, and low emissivity (low-E) for energy efficiency. The light- focus on the relevant and important data at any given point of time," weight, fiberglass window frames representing the latest and best said Samuli Stromberg, head of business development at Ynvisible. in lightweight and high insulation framing were custom created by Alpen High Performance Products. “With support from our partners, we are excited to be closing in on the realisation of our vision to commercialise this technology for Flex appoints new CEO broad adoption within the $100B+ architectural glass market,” said Ubiquitous Energy CEO, Keith Wilson. The company plans to begin Flex (San José, California), a sketch-to-scale solutions provider that pilot installations of the demo size window units in 2019. designs and builds intelligent products globally, announced that Revathi Advaithi, 51, has been named CEO and appointed to the board of directors at Flex. “The board conducted an extensive and thorough search, consider- ing both internal and external candidates,” said Michael Capellas, chairman of the board of directors for Flex. “Revathi's depth and breadth of capabilities from engineering to manufacturing to advanced supply chain management coupled with her exceptional leadership and proven track record make her the ideal choice to lead Flex. We are confident that she will lead Flex to realize its full potential."

Distribution fax:  + 49 69 7595-2570 Correspondent bank: Frankfurter Sparkasse, For the acquisition of articles in your internal electronic press, the Frankfurt/Germany, BIC: HELADEF1822, necessary rights can be obtained under www.presse-monitor.de or Advisory Board: Thomas Kolbusch – Chairman (Coatema Coating IBAN: DE56 5005 0201 0000 0349 26 by calling the PMG Presse-Monitor GmbH on +49 30 284930. Machinery GmbH / Germany), Prof Dr Reinhard Baumann (TU-Chemnitz / Germany), Dr Giovanni Nisato (CSEM / Switzerland), Front Cover: TactoTek The following technical trade journals are also published by the Dr Klaus Hecker (OE-A / Germany), Sorin G. Stan (VDL Enabling Deutscher Fachverlag: Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation, Technologies Group /The Netherlands), Prof Zheng Cui (Suzhou Printed by: PRINTEC OFFSET >medienhaus> Kassel PackReport, Entsorga Magazin, Chemical Fibers International, Institute of Nanotech and Nano-Bionics / China), Adam Brunton Technische Textilien/Technical Textiles, Melliand Textilberichte, (M-SOLV Ltd / United Kingdom) The handing over the manuscript by the author to the editors Melliand International. transfers all publishing rights to C2 Magazines. Frequency of publication: 4 issues per year According to article 5, § 2 of the Law of Freedom and the Rights of Rights of use: This journal is distributed in printed and digital form the Press in the Federal State of Hesse it is announced: shareholders Subscription price: Germany € 78.50 per year incl. VAT; and is available from databases. Any use of copyrighted articles and of Deutscher Fachverlag GmbH GmbH are: Andreas Lorch, Catrin EU countries € 79.30 (with VAT-ID-No.); other countries images, especially through duplication, distribution, digitalization, Lorch, Anette Lorch, Britta Lorch and the DeutscherFachverlag GmbH. € 84.00; individual issue € 25.00. Subscription prices include storage in database systems or inter- and intranets is prohibited and mailing. All prices include VAT. Air mail charges on request. punishable, insofar as the copyright law does not provide ISSN 2366-8040 Subscription fees must be paid in advance. Cancellation of otherwise. Should you wish to reprint, copy to your internet site or subscription: any time before end of relevant subscription period. intranet or send this journal out via e-mail articles, you can obtain the necessary rights from the Deutsche Fachverlag GmbH. Your request can be sent to [email protected]. For further information call +49 69 7595-2042. 8 MOBILITY & 3D STRUCTURAL ELECTRONICS

Exciting perspectives According to the sensing experts at Luxemburg- based IEE, printed and hybrid electronics could play a decisive role in future mobility

It all started with an automotive OEM ther advantage of the possibilities of printed thus a high number of temperature sensors customer’s request to IEE, one of their long- electronics, IEE integrated SMD components, in relevant locations. In these applications, term suppliers and development partners: such as temperature sensors and fuses, and hybrid electronics can play their advantages: “We need your expertise in printed and provided products with several connection adding SMD temperature sensors to a foil hybrid electronics for our new battery pack technologies. For the customer it resulted in enables a cost-effective and flexible way to developments. Over the past 30 years your fewer parts with more functionality, a weight implement temperature sensor in locations technology has proven its robustness and gain and less assembly complexity – all at a where otherwise they could not be placed. reliability in demanding safety sensors. We very competitive cost. By sliding temperature measuring foils in are confident that together with IEE, we can develop applications that will make our bat- tery packs less complex, more efficient and easier to assemble.” IEE rose to this challenge, and quickly set up a dedicated team of material science, develop- ment and manufacturing experts. Together with the customer, the team defined require- ments for several printed and hybrid electron- ics products, designed and built prototypes. In this way, an entirely new product range was born. One of the products originating from these activities is a candidate for this year’s LOPEC A battery pack sensor provides printed connections between the battery management ECU awards. The cell tap sensor provides printed and the terminals of each cell in a battery pack connections between the battery manage- ment ECU and the terminals of each cell in between cells, a temperature profile across High Integration – fewer design a battery pack. Its main use is the voltage the cells is provided to the BMS ECU. IEE’s measurement of every cell and the conduc- space requirements simplify cost effective printed & hybrid electronics tion of the corresponding balancing currents. assembly of battery packs capabilities allow a high degree of integration. The cell tap sensor replaces complex wiring Another use for IEE’s printed technology was Voltage sensing, temperature sensing, cell with a lightweight, compact foil. The design quickly identified. In modern battery packs, balancing and battery pack heating, can all freedom offered by this solution allowed IEE thermal management is a key factor for be embodied in one single component. to tailor the foil to the battery pack design, performance and longevity. Enabling thermal While cooling of the battery packs is on the and to the automated assembly process used management requires precise knowledge of mind of every engineer who works in this in the battery pack manufacturing. Taking fur- temperature distribution inside a battery pack, domain, a lesser known but equally important

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 9

challenge is the heating due to the fact that low temperatures prevent rapid charging and discharging. Therefore, for both charging and regenerative breaking, battery packs need to be heated. This is often done by adding an electric resistance heater into the liquid cooling circuit. This is a cost-effective, yet highly inefficient solution. The liquid needs to be heated, then the heat must be transferred from the liquid to the cells. It leads to long heat-up delays and comparatively little of the invested energy actually reaching the cells. The solution to this problem is to use printed heater foils which can be applied directly to the cells, delivering the heat exactly where it is needed. Apart from the “regular” foil heaters, IEE also offers SafeHeat PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient), whose resistance increases with temperature. As a result, areas on the heater which have reached their target temperature reduce the heating power, while IEE's thin and flexible heating foils can be easily integrated into the trim parts of any vehicle cooler areas still get the heat they need. A SafeHeat foil heater needs no thermostat or temperature regulating circuit due to its mate- rial properties. mate for the passengers at the lowest possible ics, the potential applications appear to be energy consumption. IEE’s heating foil offers virtually endless. The sensors are making their this benefit: due to its thinness, large surface way into numerous applications such as ambi- Printed electronics and and flexibility, it can be integrated with little ent lighting, human machine interface, and mobility of the future effort into trim parts. They are even robust capacitive gesture recognition. There is a lot Electric vehicles face another “thermal enough to be integrated into floor mats. more in store for printed and hybrid electron- management” issue: cabin heating. The heat Instead of heating the air, as it is done in a car ics and it will be fascinating to see how this must be generated from energy taken from with a combustion engine, it is doors panels, technology will be integrated into the fabric the battery since there is no more combus- armrests, lower instrument panel and other of everyday life of the future. tion engine to provide the heat. As a result, interior components that radiate warmth. it decreases the driving range of the vehicle. While electrical mobility offers many exciting Cabin heating must provide a comfortable cli- opportunities for printed and hybrid electron- Image sources: IEE S.A.

Our Products allow the Creation of Brands.

www.olbrich.com

OLBRICH GmbH Teutonenstraße 2 - 10 46395 Bocholt | Germany Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics www.olbrich.com Hall A6, Booth 510

c2_D072_210x102_RZ.indd 1 05.02.19 14:49 10 MOBILITY & 3D STRUCTURAL ELECTRONICS

Making cables flat, flexible, lightweight and resource efficient New Cable Corporation Ltd launches a printed 7-layer shielded flat flexible cable (SFFC)

The Finland based start-up company 7-layers of flat ~150°C, whereas a more typical temperature New Cable Corporation Ltd uses printing New Cable Corporation’s standard product, range is from -25°C to 85°C. The minimum technology to manufacture shielded flat an ultrathin etched and screen printed SFFC, bend radius, defined as the smallest radius flexible cables (SFFCs) – suitable for mass is illustrated in Fig. 1 (a). The cable is 17mm the cable is allowed to be bent around, is production. The SFFCs are manufactured wide and measures ~175μm in thickness. here ten times of the overall cable thickness. using roll-to-roll (R2R) processing – includ- The contact pad areas with stiffeners are Bending times can be designed from one ing screen printing and etching technology. 0.3mm thick. The cable is composed of time bend (during the installation) to many Copper-clad polyethylene terephthalate (PET) seven layers, as seen in Fig. 1 (b), including millions as required by automated machines. laminates are attractive from a functionality four layers above the PET substrate (1) such The 35µm thick copper has a current rating and scalability perspective and serve as sub- as the copper conductors (2), insulator (3), of 0.8 Ampere for one trace (in total there are strate material. Printed electronics enables silver top shielding (4) and a top coating 16 traces) and the voltage rating is 60 Volt. lightweight products, allows for easy integra- (5), and two layers below the PET substrate The SFFC is compatible to most commercially tion, improved packaging ability, and it is cost which are the silver bottom shielding (6) and available connectors. The Hirose FH12-series effective to produce functionalities for various a bottom coating (7). PET as substrate mate- connector is one example of compatible applications. rial allows a maximal use temperature of connectors.

Material resource efficiency The growing awareness of the environmental impacts of materials production and process- ing within the European Union amongst others asks for innovative solutions. One strategy toward material resource efficiency is to design products with less material, without compromising their technical per- formance. This is the approach New Cable Corporation has taken on and is reflected in their lightweight SFFC. Fig. 2 shows a chart comparing the material weight distribution of (a) a traditional multicore round cable and (b) New Cable Corporation’s SFFC, with both cables exhibiting similar technical perfor- mance. Here, the traditional cable weighs in total 90 grams per meter, whereas the stand- ard industrial SFFC has only 6.7 grams per metre. This shows, besides weight and space savings, about 92% savings in total materi- als and about 98% less usage of plastics. Particular numbers regarding material weight for a traditional round and the printed flat cable, respectively, are for plastics (46g/m vs. 1.2g/m), copper (43g/m vs. 3.5g/m) and the Fig. 3. Example photograph of New Cable Corporation’s shielded flat flexible cable (SFFC). silver shielding (1g/m vs. 1g/m) as illustrated It is ultrathin (175µm) and therefore allows to be routed in between a standard box seam in Fig. 2.

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 11

Applications New Cable Corporation’s SFFCs offer a wide range of applications, from automotive and aerospace to consumer electronics. Besides material savings, a decrease in the cable weight and volume of a vehicle (ground/ water/air) allows for longer ranges to travel and/or more weight/volume to transport. For instance, in the case of fuel consumption, about every extra 50kg of e.g. wiring increase fuel consumption by 0.2 liters for each 100km travelled for an average well-tuned vehicle. With respect to the automotive sector, especially the expanding electronic automo- tive systems due to added functionality, the complex wiring harnesses are to be further increased. Here, SFFCs allow new integration possibilities such as attaching them directly to Fig. 1. (a) Shielded flat flexible cable (SFFC) (b) fractionised into its seven layers. the car frame surface, as well as malfunction The four layers above the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate (1) constitute copper inspection methods via thermal imaging. conductors (2), insulator (3), silver shield top (4) and coating top (5). The two layers below the PET substrate denote a silver shield bottom (6) and coating bottom (7) SFFC’s flat and thin form factor makes it possible to connect them to commonly used automotive connectors that have a flat mating terminal. Other general demands are mechanical and chemical characteristics with- standing in harsh environmental operating conditions which can be engineered via the top and bottom coating of the cable.

