Science at the Edge
Engineering Seminar
February 13th,
2015
11:30 a.m., Room1400
Biomedical and Physical
Sciences Building
Refreshments served at 11:15
a.m.
C. Daniel
Frisbie
Department of Chemical
Engineering &
Materials Science, University of Minnesota, USA
New Materials and Printing Processes for Flexible
Electronics