Information New Cable Corporation Ltd offers printed electronics solutions. Besides their standard products which are shielded flat flexible cables (SFFC), see the photograph in Fig. 3, and con- nectors, the company provides customised solutions for original equipment manufactur- ers (OEM) in the automotive and consumer electronics market. The solutions range from design to manufacturing of flexible and rigid printed circuit boards (PCBs) including embed- ded surface-mount technology (SMT) and the utilisation of various materials. Their products exhibit savings in weight, space and materials and the shielding on both sides of the flat cable reduces disturbances caused by elec- tromagnetic fields. The cable surface allows customisation regarding the material, colour, printable text such as logo, serial number, QR Fig. 2. (a) Material weight distribution of a traditional multicore round cable, code, technical information and instructions. (b) compared to New Cable Corporation’s shielded flat flexible cable (SFFC), here 16 traces. Both cables have similar technical performance

Image sources: New Cable Corporation Ltd

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 12 MOBILITY & 3D STRUCTURAL ELECTRONICS

The heat is on! A consortium of 16 companies under the direction of KEX Knowledge Exchange AG has developed a prototype of new heating

Companies are regularly faced with the Applications for challenge of understanding and evaluating the printed electronics From left to right: Frederik Klöckner (techno­ influence of new technologies and trends on At the beginning of the consortium project, logy manager, KEX Knowledge Exchange their business and of initiating corresponding KEX presented possible fields of application for AG), Dr Daniel Lenssen (director business development, Papierfabrik Louisenthal innovation processes. In order to successfully printed electronics. The consortium decided GmbH), Gabriele Nau (senior market manager implement innovations, expertise in different to examine printed heating elements in more consumer goods & electronics, Lohmann and new fields of technology is necessary. detail and to develop a prototype for panel Group), Dr Christoph Mersmann (research, Existing networks are mostly not sufficient heating in electric cars. KEX analysed and new techno­logies, innovations, BMW Group), for this – there is a dearth of novel ideas. The evaluated various concepts for the prototype, Mario Keller (strategic technology marketing, methodology of KEX Knowledge Exchange which were discussed in the consortium. The Papierfabrik Louisenthal GmbH). (photo: KEX Knowledge Exchange AG) AG (Aachen, Germany) breaks this down: In decision was made to install a heating foil as consortium projects new companies from dif- close to the surface as possible in order to ferent industries come together to jointly tap achieve the most energy-efficient result pos- methodically and ensured access and rapid the potential of technological hypes. sible. It can also be produced cost-effectively exchange with the network at the RWTH In the consortium project Printed Electronics, in a roll-to-roll process and is therefore scalable Aachen Campus. the BMW Group, Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG to mass production. “The trusting cooperation in the consortium and Papierfabrik Louisenthal GmbH under the For the development of the prototype, the and the methodology of the agile approach direction of KEX Knowledge Exchange AG BMW Group provided the original components were decisive for realising a functional proto- have recently developed a prototype of a new of the glove compartment of the BMW 7 Series type in the shortest possible time,” says Mario heating concept for electric cars. “An auto- in which the heating elements were installed. R. Keller, strategic technology marketing at motive OEM, a manufacturer of banknote Louisenthal had newly developed a flexible and Papierfabrik Louisenthal GmbH, explaining the and security papers and an expert in adhesive transparent PET film in which a fine-meshed benefits of the project. applications are working together to develop metallic net is embedded. The use as heating a possible solution for one of the central foil was tested for the first time in this project. challenges of the electric car: This network Lohmann implemented the bonding of the Development within aspect is what makes our consortium projects layers as well as the electrical contacting of the three months so special,” says project manager Frederik film: Conductive adhesive solutions ensure the During the final meeting of the project, the Klöckner. contact is sufficiently thin not to be visible on prototype was presented to the consortium: the component’s surface. KEX provided key With the help of a thermal imaging camera, support to the development of the prototype the temperature and homogeneity of the thermal radiation were detected. The heat- See our latest news ing system can realise surface temperatures Munich, 12 --14 March 2019 of over 60°C. The functional prototype was developed within three months. “Key success Booth A6 710 factors were the close collaboration of the four companies involved in the implementation together with 16 consortium companies such as Tesat-Spacecom, Rehau and SRG Global, from the concept stage to the very joining of the components,” says Klöckner. “The prototype is by no means the end product; it is intended to give impetus and show that the rapid implementation of alternative concepts in heterogeneous consortia is possible if innova- tions are approached correctly.” CURIOUS? BMW’s i8 electric car – the German car manufacturer was also part of the consortium project Printed Electronics (photo: kalhh/pixabay.com)

www.kampf.de No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 13

Beautiful and durable TactoTek, Geely Design and CEVT initiate automotive interiors project in printed, in-mould electronics

Geely Design (Gothenburg, Sweden), design and intuitive functions”, says Andreas CEVT, and TactoTek (Oulu, Finland) have Nilsson, SVP of Geely Design Sweden. jointly initiated projects to develop TactoTek develops and commercialises IMSE smart surfaces for multiple automo- technology. Much of the company’s work tive brands owned by CEVT’s parent in developing design rules and proving company, Zhejiang Geely Holding the IMSE technology platform has been Group. The current interiors project in partnership with automotive OEMs is the first of several anticipated by and their suppliers to meet demanding the framework agreement between automotive use cases. For the automo- the companies. tive market, TactoTek licenses its technol- CEVT is developing technology for ogy and know-how so OEMs and brands several brands in the Geely Group fam- can purchase IMSE parts manufactured by ily, who had a combined annual volume of their established suppliers. 2.15 million vehicles in 2018. The platform “The cost-efficient and scalable approach of developed by CEVT, the Compact Modular CEVT’s and Geely’s platform-based strategy Architecture (CMA), is currently shared by matches well with IMSE technology. Within Lynk & Co vehicles, the Volvo XC 40 and will An IMSE solution from TactoTek a specific brand, they can easily use the same also be in coming Geely models. For interior tooling for an IMSE part across multiple vehi- design, CEVT works closely with their sister 75% less plastic than traditional electronics cles and customise cosmetics and electronic organisation, Geely Design, a global organi- assemblies,” says Didier Schreiber, SVP of functions with additive printing processes for sation with design centres in Sweden, the Innovation at CEVT. different models or trim levels. This operat- UK, Spain, the USA and China. ing model supports design and engineering “CEVT focuses a great deal in new innovative optimisation because that investment is reus- technologies and TactoTek’s IMSE technol- New degrees of freedom able many times over,” noted Jussi Harvela, ogy complements our future ambitions with “In addition, IMSE technology gives Geely TactoTek CEO. light, thin, conformal electronics that are Design new degrees of freedom to realise both beautiful and durable, and use up to our design vision with innovative product Image sources: TactoTek

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www.kampf.de Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 14 COMPONENTS

“One plus one” equals more than two! KROENERT and Coatema regard their alliance under the umbrella of ATH as a win-win situation for customers, companies and employees

In August 2018, it was announced that ous attractive opportunities here in particular to Dr T. Vardag: Yes, although KROENERT was ATH Altonaer-Technologie-Holding GmbH make a big difference together with Coatema. particularly successful at printed electronics when from Hamburg – owner of KROENERT – it came to production and manufacturing optimi- would acquire all shares in Coatema Coating Dr Andreas Giessmann: I can only under- sation, while Coatema scored particularly well in Machinery in Dormagen. On this occasion, line that! We see KROENERT and Coatema as the areas of new and process development. OPE journal spoke exclusively with Dr Tarik two companies that can penetrate the market Vardag, managing director of ATH, KROEN- much better together. Dr A. Giessmann: The printed electronics ERT and Coatema, and Dr Andreas Giess- area of expertise is a good example of our mann, managing director of Coatema, about OPE journal: Then you will certainly be able expertise: Coatema picks up customers when the new forward-looking alliance, important to take advantage of numerous attractive they come up with a product idea, and at this core markets and expanded opportunities for synergies arising from the merger of your two early stage some of them still don't know mutual customers. companies in the future? anything about process engineering or need advice on chemical issues. Here Coatema offers prototype lines. If these ideas go into production scale and mass production, this is exactly the interface to KROENERT.

OPE journal: Then you certainly didn't have any antitrust concerns to resolve?

Dr T. Vardag: No, absolutely not. The acqui- sition of Coatema was not about buying market shares, but about strategically com- plementing and strengthening each other.

OPE journal: How did your customers - your mutual and also your respective customers – react to the news? Dr Andreas Giessmann and Dr Tarik Vardag Dr T. Vardag: Interestingly, very similar. Both KROENERT customers and Coatema custom- OPE journal: Dr Vardag, Dr Giessmann, for Dr T. Vardag: Yes, definitely. An interesting ers have noticed: that really makes sense! a long time the name KROENERT stood for development has taken place here: While five particularly fast and large coating systems. In years ago we saw ourselves first and foremost Dr A. Giessmann: In fact, nobody asked recent years, Coatema has made a name for as competitors, our first discussions showed that "Why are you going to merge now?", but this itself primarily with pilot plants. How will the this is no longer the case. Quite simply, this is alliance was immediately understood as a com- two companies strategically position them- because our respective fields of activity and focal prehensible and meaningful step. We can now selves in the market in the future? points have developed differently. This is how we serve our customers from the product idea to at KROENERT see our task in working together mass production – an invaluable advantage! Dr Tarik Vardag: About ten years ago, KROEN- with our customers to develop ways of optimis- ERT entered the narrow web segment with ing the processes of existing products. Coatema, OPE journal: According to your strategy, will LabCo and, if I may say so, also enjoyed this on the other hand, has particular strengths in all the two brands KROENERT and Coatema be market segment very much. But you are right, questions of basic process development. As you retained? of course, KROENERT stands first and foremost can see, the overlaps here are relatively small. for large and wide plants on which our custom- Dr A. Giessmann: Absolutely, it is part of ers primarily manufacture commodity products. OPE journal: On the other hand, both com- our strategy to retain these established and But obviously the other market areas are also of panies have certainly appeared as competitors renowned names that stand for certain brand great interest to us and so we have seen numer- in the field of printed electronics … cores.

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 15

Dr T. Vardag: The same naturally applies to the production sites, because we are aware that the brands are shaped by their employ- ees. It is therefore in our own interest to pre- serve this structure.

Dr A. Giessmann: Accordingly, our employ- ees have reacted to the changes in a positive way, as they too see the opportunity to do much more together than just in their own world.

OPE journal: How will your sales network KROENERT is mainly known for its large-format coating lines for the production of commodities be organised in the future? Do you appear together or do you still have different contact persons?

Dr T. Vardag: We appear separately, but we have a very close and intensive exchange of information about our activities so that we can "pass the baton". The respective sales and representative teams remain in place, as they also serve different markets and offer products.

OPE journal: Research and development: Will there be joint activities here?

Dr T. Vardag: We are coordinating our research and development work, but we do not necessarily conduct joint research and also maintain our two pilot plants. Our two companies together have 15 pilot plants, 12 of which are located at Coatema in Dorma- gen. This equipment is second to none. While here in Hamburg three large pilot plants are on production scale, Coatema has numerous smaller and very flexible pilot plants. There- Especially in narrow web lines for process development, Coatema has earned itself a good reputation fore, it makes sense to leave these two com- petence centres and also to open them for the customers of the respective partner company. where there is an increasing demand for large Dr A. Giessmann: As you know, we have a systems. The transition to mass production is promising cooperation with OPTIMA and the OPE journal: Which markets will be your in progress and we will see the results in five joint brand COMEDCO in the areas of trans- particular focus in the future? or six years at the latest. Here in particular, we dermal plasters and oral dispersible films, can benefit outstandingly from our synergies. which we are actively promoting. In addition Dr T. Vardag: Not only the new markets are to thin-film technology, we are also interested of interest to KROENERT, but of course also Dr T. Vardag: Since the step to production in the nano-structuring of surfaces. Under the the classic markets such as siliconisation and maturity is being taken more and more fre- brand name TEMICOAT, we are working with barrier coating. We will pay special attention quently in the future markets mentioned – TEMICON on this exciting topic. to these topics! But there will also be new and this is also a significant achievement of markets, in the development of which we Coatema's development work – they are of Dr T. Vardag: As you can see, we can get want to enter as early as possible. We see course of extraordinary interest to both com- a lot out of this merger of KROENERT and Coatema's focus in the areas of renewables panies. Another important market for us is Coatema under the ATH umbrella. One plus and printed electronics, among others. composites, where we will be represented one is sometimes more than two. with different approaches and offers. We see Dr A. Giessmann: Yes, that's right, this also a great deal of potential in the entire area of applies to the market for flexible touch panels, membranes, and also in the fields of pharma- Image sources: KROENERT, Coatema which is slowly growing out of its infancy and ceutical and medical technology.

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 16 COMPONENTS

Printing the IoT In an exclusive interview with OPE journal, Janos Veres, PARC’s programme manager for printed and novel electronics, talks about the future of electronics and the opportunities of IoT technologies

With its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Cali- bodies’ and reservations within an organisa- photonics. This is all about spreading elec- fornia, PARC has been responsible for some tion against working with outside entities. tronics and putting them where they belong. of the most important technological break- In this context, it is also helpful that we are The third one is electronics manufacturing throughs of our time. The Xerox subsidiary working independently from our mother as well as design becoming more accessi- boasts 175 physical, computer and social sci- company Xerox. In fact, this mode of opera- ble, on-demand, and local. This is part of a ence researchers from 22 countries and holds tion is absolutely critical! Obviously we have greater democratisation trend in technology. more than 2000 patents. Janos Veres was Xerox as a client for a range of projects, which This also requires collaborative tools and can invited to deliver a keynote at innoLAE 2019 are of high importance to the company. We really change the landscape of electronics in Cambridge recently. will not create competition for them by doing manufacturing. Ultimately, we could even the same work for others. However, beyond end up with something like “download your that scope, we really have the freedom to part!” For instance, when you buy a book on engage with anyone. I would say that PARC’s Amazon in the near future, that book might most important mission is to figure out the not be printed before you click on ‘buy’. future of R&D. I even believe that we can be What has become a reality for books might an example of how to conduct 21st century also happen to electronics. Furthermore, the R&D. Being part of a corporate R&D and at fragmentation of products will also likely the same time being open to the entire world increase with the need for customisation and of technology – this is rather unique. I also personalisation. think that we set an example here that others should follow. OPE journal: You define the Internet of Things as ‘the collision of information and OPE journal: It is certainly an advantage that matter’… you are based in Silicon Valley… J. Veres: For us, the IoT is a mixture of J. Veres: That helps a great deal. This place is things. The physical aspect is only one part Janos Veres a buzzing, bubbling pool of ideas. Every day, here, to be precise. For instance, we are there is some form of event – a chain of meet- also working on network infrastructures, big ings, a symposium, a venture coffee evening. data, and artificial intelligence. In fact, AI is a OPE journal: Mr Veres, you started your This makes sure that you are exposed to a very important growth area for PARC at the presentation highlighting the importance wide range of ideas on a daily basis. moment. What I really tried to emphasise in of ‘open innovation’. Could you explain the my presentation is that IoT entails a multi- meaning of this term for your company? OPE journal: In your keynote, you were tude of different issues. Frequently, people talking about the future of electronics and concentrate on the efficiencies that they get Visit us! Janos Veres: ‘Open innovation’ is the idea the role of printed electronics in particular. out of the IoT. For instance, when you are Hall A5 of not only relying on your internal resources. Can you summarise your main points for our running a factory, you have all the sensors Booth 1110 Sometimes, you have to acknowledge that readers? throughout the factory that tell you whether you do not have all the solutions in your own everything is working as it should. Yes, this company or team. Even some of the biggest J. Veres: I see three trajectories – one of is part of the IoT! However, there is a dif- Erhardt+Leimer companies with almost endless resources them being the new form factors, which you ferent side to it as well: We can configure cannot afford to exclusively rely on internal can already see, for instance, in wearables, and reconfigure solutions to thousands of Automation and Vision Systems development.. In any research and develop- smart labels or automotive. This development unique problems such as reliability, speed, ment environment, you are sometimes con- towards flexible, stretchable, pliable or even convenience, experiences by creating cus- ELTIM fronted with unexpected results of your work, soft devices is going to expand a lot more. tom physical “things” and connecting them and some companies do not know what to The second trajectory is what I call ‘integra- with custom data solutions fulfilled by a host Thickness and Basis Weight Measurement do with that. Therefore, ‘open innovation’ is tion beyond Moore’. This entails the seam- of players providing analytics, networking,  Patented ultrasonic technology a must! However, at the same time, it is very less integration of micro and macro devices: databases and insights. This configurability  High measuring accuracy with a resolution of up to 0.01 g/m2 hard to practice because of the inherent ‘anti- logic, chips, batteries, sensors, MEMS and opens the path for new business models.  Measurement independent of fluctuations in the height of the substrate

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal Erhardt+Leimer GmbH · Albert-Leimer-Platz 1 · 86391 Stadtbergen · Germany · Phone: +49 (0)821 2435-0 · www.erhardt-leimer.com 17

Flexible circuitry in shoe insoles A mouthguard with flexible electronic sensors

OPE journal: Let us focus on what printing only can we turn rigid boards flexible, we J. Veres: We often think of smart packag- can bring to the IoT – this is actually quite a can also create stretchable solutions or layer ing in terms of supply chain efficiency, but I lot, isn’t it? structures with electronics embedded within. would like to emphasise the customer experi- We can provide one-at-a-time, on-demand ence. Products that not only look better but J. Veres: Yes, indeed. People are beginning to manufacturing with quick iterations. are interactive are a game changer for physi- see that the future of manufacturing is 3D – Hybrid electronics combines the computa- cal retail competing against online. Packaging especially when it comes to spare parts and tional power of silicon with large area pro- that makes it easy to understand the product on-demand manufacturing. This development cesses provided by printing and new material or provide information about their benefits or will also come to electronics! This resolves a technologies for flexible or even soft circuits. their use is preferred by consumers. Further- lot of the issues that I mentioned surround- Fully printed circuits are somewhat ambi- more, in retail, brands have very little insight ing the IoT, such as the fragmentation of use tious, although some companies are success- into what is happening to their products in cases. The three trajectories I just pointed out fully testing flexible chips based on thin film the stores. Interactive packaging can con- all have to do with printing in some form – at technologies. Printing is not to compete with nect them with the consumers, providing least potentially. nanometre lithography but it is an opportu- valuable insight and analytics to customers’ nity for novel integration techniques and new preferences. OPE journal: Can you elaborate on the mea- form factors. ning of hybrid electronics in the near future? OPE journal: One of the main applications of Image sources: PARC J. Veres: Hybrid solutions make sense printed electronics is smart packaging. What because they can enable unique circuitry. Not are your thoughts on this area?

Visit us! Hall A5 Booth 1110

Erhardt+Leimer Automation and Vision Systems

ELTIM Thickness and Basis Weight Measurement

 Patented ultrasonic technology  High measuring accuracy with a resolution of up to 0.01 g/m2  Measurement independent of fluctuations in the height of the substrate

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics Erhardt+Leimer GmbH · Albert-Leimer-Platz 1 · 86391 Stadtbergen · Germany · Phone: +49 (0)821 2435-0 · www.erhardt-leimer.com 18 COMPONENTS

OPE journal: In your talk, you mentioned the astonishing number of more than 600 billion Connect everything! soft drink servings per year on a global scale. This requires enormous manufacturing capa- At the recent innoLAE conference in Cambridge, UK, cities – are they already available today? OPE journal sat down with Dr Richard Price, CTO at R. Price: Not all of it is already available today. PragmatIC, for an exclusive interview on his company’s From the manufacturing perspective, there vision of creating ‘trillions of smart objects’ are two elements to consider here: One is the capacity for making the integrated circuits. We estimate that a trillion smart objects will OPE journal: Mr Price, you just gave a fas- require 100 FlexLogIC manufacturing lines – cinating presentation about PragmatIC’s goal this is actually a fairly low number. However, of making trillions of objects ‘smart’, as well you also need the assembly capacity. We as item-level identification . . . expect that this could grow on a similar scale as well. We are working on that together with Richard Price: Item-level identification is assembly partners and tag manufacturers. essentially providing a cost-effective way of putting an electronic code onto any product that you want to, e.g. by means of a label or sticker. What we developed is a low-cost way of doing exactly that with our electronic semiconductor chips. This also facilitates the assembly processes. In terms of applications, I think that almost anything goes: from pack- aging to household objects. As you saw in the talk, we are also expecting high potentials in sensing technology. Richard Price OPE journal: Where do you see the main demand for this technology? Being a representative of a Cambridge- based company, innoLAE was a true ‘home R. Price: When we look at retail and the A beverage label concept game’ for Richard Price from PragmatIC. The supply chain, it is a natural extension of what integration of electronics in everyday objects is already happening. In clothing, item-level has been the main goal of PragmatIC since its identification is already firmly established. OPE journal: So it will be a decentralised foundation in 2010. During his presentation In stores like Decathlon, for instance, RFID- solution for different parts of the world? at the event, Price pointed towards item-level enabled products are the norm. In my talk, identification as a main benefit of this con- I also pointed at the correlation between the R. Price: Exactly. cept. “Digital traceability enables big data,” cost of the tags and the number of objects. he underlined. This entails the entire lifecycle Therefore, the demand from retail is certainly OPE journal: What will be your next steps of a product: from start-of-life to the supply strong, but we also see similarly high demands to take? chain, the store, at home, and after its dis- in other areas, e.g. healthcare. In the latter posal (end-of-life). case, there are lots of requirements to track R. Price: This year, we are aiming at getting Nonetheless, the challenge to implement different samples through a supply chain. our technology into the market in higher item-level identification is enormous: Fast- volumes. Moreover, we want to increase the moving consumer goods (FMCG) have huge OPE journal: Is it fair to say that your solu- maturity of our products. In the coming years, volumes – for instance, there are more than tion is the only one to offer such a low cost we will be expanding our manufacturing – 20 trillion beverage servings per year, exclud- level, which makes large-scale implementa- also through deploying our systems in other ing water, worldwide. Moreover, FMCG tion feasible for the first time? locations. While we are ready for the first set prices are very low, with typically under US$5 of applications, we are also working on future per item. “High volume requires low cost,” R. Price: We certainly believe that! We found technologies and improvements to enable emphasised Price. PragmatIC’s suggested a good balance between performance and more efficient manufacturing. The integration solution is the FlexIC technology, which not costs on the one hand, and the manufactur- of sensors is a further goal. only reduces total inlay costs by up to 80%, ing approach on the other hand. This is why but also enables extreme thinness, flexibility we are now able to scale up to these large and durability. volumes of trillions of objects. Image sources: PragmatIC

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal RESEARCH 19

The Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Elec- tronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP (Dresden, Germany) has been involved in Detecting Phosphorescence development of OLED-on-silicon sensors for years. The researchers have recently devel- Fraunhofer FEP presents a new prototype that can be oped a miniaturised phosphorescence sensor used for oxygen ratio monitoring and other applications that combines a marker and sensor on very small chip surface that could be produced at low cost in the long term. Researchers have sensor chip for oxygen measurements in unveiled the first prototype of the sensor, gaseous environments. In addition, we see which is currently designed for oxygen ratio the sensor chip as a platform for future monitoring, at embedded world 2019, which developments, such as the measurement took place from 26-28 February in Nurem- of further parameters and deployment in berg, Germany. other environmental conditions,” explains Dr In the course of digitalisation and increasingly Karsten Fehse, project manager in the Organic comprehensive monitoring of processes, Microelectronic Devices group. automated workflows, also in biomedical and environmental engineering, the range of choices in sensors is almost unlimited and they Oxygen-sensitive marker are increasingly adapted to the concrete appli- The current sensor emits blue light in an cation. The right combination of parameters area of approx. 4.7 × 2.2mm for exciting the must be found, depending on the require- oxygen-sensitive marker. The decay time of ments such as the substance or object to be the light emitted by the marker after excita- detected, the excitation and reaction time, the tion is a parameter of the oxygen concentra- sensitivity range, the connection type, overall tion of the environment. The significantly system configuration, and service life. Fraunhofer FEP’s OLED on silicon sensor lower phosphorescence signal is recorded via integrated silicon photodiodes, amplified locally in the chip and subsequently evaluated Difficult to miniaturise Modulated blue OLED light in relation to the excitation signal with regard Considering just oxygen sensors, there are Now the researchers have taken another step to the phase shift. In the future, the chip will many current-based sensors on the market and developed a miniaturised phosphores- be significantly reduced in size, the goal being able to cover large temperature ranges, but cence sensor. In this sensor, a chemical marker <2 × 2 mm total chip size. they are difficult to miniaturise and restricted is excited by modulated blue OLED light. The Thanks to the advantages of the innovative to certain measurement points. Optical phosphorescent response of the marker is phosphorescence sensor – the small size, the sensors, such as phosphorescence sensors, then detected directly inside the sensor chip. combination of marker and sensor on a single overcome these hurdles. They are popular The marker determines the substance to be chip, as well as the fast and precise evaluation alternatives due to their ease of handling and measured; a typical application is measure- of the data – the researchers see further areas capability of being integrated into existing ment of an oxygen concentration. of application in which the sensor design systems. The reliability, low susceptibility to Why not use commercial sensors? The chal- could be used. interference, and simple maintenance of most lenge lies in the design of an extremely small The monitoring and evaluation of cell cultures devices quickly persuades users. sensor that combines all the functionalities in very small disposable culture vessels and Fraunhofer FEP has many years of expertise and could be manufactured cost-effectively in in bioreactors is an interesting application in the development and manufacture of future due to its small size. For this purpose, example for the technology. ”Single-use highly integrated OLED-on-silicon electro- the OLED control and the sensor front-end bioreactors” usually only offer a very small optical devices. This has become standard were integrated into the silicon chip, then installation space and a limited number of for realising high-resolution microdisplays in different configurations of the excitation and ports to which measurement systems can be augmented- and virtual-reality glasses, and detection areas were investigated. In the connected. In the future, the sensor system is now increasingly under development for first stage, a miniaturised phosphorescence will be further developed in the direction of optical sensor solutions. sensor was developed. It is barely the size of multi-parameter measurements. Monitoring Optical fingerprint sensors have already a thumbnail and combines the marker and liquids after the filling process in the pharma- been created by merging the display and sensor in a single component. It consists of ceutical sector, in blister packs, and for quality image sensor into a so-called a bi-directional a blue OLED integrated together with a com- control of oxygen-sensitive drugs is also OLED microdisplay. In addition to the display mercially available marker on the silicon chip. conceivable. Fraunhofer FEP is very interested function, the display pixels serve as smart illu- ”Currently, the sensor is designed to detect in project partnerships for these advanced mination of the finger on the surface, whose changes in oxygen level. We have achieved developments. features are then detected by the embedded functional verification of the component with photodiodes. this first setup, and can use the miniaturised Image sources: Fraunhofer FEP

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 20 EVENTS

Essential knowledge exchange innoLAE 2019 took place a few weeks ago at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge, UK. Leaders and masterminds from our industry gathered to exchange latest innovations, ideas and market data. OPE journal looks back at three days full of activities

The organisers of innoLAE from the EPSRC pointed out that especially low-cost diagnos- Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Large- tic and monitoring devices for mobile and Area Electronics could have barely found static implementation could be enormously a more suitable location for their annual successful. The Industry Day also included innoLAE conference than the impressive numerous short 90 second pitches from well- Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge. known companies as well as new businesses After all, the research that was conducted on as a showcase of their offering for the printed this site increased our understanding of the electronics market. human genome on a massive scale – more than a good example for the experts from our industry who participated at the event. Organic transistors Before the opening of the actual conference, On 22 January, the innoLAE conference the organisers hosted the innoLAE Industry opened with a keynote by Prof Karl Leo from Day on 21 January, in order to bring together TU Dresden, who talked about “Novel high research and investors, as well as institutes performance organic transistor structures.” He and companies. Raghu Das, CEO at IDTechEx underlined that applications of organic tran- opened the presentations on that day and sistors require much improved performance underlined: “Printed electronics has already and that the contact resistance is often more experienced commercial success in many important than mobility. Ashutosh Tomar from different categories. Now, we are close to the Jaguar Land Rover was next with his talk on commercialisation of printed displays.” “Applications of flexible and hybrid electron- ics in the car.” In terms of design, he expects printed electronics to be able to deliver new Leading companies impressive controls, functional surfaces, thin The Industry Day featured representatives light controls, flexible displays and interactive from several companies that are leading in illumination. their respective sectors. Dr Natasha Conway A new application of printed electronics was from the white goods manufacturer Beko presented by Simon Johnson and Tim Moor emphasised that printed electronics may from CPI: “Large area pressure sensor system enable her company to seamlessly integrate for critical injury diagnosis.” The two experts electronics into surfaces. Christoph Zipko from showcased a large-area pressure sensor that the globally active plastic and foam converter covers the whole of a human head with Greiner emphasised: “For our product range, an array of sensors. These sensors will be printed electronics is a key technology.” He integrated into a helmet and therefore must then offered examples such as smart aircraft be lightweight and ultra-thin. The design seats, predictive maintenance, smart packag- currently uses a printed graphene-based ing, shelf life monitoring, bioscience and piezoresistive sensor. The initial market focus smart mattresses. of the product is expected to be in sports and Janos Veres during his keynote Dr Peter Jarritt from the British National leisure helmets, but also in the military. Institute for Health Research added insights from a healthcare perspective: “Healthcare needs new treatments, because the old ones Circular economy are too expensive. We are looking for cost- The second keynote of the first day was deliv- effective technology-based solutions and the ered by Marco Meloni from the Ellen Mac- development of new medical devices.” He Arthur Foundation: “The circular economy

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 21

Connecting Global Competence opportunity.” He noted: “73% of clothing ends up in landfill or is being incinerated. Today’s economy is very wasteful. For instance, 30% of foods produced is wasted, and a typical European car is parked 92% of the time. The linear economy is not only creating environmental and social issues, but also loses lots of values.”

Electronic textiles workshop LOPEC 2019 The second part of the day was divided into workshops. The session “Science, technology & commercialisation of electronic textiles” was THE MEETING opened by Theodore Hughes-Riley from Nottingham Trent University: “Microchips in yarns – a revolutionary new approach to manufacturing intelligent garments.” He opened with the question “why do we use POINT FOR electronic textiles?” For instance, when sensing human physiological parameters, measurement should be made as close to the body as THE PRINTED possible. Hughes-Riley then introduced the audience to the three generations of conductive elements in textiles that have been observed ELECTRONICS so far. In the first generation, we saw conductive fibres in textiles, as well as electrical circuits or electronics added to garments. The second generation is all about the integration of conductive fibres, while the INDUSTRY electronics are still visible. Issues that still have to be solved in this generation are reliability, costs and the limited scope of applications. The upcoming third generation can be characterised under the term ‘functional yarns’. These E-yarns contain small-scale semiconductor LOPEC is the leading global platform chips such as LEDs or sensors. “Any small chip can be integrated into in the sector of printed electronics the yarns with only one restriction: the larger the chip, the larger the and provides support in every aspect resulting yarn thickness,” explained Hughes-Riley. In terms of fabrica- of the industry, from research to tion, small semiconductor or MEMS devices are soldered to thin copper wires. Application examples include LED electronic yarns, temperature application. sensing socks to prevent freezing in cold conditions, temperature sens- ing gloves or cycling suits, or even smart wound dressings (wounds > 153 exhibitors from 21 countries experience a small temperature change when an infection occurs; > About 2,500 attendees from 51 countries these dressings are capable of warning the patient without the need to remove the dressing). (over half of whom came from abroad) The next speaker was Kay Ullrich from TiTV Greiz in Germany: “Working > 188 conference presentations from with smart textiles – about materials, processes, products and their 25 countries testing.” He showcased the ELITEX conductive thread – a highly flex- ible, conductive, washable textile-processible polyamide fibre with a > “The importance of LOPEC remains silver coating. It is suitable for sensors, conductive textiles, circuits and unchanged or is increasing” illumination in general. As concrete products, he mentioned jackets (98% of all attendees agreed with with solar panels, adaptive power supplies for the arm for increased this statement) power while working, and environmental sensing.

Two-dimensional materials Exhibition: March 20–21, 2019 While Francesc Manosa Moncunill from Eurecat presented the 1D Neon Conference: March 19–21, 2019 Project, which aims at combining conductive and semi-conductive fibres in order to manufacture fibre devices, Felice Torrisi from the Uni- Messe München, Germany versity of Cambridge talked about “Washable and wearable electronic lopec.com textiles enabled by two-dimensional materials.” He emphasised that wearables needed new electronic materials that are environmentally stable and stretchable. Other factors include low power, conformability, breathability, easy integration with clothes and washability. Graphene, which consists of single layers of carbon atoms, is a perfect match for these requirements: It is highly transparent, conductive, stretchable and conformable, as well as environmentally stable and bio-compatible. The first day of innoLAE ended with a treat for all guests: A gala dinner

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics

LOPEC19-Anz-104x297-E.indd 1 11.02.19 09:23 22 EVENTS

innoLAE also included a scientific poster session

at Cambridge’s world-renowned Queens' lightweight and space efficient, and at the amounts of waste. Clement Gaubert from College was the perfect occasion for more same time durable even in unconventional Veolia provided “Waste management and networking and a fruitful exchange of ideas. locations. Product updates can happen compliance considerations for LAEs” and After a festive evening in what could have quickly, with a large degree of design freedom put an emphasis on WEEE, the directive on easily been the setting of a Harry Potter and simple assembly. waste of electrical and electronic equipment, movie, everybody was looking forward to the which is the fastest-growing waste stream in second day. the world. Especially interesting for printed electronics companies: While some wearables such as watches, LED tapes, PV panels, and From the IoT to RFID anti-theft devices fulfil the definition of manufacturing equipment that requires electrical current to Day two at innoLAE opened with Janos Veres’ perform its primary function, this is not the presentation on “Printing the IoT.” Read more case for all products in our industry. Out of about this topic in our exclusive interview on scope are certain types of smart clothing that page 16. In his presentation, Simon Johnson can still work properly without their electrical from CPI was confident: “Large-area and functions, but also furniture with USB charg- printed electronics comes of age.” He said: ing ports or connected household devices. “Additive processes for creating electronic The same counts for RFID as a security feature sensors, circuits and assemblies on flex- forming part of the product’s packaging. ible substrates are available in the industry Sophie Verstraelen from the OE-A presented and the processes for the manufacture are her association’s initiative on sustainability. well-established.” The next speaker was In the OE-A working group on this topic, Richard Price from PragmatIC – we also had The auditorium at innoLAE the OE-A members came up with a ‘generic the opportunity to interview him in detail printed electronics device’ containing the (page 18). materials that are typical and commonplace Another highlight presentation was given by in printed electronics. The aim is to develop Antti Keranen from TactoTek, who outlined Sustainability workshop a quantitative model for the impact of PE on his company’s injection-moulded structural innoLAE 2019 was likely the first major the waste streams. electronics solutions. “We want to turn plas- conference in our industry, in which sus- Gillian Ewers from PragmatIC emphasised tics into smart surfaces by integrating flexible tainability and the circular economy were that NFC technology on packaging could printed circuitry and electronic components treated as central elements. The workshop be used to offer precise, localised recycling like LEDs into 3D injection-moulded structures on this topic was opened by Chris Rider from information. by using standard, high-speed manufacturing CIMLAE, who emphasised that the debate is methods and equipment,” he explained. The absolutely necessary, even for this emerging advantages are numerous: The solutions are industry that does not yet generate massive Image sources: EPSRC

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 23

Exclusive Interview with Barbara Ismaier, All eyes on Munich exhibition director LOPEC In this issue of OPE journal, we provide you with an at Messe München extensive preview on LOPEC 2019, which will take place OPE journal: Ms Ismaier, LOPEC reaches decision makers and leaders from various from 19-21 March at Neue Messe München. Not only industries. Can you provide us with some did we interview exhibition director Barbara Ismaier, we insights in the visitor structure? Are there any sectors or industries that you would also examined the exciting field of aviation – and we like to target more with this show and the supply you with information about select LOPEC next ones? exhibitors Barbara Ismaier: LOPEC represents the entire value chain. From research to development to specific applications. Take off with This is also reflected in the profile of our printed electronics visitors. Our visitors come from all areas of As Barbara Ismaier indicated in her interview printed electronics. In recent years, visitors with our magazine, the aviation industry will have been particularly interested in mate- play a major role at LOPEC 2019. In order to rials, applications, and manufacturing provide you with more details on this sector processes and technology. Automotive, and its interest in printed electronics, we pre- printing & graphic arts and energy are the sent you an interview with Dennis Hahn from segments that draw the most visitors. But the aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Max medical and pharmaceuticals, consumer Seissler from the consulting and technology electronics and packaging are also attract- company Altran. Based in Hamburg, Ger- ing higher visitor numbers. We want to many, they are cooperating on printed elec- target these visitors directly and call their tronics for the aircraft cabin. In this interview, attention to the trade fair. originally conducted by the LOPEC press team, It is fantastic how international the LOPEC they illustrate the challenges and visions. show is. Along with Germany, the top five participating countries are Austria, Great Since when has the aviation industry Britain, Switzerland, France and the USA. been interested in printed electronics? And 80% of visitors are decision-makers at their companies or institutions. Dennis Hahn: As early as 20 years ago, uni- versity researchers recognised that printed OPE journal: Mobility will be one of the electronics is of interest for the construction of At the Innovation Showcase, Airbus and central topics of LOPEC 2019. What can aircraft and presented their results to Airbus. At Altran present the “sidewall demonstrator”, visitors interested in this vast field expect that time, however, the materials did not yet showing printed functionalities a future cabin from the show? What are the develop- layout could provide (photo: Airbus) meet the extremely high safety requirements ments in printed electronics that are most of aviation. But a lot has happened since then. promising for automotive and mobility? Together with two Fraunhofer Institutes and plastics. Even our fire experts cannot predict Altran, we have developed demonstrators, and how a combination of film, ink and coating is B. Ismaier: That’s correct. Mobility is together with Altran we are currently provid- going to behave. That is why we had to test one of our central topics again in 2019. ing proof that printed electronics are ready for various materials. This segment continues to drive forward applications in aviation. developments and innovations. Low Max Seissler: We have tried from the outset weight, no wires and customised produc- What are the specific requirements that to minimise risks and use materials that are tion are just some of the benefits that the materials have to meet? already aviation-certified. But when we use printed electronics can offer the automo- these materials for other applications and tive and aviation industry. D. Hahn: We examine flammability, for in new combinations, additional tests are I very much look forward to the joint example. To do this, the films on which we required. And flammability is just one issue. presentation by aircraft manufacturer Air- print the electronics are held over an open The components must be resistant to mois- bus and consulting and technology firm flame for 15 seconds. They are then removed ture and condensation, aggressive cleaning Altran; they will show that printed elec- and must extinguish themselves within 14 agents, insecticides, extreme temperatures, tronics is ready for applications in aviation­ seconds if they caught fire – a tough test for vibration and more. because it can now meet the extremely

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 24

Si-Cal Technologies, is sure to be one of the growing at the ICM (International Congress highlights of the session. Tyler will discuss Center Munich). For instance, this year we the development and production process of have included the foyer of Hall B0 as exhibi- printed electronics, including a more detailed tion space. look at various printing technologies and case When it comes to our strategic develop- studies from the medical sector. ment, we want to continue the cross-industry approach that we began two years ago. At OPE journal: Can you name further high- Messe München, we have a comprehensive lights of LOPEC’s conference programme, industry network of technology, consumer which has established itself as a vital informa- goods and investment goods trade fairs. Our tion exchange, learning and networking hub goal is to raise awareness for printed electron- for the printed electronics community? ics and the capabilities of the technology. I am confident that cross-industry events, ideas B. Ismaier: With around 200 conference and visions will bring about these transfers of Barbara Ismaier presentations this year, it is difficult for me to know-how that will contribute significantly to point out just a few. I think that this abun- the development of the various industries. high safety standards of that industry. From dance of topics means there will be some- individual fittings for aircrafts to immense fuel thing for everyone: whether in the Plenary OPE journal: Finally, what are your expecta- savings: The technology is turning visions into Session, the Scientific, Business or Technical tions for the future of printed electronics as a reality. This presentation is not to be missed. Conferences or in the Short Courses. I previ- technology? After all, LOPEC created a ‘com- And let’s look at the automotive sector too, ously addressed two highlights from the Ple- munity spirit,’ uniting different aspects of the where applications are evolving at a rapid nary Session and Technical Conference with industry and emphasising collaboration as a pace thanks to printed electronics. The trade Airbus and Nissha Si-Cal. success factor. Can this sense of community show and conference will give us insight into Another exciting presentation in the Plenary continue to thrive, now that many players are new and optimised applications, especially 3D Session will be Sébastien Chaumiole, electron- focusing on one or two specific target mar- structural electronics. At the Technical Confer- ics leader at IBM, on the subject, “Printed Elec- kets, instead of showcasing possible applica- ence, for instance, company representatives tronics and AI – Foundation for an Enhanced tions for a number of different sectors? and scientists will use the 3D Structural Elec- Connected Life Experience.” The Finnish tronics session to report on their experiences company Polar Electro is also in attendance. B. Ismaier: Organic and printed electronics and outcomes on the production of printed Dr Jyrki Schroderus, director research & tech- has grown into a world market. OLED dis- electronics in 3D. The subject will also be the nology, will provide an overview of the his- plays certainly make up the largest share of focus of the panel discussion: Experts from tory of biosensory wearables and present his the market at the moment. According to pro- MAN Truck & Bus and NeoTech AMT GmbH, future vision for this segment. At the Scientific jections, however, strong growth is expected LabCo among others, will be on site for the discus- Conference, participants can look forward to in applications such as NFC/RFID, sensors, KROENERTThe Coating Machinery Experts sion titled “3D Structural Electronics and the a presentation by Xuang Guo, professor in the wearable electronics and in the automotive The Universal Genius for OPV and RFID Future of Automotive Design.” Department of Materials Science and Engi- and medical fields. I am certain that it is only for roll-to-roll coating, printing and laminating neering at the Southern University of Science a matter of time before other segments dis- OPE journal: The medical and healthcare and Technology in Shenzhen. He will address cover the technology and begin to influence sectors will also be in the focus of LOPEC high-performance organic thin-film transis- the development of printed electronics. 2019. Ultra-thin sensors, diagnostic tools and tors. One of the main themes at the Business I also believe that our exhibitors will be open further biomedical applications are certainly Conference will be 3D touch panels. It will to these new segments and continue to grow

fascinating aspects of our technology. Can be covered by Dr Christoph Badock, CEO at in the sense of community spirit. What makes Printed Electronics Flexible Photo Voltaics you elaborate on LOPEC’s offering for visitors Hoefer & Sohn, in his presentation, “The Right LOPEC special is the interaction that takes interested in this area? Touch Required – Automated Injection Mold- place across the entire value chain. In my ing of 3D Touch Panels.” view, networking at the trade fair, learning B. Ismaier: That’s right, our second focal from one another and exchanging ideas and topic, Wellbeing, will highlight sporting OPE journal: Regular visitors at LOPEC have experiences are what move the industry for- goods, smart textiles and wearables as well noticed that the traditional exhibition hall ward. Something that is being researched in OLED Wall Flexible Display as medical applications for printed electronics. has been occupied to the last square-metre one area may lead to a benefit in another area. Exhibitor booths will demonstrate the many in 2018, and this year promises a similar suc- Take 3D functional electronics, for instance: The perfect solution for laboratory, prototyping or production. With its modular versatile applications of printed electronics cess. How do you intend to further develop bent and curved displays were essentially design and versatility, the compact machine is ideal for the widest variety of applica- in the medical sector. These include Brewer the event? developed in the automotive sector. But today tions. The LabCo produces high-precision results which are to 100% transferable to Science and InnovationLab, just to name a they are also being used in the consumer elec- wider working widths, also in clean room environments. The LabCo is available to few. Also taking place in connection with the B. Ismaier: Yes, the exhibition is getting big- tronics and white goods segments. our customers for testing at our in house Technology Center. LOPEC Technical Conference is the Biomedi- ger every year. Hall B0 is fully booked this year There are no limits to printed electronics; Contact us now! www.kroenert.de Flexible Solar Film Solar Enery Cell cal Applications session. The presentation by as well. In terms of expanding space, we are LOPEC makes that clear to me every year. Jaye Tyler, CEO of the US company Nissha fortunate that we have the ability to continue See us on our www.kroenert.de booth No. B0/305 No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal EVENTS 25

cables have to be planned and laid. This is What stage has your printed electronics still often done manually and takes weeks. If project reached? INFORMATION we print the conductor paths on film, we can The plenary lecture “Applications eliminate cables. Our goal is a digitised, auto- D. Hahn: We are now working on the first for printed electronics in the aviation mated production: a modular printing line, near-series prototypes, on a display module industry” will take place during the right next to the production line, that allows for the emergency exit and for the toilets in LOPEC Conference 2019 on 21 March the implementation of individual require- the cabin. We screen print a silver ink onto a at 09:25am at the International Con- ments within a few hours to days, even if the polymer carrier, which we then glue onto a gress Center Munich in room 14b. In customer makes a decision at the last minute. honeycomb structure. addition, a demonstrator for aircraft interior panelling will be on display at D. Hahn: With printed electronics, we can Do you only print with silver or do you the Innovation Showcase (B0 318). realise new system architectural concepts. also use organic inks? We assemble the customised electronic com- ponents and integrate them into the cabin M. Seissler: We use silver inks for the info You are cooperating on innovations for module without having to modify the air- panel. For other prototypes, for instance in the aircraft cabin. What are the advan- craft's hardware. This enables us to offer our sensor technology, we are also working with tages of printed electronics in this field? customers even more options for customised organic inks. There is an extremely large num- furnishings. And at the same time, the printed ber of possible applications for sensors in avia- M. Seissler: At the beginning of the project electronics help us to reduce weight. tion. Sensors integrated into the outer skin, two years ago, we initially had an optimised for example, can measure loads and provide production in mind. Airlines want the furnish- M. Seissler: Moreover, we need less space information on when the aircraft requires the ings of their aircraft to be customised. Cor- if we install flat film instead of cables for the next overhaul or repair cycle. Temperature porate branding should be reflected in the transmission of power or data – and there are and humidity sensors, on the other hand, can cabin. For aircraft manufacturers, however, it thousands of them hidden behind the panel- be used for climate monitoring. Printed elec- is expensive if one customer wants a display ling in the aircraft. If we save this space, the tronics in aircraft construction is an extremely here and the next one wants something else cabin will be larger, and the passengers will broad field, from organic light-emitting there, because for conventional electronics have a much more pleasant flight experience. diodes for cabin lighting to RFID antennas in

LabCo KROENERT The Universal Genius for OPV and RFID The Coating Machinery Experts for roll-to-roll coating, printing and laminating

Printed Electronics Flexible Photo Voltaics

OLED Wall Flexible Display

The perfect solution for laboratory, prototyping or production. With its modular design and versatility, the compact machine is ideal for the widest variety of applica- tions. The LabCo produces high-precision results which are to 100% transferable to wider working widths, also in clean room environments. The LabCo is available to our customers for testing at our in house Technology Center. Contact us now! www.kroenert.de Flexible Solar Film Solar Enery Cell

See us on our www.kroenert.de booth No. B0/305 Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 26 EVENTS

 NEW 

Together with two Fraunhofer Institutes, Airbus and Altran have developed demonstrators. Together, the companies are providing proof The that printed electronics are ready for applications in aviation (photo: Airbus) up-to-the-minute

portal for the ­manufacturing, that enable the tracking of when certain components are ready for installation at which specific production site. technical textiles What comes after the printed info panel? Do you have any industry long-term visions? D. Hahn: Airbus not only builds passenger aircraft, but also devel- ops ideas for the urban transport of the future. Take the future con- cept “Pop-Up”: This is about air taxis for cities, flight attachments for Try it out autonomous automobiles, and the combination of car and drone. This is what tomorrow's mobility looks like – and printed electronics should  make it all possible.

M. Seissler: As the flying cars are electrically powered, weight reduction www.techtextrends.com comes even more into play. Every kilogramme plays a decisive role here.

At the LOPEC Conference you will give a plenary lecture. What topics are you going to cover?

D. Hahn: We want to talk about the requirements of the aviation industry in general, but also about our current developments and about where we are headed. It should become clear that, in the future, printed electronics will enable the realisation of bold ideas.

M. Seissler: Moreover, there are still some outstanding issues, for instance with regard to connectors. Numerous functions and applica- tions can already be printed on film. However, the films must ultimately be connected to a power or data network. We are still looking for compelling solutions that meet the strict requirements of aviation.

D. Hahn: It is generally the case that we deal with cutting-edge tech- nologies in aircraft construction. Many companies are in a kind of awe of these high requirements. This is probably one of the reasons why there is currently still a gap between what we need in aviation and Contact: Dagmar Henning what is on offer. M. Seissler: We have been attending LOPEC for several years. This  +49 69 7595 1722 time we will be actively represented for the first time with a lecture. We [email protected] would like to seize this opportunity and call on all potential partners to support us.

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 27

Select exhibitors at LOPEC 2019

CERADROP (Booth 206) a MGI Group company, offers materials deposition digital platforms for the printed electronics industry and smart 3D printing from advanced R&D up to 24/7 high performance manufacturing. Thanks to their modular-based scalable con- cept, the CeraPrinter Series models present new opportunities for feasibility studies and launches of new products into the printed electronics market. Combining various mate- rials deposition technologies as well as the latest generation of post-treatment modules, this equipment line enables reaching a wide range of application fields such as: flexible for human-machine interaction with robotic Elantas Europe (Booth 405) is a leading electronics, IoT, sensors, smart packaging, arms and localisation. CSEM’s printed elec- manufacturer of insulating and protec- OLED, electroceramics, energy harvesting, tronics offering includes process optimisation tive materials. The company develops and life science and automotive. The booth is for PePV and OLED light management. produces wire enamels, impregnating resins located in the AFELIM Pavilion (French Printed and varnishes, casting and potting resins, Electronics Association). electronic coatings, adhesives, flexible elec- DuPont Photovoltaic and Advanced trical insulation materials, special coatings, Materials (Booth 408) is a leading innova- products for printed electronics as well as a Coatema Coating Machinery (Booth 304) tor and high-volume supplier of electronic wide range of tooling and composite materi- will present three different sizes of equip- inks and pastes for a wide variety of printed als. Functional inks and personal support ment for printing, coating and laminating electronic applications in the display, photo- for printed electronics are offered by the in the printed electronics sector. As part of voltaic, automotive, biomedical, telecommu- product line printed electronics. Its portfolio Coatema’s success story of Lab2Fab in new nication and consumer electronics markets. includes conductive, insulating and functional emerging technologies, there will be an A4 DuPont PVAM will be exhibiting its extensive screen printing inks for applications such as Test Solution slot die coater at the Coatema portfolio of electronic inks including the new membrane switches, touch surfaces, in-mould booth. The other Test Solution R2R system is 2nd generation of In-Mould Electronic (IME) electronics, hybrid electronics, sensors, RFID the most compact Coatema R2R unit, with materials enabling 3D structural electronics. antennas and electroluminescent lighting. a working width of 100mm and different Also featured is the DuPont Intexar range of options for application systems. Both systems stretchable, washable inks and substrates for are the optimal entry units in printed elec- wearable applications. Folex Coating (Booth 515) is a specialist tronics, not using a lot of materials and inks for functional coatings and the thermal sta- and still providing the opportunity to make bilisation of polymer films under clean room products on small scale. The third unit shown DuPont Teijin Films UK (Booth 405) is a conditions, Folex has more than 60 years of at the Lopec Demoline area is a version of leading manufacturer of high-performance experience in the manufacturing of products the new Smartcoater, with a screen printing PET polyester film. Its wide range of stabilised for the printing and electronics industry. system in operation and an integrated UV films are strong and flexible with excellent From its vast portfolio, several products are Nanoimprint process. resistance to heat, abrasion, chemicals and particularly interesting for printed electronics moisture. These films are the substrates of applications: typically substrates to be printed choice for precise registration and dimensional on, with minimal residual shrinkage, and CSEM (Booth 505) is a private RTO, ensur- control. Polyester films are particularly suited optimal surface properties, as well as overlay ing competitiveness through deep-technology to demanding applications including touch films. Also transparent conducting coatings development and transfer to industry. CSEM screens, flexible OLEDs, e-paper, high-barrier for which the conductivity can be adjusted solutions include microsystems, surface flexible substrates, flexible microelectronics according to the needs of the various poten- engineering and smart integration. CSEM and TFT‘s. New co-extruded PET films have tial application requirements. provides flexible, professional services with smooth clean surfaces that are ideal for an industry-friendly IP approach and shares its deposition of conductive and barrier coatings. global industrial networks. CSEM clean room Melinex TCH index matched films provide FUJIFILM Dimatix (Booth 402) is a facilities include state-of-the art equipment superior optical properties and our range of renowned provider of piezoelectric inkjet for OLAE process developments. Its hybrid UV barrier films offer the protection required printheads and systems and has more than electronics are deployed in domains such as for demanding external applications. 35 years of experience in advancing the optical sensors for aerospace, “artificial skin” performance of drop-on-demand dispensing­

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 28 EVENTS

devices with its state-of-the-art MEMS tion (e.g. ITO replacement, printed solar cells, affordable, but highly accurate too, Roll to technology. The Dimatix Materials Printer, inlays, smart tags, RFID and IoT). The company Roll (R2R) production on flexible transpar- DMP-2850, is a versatile system for the accel- will present its proprietary technology, named ent polymer substrates is the way forward. erated development of inkjet solutions in DMD100 (Digital Material Deposition), for Numerous printing and coating technologies electronics, displays, chemical, life sciences, the printed electronics world. This fully digital are suitable depending on the design, the photovoltaics, 3D mechanical, optical, and and versatile technology paves the way for product application and the chemical pro- other emerging technologies and industries, structural electronics, moulded interconnect cess technology. and it provides improved performance and devices and OPV for high quality laboratory functionality for IoT applications. By employ- prototyping and small volume industrial ing single-use cartridges, the DMP-2850 production. DMD100 allows manufacturers to M. Braun Inertgas-Systeme (Booth 202) minimises waste of expensive fluid materials, create new products in shorter time to market offers versatile, clean environment solutions thereby eliminating the cost and complexity and laboratories to validate in real time, device to markets around the globe. From the associated with traditional product develop- structure and new functional materials without standard glovebox to complex, customised ment and prototyping. formulation phase. systems – its solutions are tailored to suit all types of budget requirements. MBRAUN is a pioneer in OLED equipment with more than 20 years of experience in providing standardised and customised solutions for the OLED market.

Meyer Burger Technology (Booth 303) offers industrial inkjet printing equipment to apply functional materials for printed elec- tronics, OLED, PCB, semiconductors, chemi- cal machining, photovoltaics and life science. Functional inkjet printing is an additive and digital manufacturing technology, hence has great advantages in relation to material usage, productivity, environmental impact and costs. It can create very fine features and replace conventional techniques such as lithography, screen printing, spray coating and dispensing. The PiXDRO LP50 research and engineering printers excel in flexibility and process control, offering fast time-to- market. The PiXDRO JETx production systems IST Metz (Booth 409) develops, manufac- Kimoto Ltd (Booth 604) boasts know-how are designed for high productivity and reli- tures and distributes UV curing systems for in coated films for industrial applications ability, low cost of ownership, and integra- many industrial applications such as electron- found in the electronic, lighting, automotive tion in mass production environments. ics, display, wood, medical, automotive, cos- and printing industries. The company follows metics, metal, flooring, energy storage and the dynamic developments in these fields to converting. The company group was founded offer up-to-date products to the market. Neotech AMT (Booth 215) is a leading in 1977 and consists of 14 companies. Kimoto uses clean room coating lines for company developing manufacturing tech- Thanks to the worldwide network of sales highest optical quality. nologies for 3D printed electronics. Since and services, fast and reliable support on-site 2009 the company has pioneered develop- is guaranteed. The IST Metz group offers its ments in this emerging market and offers customers the world’s largest product port- KROENERT (Booth 305) is offering ver- production level solutions. The patented 45X folio of high-performance UV lamp and UV satile and flexible R2R coating, printing and system is currently used in the high volume LED systems for the curing of inks, varnishes laminating machines to produce large area manufacture of cell phones. The low cost as well as adhesives and silicones. printed electronics regardless whether the PJ15X system is designed for R&D, rapid machine is used in R&D institutes, labora- prototyping and product development for tories, start-ups or at industrial customers. mobile communications, automotive and Kelenn Technology (Booth 206) is a Applications for large area and compact industrial customers. Applications include manufacturer of industrial printing, vision and printed electronic systems such as NFC, OPV, 3D circuits, antenna, sensors and heater pat- software systems, and innovates by introducing RFID and display applications are increasing. terns as well as “fully additive” 3D printed industrial solutions from lab to mass produc- In order to make the final products more electronics.

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 29

NovaCentrix (Booth 403) offers industry leading photonic curing tools, conductive inks, material and expertise enabling development and production of next generation printed electronic devices – some already on the market. PulseForge tools utilise photonic curing which is a cutting edge technology that dries, sinters, and anneals functional inks in milliseconds on low-temperature, flexible substrates such as paper and plastic. PulseForge tools can save time and money, and enable new types of products in applications like solar, RFID, display, packaging, and circuit. The company’s Metalon conductive inks capi- talise on advanced materials and formulation to provide conductivity options for additive manufacturing of printed electronics with stretch- able, solderable, resistive, and magnetic qualities.

nsm Norbert Schläfli AG (Booth 507) specialises in developing and manufacturing high-precision printing, coating, laminating and curing systems mainly in the area of printed electronics and security print- ing. From the table top lab sheet-fed printing machine to a complex multi-functional printing system, nsm is developing – based on over 33 years of expertise in printing/coating technology – innovative and customised solutions for laboratories and companies worldwide. The product range also includes innovative, ultra-precise sheet-to-product and R2R printing and coating systems.

nTact (Booth 205) is a pioneer of slot die coating for microelectron- ics applications and a leader in emerging markets such as OLED and various printed and organic electronics applications. nTact developed products which are fully compatible for processing in inert gas environ- ments and through its partnership with M. Braun offers these as fully integrated systems capable of depositing highly uniform, submicron layers of organic films. Based on the acute demand for a system which Discover our is low cost yet capable of high performance processing needed R&D new Bectron® applications, nTact launched two new products which allow research- ers to develop a process on an affordable R&D platform, while provid- screen printing inks ing a direct, scalable path to large area substrates and high yields in a volume manufacturing environment. Thermoformable und conductive · Bectron® CP 6680 – Silver ink · Bectron® GP 9580 VP – Carbon ink OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association) (Booth 216) Your advantages is the leading international industry association for organic and printed · Excellent thermoforming electronics. The OE-A represents the entire value chain of this emerging · High conductivity industry. Its members are world-class global companies and institutions, · Compatible with in-mold-decoration-inks ranging from R&D institutes, mechanical engineering companies and · Designed for in-mold-electronics (IME) material suppliers, to producers and end-users. Well over 200 members For further information and our complete product range from Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Oceania please look at www.elantas.com/europe are working together to promote the establishment of a competitive production infrastructure for organic and printed electronics.

OPE journal (Booth 111) is the leading international trade maga- zine for the organic and printed electronics industry. We offer you ELANTAS Europe GmbH · Product Line Printed Electronics the latest news, insights, articles and trends from our sector and Großmannstraße 105 · 20539 Hamburg · Germany keep you up-to-date with our online news, social media activities (Twitter and LinkedIn), and, of course, our quarterly print magazine. Mail: [email protected] Visit us at our booth and talk to us about editorial and advertorial opportunities!

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 30 EVENTS

Piezotech (Booth 206), an Arkema Group power and system flexibility of pulsed light. – in any object, whatever its shape, size or company, designs and produces electroactive Xenon has introduced the Sinteron systems material. Through in-house automatic SMD fluorinated polymers and inks for organic for the work in sintering silver and copper assembly, the company creates hybrid flex- electronics, plastronic and smart fibers. Piezo- nanoparticle inks on low-temperature flexible ible electronics that find their way in sports & tech FC: a range of ferroelectric polymers and substrates, such as PET and paper, at room healthcare wearables, automotive interiors, inks, with piezoelectric, pyroelectric properties temperature. smart objects and many more. for applications in sensors (touch, pressure, ultrasound, IR), actuators (printed speakers, haptics, microfl uidic) and energy harvesting. Pröll KG (Booth 500) offers non-con- RK PrintCoat Instruments (Booth 617) Piezotech RT: a range of relaxor polymers with ductive, but formable and backmouldable specialises in the design and manufacture electrostrictive properties for applications in IMD/FIM screen printing inks for printed of equipment used to produce repeatable actuators (haptics, microfluidics etc.), electro- electronics applications. Besides the proven samples of most surface coatings. These may calorics and high-k dielectrics. two-comp. inks such as NORIPHAN XMR then be used for quality control and presenta- and XWR, there is a new carbon-free black tion purposes, research and development and colour shade available for the one-comp. ink computer colour matching data, elements vital PolyIC (Booth 400) develops and markets NORIPHAN HTR N, based on non-conductive to a company’s success in the modern world. PolyTC metal-mesh sensors based on the Spinel pigments. The opaque black shades of The major industrial users of RK equipment platform technology printed electronics. All these inks can be used for decorating films as include printing ink and paint manufacturers, PolyTC sensors are produced individually and well as for back printing of conductive pastes pigment, resin and dyestuff suppliers and according to customer specifications. These within functional capacitive touch IMD/FIM manufacturers of textiles, adhesives, papers, products enable a large variety of applications: parts due to their high electric resistances. films, foils and medical and pharmaceutical Touchscreens, touch controls, and transparent Those inks can also be used as washout bar- products. conductive films. rier during the injection moulding process while showing outstanding adhesion in compound and long-term durability in the SAUERESSIG Matthews International Polytec/Xenon (Booth 416) provides final IMD/FIM part. (Booth 108) is a leading brand deployment instruments and components for photonics company that supports its customers along sintering, UV curing and measurement appli- the complex prepress process, from design cations: Xenon Sinteron sources, UV-LED, Quad Industries (Booth 213) is a solution to print by providing innovative solutions. Four-Point-Probes (simple manual to sophis- provider for printed flexible electronics and The design-to-print management is applied ticated fully automated systems), optical uses its expertise in high-precision, auto- in many sectors in the packaging world such thickness measurement, CV mapping systems, mated screen printing techniques to inte- as flexible packaging, tobacco or the pharma- fibreoptic sensing as well as machine. Xenon grate functionality directly on lightweight, ceutical industry. Saueressig regularly realises has over 50 years of experience providing high flexible and stretchable materials such as PET creative designs and accompanies renowned energy pulsed light lamps and systems. The film, TPU, paper and textiles. This allows the brand-name producers with international company has solved low-temperature curing integration of a wide range of electronics – product launches especially when it comes to problems based on the extraordinary range of touch controls, sensors, connectivity, heating fast moving consumer goods.

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 31

tacterion’s (Booth 606) market ready process the same application process original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) sensor solution plyon is one of a kind: flex- should be used from the beginning, as it and users of advanced production lines ible, sensitive and robust. Equipped with is most promising for a later production. in many high-tech markets: semiconduc- capacitive and resistive sensing, it aims at This requires bridging the gap between the tors, thin-film photovoltaics, analytical making flexible, soft and curved surfaces lab-scale of the development laboratory on instruments, medical systems, aerospace, smart. Providing proximity, touch and force one hand and industrialised, well proven defence. VDL ETG manufacturers complex detection, it can easily be customised to coating processes on the other hand. For parts, subsystems and fully-integrated address a variety of use cases, from indus- this purpose TSE has developed a modular equipment in six volume factories located trial applications to consumer electronics. coating system which allows coating onto in The Netherlands, Switzerland, China With its emphasis on partnerships, tacterion individual ”sheets” with an optimised slot and Singapore, and has strong design can provide support in every step of the die in lab-scale. and engineering capabilities to support its product development process, including customers throughout the entire lifetime of design and software services. It is part of their products. tacterion’s vision to offer comprehensive Ushio Europe (Booth 203) is specialised solutions for seamless integration of tactile in industrial light sources. While the curing sensors. By enabling new ways of human- of inks, paints and adhesives used to be a VTT Technical Research Centre of Fin- machine interaction, tacterion supports its process that could take a great deal of time, land (Booth 501) is a visionary research, partners in creating revolutionary products today, hardening and drying are fast and development and innovation partner. The that make life easier and safer. energy-saving procedures. In the printing centre drives sustainable growth, tackles the and coating industry, these procedures can biggest global challenges of our time, and be done using the UV lamps and modules turns them into growth opportunities. The TSE Troller (Booth 506) offers optimised USHIO offers. researchers aim to go beyond the obvious slot dies for electronic products. When to help the society and companies to grow designing new products in the field of through technological innovations. VTT flexible electronics, with the examples of VARTA Microbattery (Booth 405) is offers a leading roll-to-roll pilot manufac- organic photovoltaic (OPV) and organic an international innovation leader in the turing infrastructure for printed and hybrid LEDs (OLED), the appropriate components microbattery sector which offers high-end flexible electronics process upscaling. Its of the coating liquids are often only and technology leading power supplies in expertise covers a wide range of printed available in very limited quantity and cor- the areas of wearables, hearables, medical, intelligence technologies, from material respondingly expensive. Thus, the filling as well as IT/communications, industrial/ formulation and process development to volume of the entire system is very impor- robotics, consumer and home & garden. production of individual components and tant to allow for economic development. systems. Also, the application of a uniform, only a few micrometres thin wet layer, with a VDL Enabling Technologies Group simple manual procedure is not possible. (Booth 610) is a tier-1 contract manufac- Image sources: Messe München GmbH In order to ensure the scale-up from the turing partner operating worldwide. The laboratory in a subsequent ”roll-to-roll” main customers of VDL ETG are leading

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 32 EVENTS

Out of academia, into industry On 10 and 11 April 2019, the “IDTechEx Show!” in Berlin will bring together decision-makers, innovators and investors in some of the most promising emerging technologies in the world. Just like in previous years, printed electronics will play a major role at the event

Printed, flexible and organic electronics is The time has come a market worth US$31.6bn in 2018, accord- The industry is now at a very different point in ing to IDTechEx Research. The majority of that its maturity curve. On the one hand, suppliers is for OLED displays, with glass-based versions have increasingly successfully identified key now entering their golden age and foldable business opportunities, where the technology OLEDs and printed OLEDs currently entering provides benefit, while on the other hand a phase of commercial growth. Then there is more and more end users are flocking to the near $2bn market for conductive ink used the technology, where they seek competitive in many diverse applications and the $3.6bn advantage through benefits such as reducing market for sensors, mainly comprising of bio- processing steps, adding new form factors sensors so far. and features and achieving things not readily However, for many components and capabili- possible before. ties, one could categorise the printed electron- Huge opportunities are arising across a huge ics sector as “an old embryonic technology”. number of applications – some of them being From the high levels of excitement and invest- multi-billion dollar opportunities. Take for ment 10-15 years ago, to the sombre reality example electronic skin patches, which have some 5 years ago as organisations focussed grown to be a market worth over $5bn in 2019 on real commercial benefits by addressing the for monitoring glucose or heart rate. Increas- challenges of making the technology suitable ingly, these require more and more flexible elec- for purpose while also identifying new market tronics. Indeed, e-textiles will become a market opportunities. with over $2bn alone by 2028. On the other

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal 33

Impressions from the IDTechEx Show 2018 in Berlin (photo: Martin Hirschmann)

hand you have those in PCB manufacturing lighting enabled by printed electronics, to together end users with suppliers across the who are switching to inkjet printing to reduce materials addressing the heat management value chain and highlighting the successful the number of process steps and therefore save issues in the increasing range of power elec- case studies and end user needs. time and money. One automotive electronics tronics used in electric vehicles. In consumer With 2500 attendees and 200 exhibitors supplier will move to inkjet printing etch resist electronics the adoption of 5G is creating expected, it is considered to be one of for all its PCBs this year. Then there is another massive new opportunities for spray-on or Europe’s largest shows highlighting the busi- using printing to repair defects on large area printable electromagnetic shielding materials. ness opportunities in printed electronics. Buy- display panels – the alternative being to discard In short, printed electronics capabilities have ers are no longer predominately the academic the new panel. spread into many different use cases, with the world – it is industry that is now driving the Smart packaging has come centre stage, with list growing and companies aligning them- growth of printed electronics, which is the the user needs and technology capability now selves with the opportunities. Such applica- focus of this event. aligning for the first time thanks to new high tions are covered in depth in the IDTechEx To provide insight on applications, speakers volume production capability of flexible ICs report Flexible, Printed & Organic Electronics include ABInBev, Beko, Boston Scientific, Con- and widespread reader infrastructure in addi- 2019-2029. tinental, Google, Microsoft, Panasonic, Qual- tion to intent from global consumer brands. comm Life, Samsung, Schreiner MediPharm,­ Other sectors that are particularly strong Siemens Healthineers, Sony, StoraEnso, are healthcare, such as the OLED eye mask Printed electronics United Technologies, US Army, Visionox and disrupting a multi-billion dollar industry for business opportunities many more. injections into the eye used to treat diabetic Held on 10-11 April 2019 in Berlin, Germany, retinopathy; or the automotive sector where the unique focus of the IDTechEx Printed Image sources: IDTechEx report Flexible, vehicle interiors are the new battleground Electronics Europe event is to speed up the Printed and Organic Electronics 2019-2029; in differentiation, with user interfaces and adoption of printed electronics by bringing Martin Hirschmann

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 34 MILDNER’S COLUMN

Printed electronics – spread the news

Printed electronics is a key enabling tech- Key enabler nology. If we travel back in time a bit, printed Printed electronics is the key enabler to electronics was seen as the key technology integrate or hide functionality. This leads to to enable electronics everywhere. This has advantages thanks to lower weight, lower become reality in some applications. How- complexity, better design options and, finally, ever, this it is not at all an obvious observa- lower cost. tion. In some cases, it may be reality but pur- Electronics can be an integrated part of the posely hidden, integrated or embedded. Let housing, such as the integrated sensors in a Wolfgang Mildner us take a look at what printed electronics has car’s dashboard or the human interface of a achieved so far and what printed electronics coffee machine. It can also be the invisible everywhere means today. integrated sensor matrix or heating element The advantages and main characteristics of in the seat of a car. products using printed electronics are • Thin • Flexible • Lightweight

Especially in applications where functions need to be integrated, the usage of printed electronics brings value. Starting with the integration of conductive lines to connect components or printing of antennas, to One example is the IoTree – an OPV solar embedded sensors or heating elements. cell formed like palm leaves could help in Integration does not stop with printed elec- supplying energy to grid-free locations tronics, conventional electronics such as LEDs and microcontrollers are integrated as well. The obvious killer applications for printed Hybrid electronics solves both performance electronics are still missing. Today, printed and structural requirements. electronics is hidden and integrated, so it is not easily recognised – but close to being everywhere. Consequently, we need to spread the news: Printed electronics – embedded and inte- grated – is a key enabler for a lot of new products and functions and also new product designs. Thin, flexible and embedded – the values for successful printed electronics pro- jects today. A good place to spread the news is the annual LOPEC (19- 21 March), with an increasing number of applications demonstrated at the exhibition, as well as challenges and potentials being discussed at the different conference parts (business models and applications at the Business Conference, Challenges of upscaling and application challenges at the Technical conference). Printed electronics spreads out into new regions as well: At OPE MENA in January 2019 in Dubai, applications and products of printed electronics were discussed that could fit well into the region’s requirements Image sources: MSWtech

No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal BEYOND THE DESK 35

Celebrating failures VTT’s first Gala of Failures wanted to demonstrate that research sometimes needs setbacks to succeed in the long term

"Not my fault, I followed the instructions!" Dressing up as an ant, Have you ever felt the blush rising on your laughing at Linux cheeks or had the uncomfortable feeling During the evening, stories were heard from after realising that you have made a mistake? VTT researchers’ failures in personal life There is no reason to worry, we surely all have! such as poisoning one's family members by However, our reaction to this is even more cooking toxic mushrooms or going to a mas- important. At the VTT Technical Research querade evening party mistakenly dressed up Centre of Finland's Gala of Failures, which as an ant, as well as related to one's earlier took place in January 2019 for the first time, studies or career. Being too self-confident to VTT’s staff shared their stories of failing and admit that one has made some totally wrong learning from it – openly and in front of an calculations as part of an important research, audience. or taking Linus Torvalds' ideas about open In VTT's Hackathon event in 2017, the source as something ridiculous. researchers explored the idea of challenging “I very much appreciate that people from dif- different aspects of an issue – and instead ferent stages of their career shared their learn- of shame and blame starting to celebrate ing processes. Actually, the best innovations failures, because in the end they may be the in the world are often born as a result of trial remarkable moments that teach us a lot. “We and error,” added VTT's senior VP in human wanted to encourage people to talk more resources, Kirsi Nuotto, who also shared her openly about their failures, share their experi- own story during the evening. ences and even be proud of what they have At the end of the gala, the Fail of the Year was learned thanks to failing,” said young profes- awarded to VTT's research scientist Mykola sional vice-chairman Nicolaas van Strien, who Ivanchenko, who even presented a theory supported the idea of such an event. about failing with its most typical "it wasn't me, I wasn't even there" reactions. The VTT leadership especially thanked the Personal stories people behind the idea for the gala, Nicolaas At the Gala, VTT researchers told their personal van Strien, Magnus Strandberg, Erkka Rinne stories about failing. Among them was VTT's and Marton Szogradi for organising this VTT’s Gala of Failures was a full success CEO Antti Vasara. He reminded the audience memorable event. So, maybe it is time to ask: that VTT wanted to endorse the culture of “What has been the biggest or funniest failure failing – and learning from it. during your career?” “We cannot always choose not to fail, but we can choose to learn from it. If you never take risks, you will miss some great opportunities. Image sources: VTT A failure is not the end of the world, so let's speak up about them and learn the lessons the failures teach us. Learn fast,” he emphasised.

Magazine for Organic & Printed Electronics 36 SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY

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No 26 | March 2019 | OPE journal Chairman OE-A Board, CDT Ltd. Dr. Jeremy Burroughes forward seeingyouonMarch 19-21inMunich,Germany! at boththeConference astheExhibition.We aswell are looking LOPEC ofcourse covertheseindustrysectorsinmore 2019will depth no longerrequired, whichenhancesuserexperienceandreduces thicknessandweight. adaptitsshadefrommanually transparent toblack.Due this technologyshuttersare airplanes are already equippedwithelectrochromic or windowswhichcanautomatically recognize andlocatethedamage,enhancingsafetyreducing cost.Furthermore, some failures canoccur. asquicker Withthissensortechnologyitispossibletoeasieras well which detectbird strikes.Incaseaplaneishitbybird, seriousdamageorevenengine now beingusedinplanes.There are forexampleprintedsensorsintegrated inturbineblades Sensors, lightingandotherelementsmadewithstate-of-the-art printingtechnologiesare Many oftheseexamplescanalsobeappliedinaviationandpublic transportation modes. sun andelectrochromic dimblindinglights. windowscanbeusedtoautomatically being usedasanenergy harvestertopowerventilationwhenacarisparkedinthe the freedom ofdesign,whichisnotfeasiblewithanyotherlightsource. OPVisalso pointforOLEDinthiscaseis Akeyselling both forinteriordisplaysandtaillights. used inmoderncars.OLEDtechnologyisalready implementedcommercially incars, and conformabletouchsensorsdisplays,enabledbyprintedelectronics tobe is fortheseinterfacestobeintegrated intothecarinterior, whichhasledtoflexible buttons andswitches;insteadcreating integrated seamless,fully designs.Thetrend vehicle designs–doingawaywiththecomplexityofmulti-partassemblies,removing 3D structural electronics promises anewapproach tointegrating electronics into more interaction withinformationandentertainmentsystemsinthecar. itself, are carriedoutbyon-board haveeven computers,thedriver/passengerwill space.Asinstallation more operating driving functions,includingeventually the driverorpassenger, whilebeinglightweightandtakingupverylittle all become “smarter”andtohavemore andmore informationinterfaceswith A keytrend intheautomotiveindustryistendencyformotorvehiclesto areas ranging from automotiveandvehicletechnologytoavionics. thin, light-weightandflexibletechnologyisincreasingly beingappliedin Printed electronics isaninnovationdriver, alsointhemobilitysector. This Dear Reader, Chairman OE-A Board Dr. Jeremy Burroughes

Managing Director OE-A Dr. KlausHecker Managing Director OE-A Dr. KlausHecker

Germany 60528 Frankfurt amMain, Lyoner Straße 18 within VDMA A workinggroup Association Electronics Organic andPrinted OE-A www.lopec.com www.oe-a.org Press &PRManager Sophie IsabelVerstraelen Editor [email protected] +49 696603-1336 Managing Director Dr KlausHecker Contact @OEAonline oe-a news

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a word of greeting OE-A’s Activities Photo: © Messe München at LOPEC 2019 Who will be the winners of the OE-A Competition 2019? Attend the LOPEC Dinner & Award Show to find out! Also this year, OE-A will organize several exciting printed electronics related activities at LOPEC 2019.

OE-A Exhibition Visit the over 60m2 sized OE-A exhibition booth (B0 216) to meet us personally and find out everything you want to know about printed electronics. The booth will feature various products integrating the organic and printed electronics technology. All aspects of printed electronics, from research, materials and production techniques to end-products will be

showcased. Exploring the products and demonstrators from Photo: © Messe München the OE-A Competition should prove especially interesting. See the live production of printed electronics at LOPEC 2019 and take a sample home with you!

Demo Line LOPEC will also provide all this year’s visitors, from manufacturers to users of printed electronic components, with a perfect opportunity to obtain information on the production process involved in organic and printed electronics by seeing the machinery in operation. On March 20-21, the Demo Line will demonstrate the entire value chain of producing an electronic dice based on a flexible chip, printed battery and LEDs – a perfect example of a hybrid system, in which classical electronics are combined with printed electronics.

This technology showcases the versatility of printed electronics especially when it comes to flexibility and ease of production through roll to roll processes. Photo: © Messe München Want an overview of printed electronics applications? The LOPEC Demo Line is a unique initiative of OE-A members, Visit the OE-A exhibition booth B0 216 at LOPEC 2019 coordinated by Hochschule der Medien in cooperation with adphos Digital Printing, American Semiconductor, Coatema Coating Machinery, DuPont Teijin Films, Elantas Europe, elmeric, OE-A Competition 2019 Novacentrix, Varta Microbatteries and Witte. Several OE-A The annual OE-A Competition encourages young engineers and member companies, representing the entire value chain, come scientists, as well as companies and designers, to develop a together and pool their resources to further develop emerging vision for future applications incorporating organic and printed technologies as well as create innovative products – and this electronics as well as to present exciting new products. in the challenging environment of an exhibition hall.

The jury, consisting of experts from the organic and printed If you want to experience the entire value chain of an electronic electronics industry, will announce the winners of the various dice, then visit the Demo Line (B0 405) at LOPEC 2019 and categories during the LOPEC 2019 Dinner & Award Show pick up your demonstrator! Try your luck this year: Win a prize on Wednesday, March 20. But you, the visitor at LOPEC, by rolling the sequence 1, 2, 3 and 4! When all 7 lights flash, can have a say too! Visit the OE-A booth on that special come to the Demo Line booth to pick up your prize. \\ day, discover all submitted demonstrators, and vote for your favorite. The winner will receive the Public Choice Award, and For more information about OE-A’s activities at LOPEC 2019, you, as voter, have a chance to win a very special prize. visit www.lopec.com or www.oe-a.org

2 | oe-a news to theintegration ofthisinnovative technologyintoconsumer Things (IoT),wearables andautomotive. Specialfocuswasgiven technology industry, intheareas especially oftheInternet of This noveltechnologyhasamajor influenceontheconsumer of organic andprintedelectronics atthisinternationalevent. On January9-12, 2019OE-A introduced thenewtechnology from low-costandrobust tolightweight,flexibleandthin. printed electronics isbeingdrivenbynumerous benefits– ranging easier through theuseoftouchsensors.Theadoptionflexibleand operation ofautomobilesandmanydevicesmore intuitiveandthus wearables,accessories intointelligent asmakingthe aswell smartphones andtablets,itisusedtoturnclothing is beingapplied.Thistechnologycanbefoundine-readers, electronics iscurrently thelargest industryinwhichthistechnology products basedonorganic andprintedelectronics. Consumer and householdappliancestopackaginghealthcare, have Numerous industrysectors,from automotive,consumerelectronics printed andflexibletechnologies The future ofconsumerelectronics includes of exhibitspaceandpresenting more than300conference sessions. attracts 180K+attendees,gatheringover223,000netsquare meters consumer technology. inLasVegas, Heldannually NV, USA,it industry atCES–oneoftheworld’s largest trade showsfor For thethird timeinarow, OE-A represented theprintedelectronics OE-A jointpavilionandconference track drew acrowd inLasVegas of printed to electronics CES2019 OE-A successfully brought thefuture Together with11ofitsmembers,OE- A attracted manycuriousvisitorstoitsOE- of existingproducts astothedevelopmentofnewones. aswell developers. Thiscooperation leadtotheoptimization eventually will collaboration betweentheproduct industryandthetechnology to theprintedelectronics prompt network,whichwill closer electronics. Thisgrowing markethelpstobringmore end-users products andpartnerships,promoting ourbrand intheUS.” other OE-A companies andexistingcollaborators showcasingour standard customerbase.We were abletobuildrelationships with leading electronics companiesandbroaden exposure outsideour As oneofourmemberssaid:“CESenabledustomeet with OLED displays,interactive touchsensors,andhybrid systems. from IoT, wearables, andhumanmachineinterfaces(HMI)toflexible, Center, NovaCentrix,Fraunhofer FEPandYnvisible.Topics ranged VTT Technical Research Centre ofFinland,InnovationLab,COPT Cambridge DisplayTechnology, AmericanSemiconductor, Coatema CoatingMachinery, PolyIC, HolstCentre/TNO, IEE, “Connecting Objects,HomesandCities”.Speakersincluded, Mobility”, “Digitizinghealthcare forincreased and wellbeing” Smart” consistedoutofthesessions“DrivingFuture of conference track “PrintedElectronics: Flexible, Lightweight, & mobility, healthcare andsmartliving.OE-A’s &wellbeing technology intoconsumerelectronics asautomotive aswell special focuswasgiventotheintegration ofthisinnovative organized aconference track onprintedelectronics. Also,here Furthermore, withinthe1,000+speakersCESconference, OE-A Interactive –toshowcasetheirtechnologiesandapplications. PolyIC, VTT Technical Research Centre ofFinlandandYnvisible Fraunhofer FEP, HolstCentre, IEE,InnovationLab,NovaCentrix, Coatema CoatingMachinery, COPT CenterUniversityofCologne, together withOE-A membersCambridge DisplayTechnology, in consumerproducts, OE-A exhibitedatitsownjointpavilion – to share theadvantagesofintegration ofprintedelectronics In order tointroduce more as end-userstoitsnetworkaswell organicthe andprintedelectronics industry OE-A pavilionandconference track represented A jointpavilionatCES2019 oe-a news \\

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Photo: © OE-A oe-a news OE-A presented its initiative on sustainability at innoLAE 2019 Circular economy proofs to be an important yet challenging topic in the printed electronics industry

The 5th annual Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference (innoLAE 2019) was held at the Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre, Cambridge, UK on 22-23 January 2019. The conference programme highlighted the most innovative and exciting aspects of large-area electronics (LAE), a new way of making electronics that includes printable, flexible, plastic, organic and bio electronics. Besides that OE-A and LOPEC exhibited, OE-A presented its initiative on sustainability.

Large-Area Electronics and the Circular Economy

For the first time innoLAE organized a session dedicated to Photo: © innoLAE exploring the issues of LAE and the circular economy. Society, Sophie Isabel Verstraelen, Project Manager, OE-A, presented the aims and governments and businesses are increasingly aware of the need to activities of the OE-A Sustainability Working Group as well as discussed the topic with various stakeholders at the panel discussion during the Circular shift the design, manufacture and end-of-life treatment of products Economy workshop at innoLAE 2019 towards a more sustainable, circular model. This provides a timely opportunity for the LAE community to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the circular economy for our industry. workshop included a presentation by Sophie Isabel Verstraelen, Project Manager at OE-A, who presented what the printed On the first day of the conference Marco Meloni, research electronics industry is currently doing to address sustainability analyst at the Ellen MacArthur foundation, set the scene by and introduced the aims and activities of the OE-A Sustainability delivering a keynote presentation introducing the circular Working Group. Other speakers included Dr Danick Briand, economy. He pointed out that this can be realized by designing Senior Scientist, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL); out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials Gillian Ewers, VP Marketing, PragmatIC; Clement Gaubert, WEEE in use, as well as by regenerating natural systems. Scheme Manager, Veolia; and Marco Meloni, Research Analyst, Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The dialogue during the panel The Circular Economy workshop took place on the second discussion that followed confirmed that this topic is very important day and provided attendees the opportunity to explore the for the various stakeholders. The aim therefore is to continue topic further with examples and discussion specific to LAE. The working together on creating a more sustainable industry. \\ Photo: © innoLAE OE-A presented its initiative on sustainability at innoLAE 2019

4 | oe-a news of thelargest printshopsintheregion. company visittothefacilitiesof MasarPrint,one could betriedout.Inaddition,there wasa showcased through variousproducts which where theprintedelectronics technologywas Furthermore, there were varioustabletopstands Objects, andApplicationsofPrintedElectronics. Production ofPrintedElectronics, SensorsandSmart Flexible DisplaysandLightingSolutions,Process and Energy Storage, MaterialsforPrintedElectronics, and PrintedIoTDevices,Organic Photovoltaics& andVTT.db-matik aboutFlexible Theytalked MSWTech, Heliatek,Armor, Merck, FlexEnable, from variousOE-A members,suchasPragmatIC, The conference withpresentations wasfilled Upscaling Production, andRFID/NFCIoT. Photovoltaics, SmartHome /ConnectedObjects, included thetopicsFunctional Printing,Organic Dubai Energy andWater Authority, thisconference the Grand HyattinDubai,UA. Supportedbythe conference onOrganic andPrintedElectronics at with DubaiMediaInc.andOE-A organized a On January29-30,2019MasarPrintincooperation (UAE), andRuleroftheEmirate ofDubai. Prime MinisteroftheUnitedArab Emirates bin RashidAlMaktoum,theVicePresident and also confirmedbythevisitofSheikhMohammed of great interest Thiswas andimportanceaswell. technology oforganic andprintedelectronics is societal impacts.Itistherefore nosurprisethatthe a broad range oftechnologicalapproaches and and governmententities,toco-create solutionsin between entrepreneurs, privatesectororganizations kickstarted several initiativestoenablepartnerships Dubai investsheavilyinfuture technologiesandhas Dubai, UA onJanuary 29-30,2019 Dubai MediaInc.andOE-A in Organized byMasarPrint, inDubai Electronics Organic andPrinted ConferenceFirst on

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companies anduniversitiesattendedtheconference inDubai Over 300peoplefrom variousgovernmentalinstitutions, while visitingthetabletopstands Sheikh MohammedbinRashidAlMaktoumshowedgreat interest inprintedelectronics oe-a news

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Photo: © OE-A Photo: © OE-A oe-a news OE-A at ISPO 2019: Flexible and Printed Electronics for Electrifying Sportswear Printed Electronics represented at world’s biggest sporting goods trade fair

On February 3-6, ISPO – the world’s leading sporting goods fair – took place at Messe München in Munich, Germany.

OE-A Seminar “Flexible and Printed With this seminar, OE-A further strengthened the Electronics for Electrifying Sportswear” connection to the end-user and showcased the necessity Flexible sensors to measure your performance, integrated of joint product development to successfully integrate lighting for additional safety or self-heating jackets to increase next-generation electronics into sporting goods. your well-being. Organic and printed electronics stands for a revolutionary new type of electronics, which are thin, lightweight, flexible, robust and produced at low cost, from Cross-industry: Join the guided organic, polymeric or inorganic materials. The high degree tour to meet the end user of freedom of design requires a holistic approach in product To combine technology and sport, we continued our successful design to enable this wide range of novel applications. cross-industry initiative. Following the seminar, OE-A and LOPEC offered a guided tour to selected end users of the international On Monday, February 4 OE-A organized a seminar at the sporting industry, such as Reusch, Schöffel and Mammut. We ISPO Academy. This one-hour seminar presented current organized a matchmaking between a group of executives from use-cases on integrating printed and flexible electronics into Organic & Printed Electronics, R&D professionals and product sporting goods to increase functionality of garments as well as managers from international exhibitors. What became apparent efficiency and well-being of the wearer. OE-A members CenTi, was that the sporting goods industry is highly aware of the added DuPont Advanced Materials as well as MAS Innovation and value integrating electronics in their products. However, since Real Track Systems presented their use-cases of integrating this technological know-how is often outside their traditional printed electronics technologies into sporting goods to enable domain, they are looking for development partners to tackle these new features for the whole industry. When the speakers were challenges. This is where OE-A comes into play: By connecting its being asked to look into the future, they expect that the next members with the sports industry, knowledge and technologies major thing is energy harvesting in textiles. This enables the can be exchanged and new partnerships can be made. The result powering of the electronic devices while wearing the apparel. will be new smart products, enabled by printed electronics. \\ Photo: © OE-A Photo: © OE-A Photo: © OE-A OE-A Seminar “Flexible and Printed Electronics for Electrifying Sportswear” OE-A and LOPEC offered a guided tour at ISPO 2019 to selected presented current use-cases on integrating printed and flexible electron­ end users of the international sporting industry to connect with ics into sporting goods to increase functionality of garments as well as the printed electronics industry efficiency and well-being of the wearer

6 | oe-a news platform, fosteringcollaboration andpromoting theplayersalongvaluechain. informationexchangeamongall hosting quarterlyWorking Group Meetings,theOE-A provides itsmemberswithaneffective networkingandcommuni­ Creating asbetweencompaniesandresearch theright partnerships isessentialbothamongcompaniesaswell institutes.By The OE-A Working Groups meetregularly inEurope, NorthAmericaandAsia. OE-A Calendar of Events OE-AMeetings Asia Members benefitMembers from reduced fees for several conferences Trade fairs andconferences where you canmeet theOE-A printedelectronicsinvolvement inthe industry. UpcomingOE-A Working Group USAtobeannounced. meetings inthe The OE-A iscooperating Americanindustryassociationsandconferences North with together inorder toincrease end-user OE-A Meetings USA OE-A Meeting productronica 2019 ICFPE 2019 Tradeshow (SIDChina) ICDT DisplayConference and OE-A MeetingEurope OE-A MeetingEurope (tbc) Europe (incl.board elections) General Assembly /OE-A Meeting OE-A Meetings Europe November 12-15, 2019 October 23-25,2019 March 26-29,2019 March 19-21,2019 October 28-29,2019 June 12-13, 2019 (day before LOPEC) March 18,2019 (day before ICFPE) October 22,2019 Special Topic: “ExpandingDimensions:3DStructural Electronics” Hosted byVDMA Frankfurt (DE) Printed Electronics forMedicineandWellbeing” Hosted byIMB-CNM,SpecialTopic: “HealthyGrowth: Barcelona (ES) Hosted byIBMWatson Munich (DE) Hosted byITRI Hsinchu/Taipei (TW) seminars onorganic, flexibleandprinted electronics OE-A hostfree have anexhibitionboothandwill will Munich(DE) OE-A ispartnerofICFPEandorganizer ofaconference session Taipei (TW) OE-A ispartnerandorganizes aFlexiblePrintedElectronics session Suzhou (CN) www.lopec.com engaged inthefieldoforganic andprintedelectronics. manufacturers,to all industrial customers and research institutions trade fairandconference. Theeventoffersahigh-qualityplatform Messe MünchenandOE-A jointlyhosttheleadinginternational Messe München,Germany \\ cation

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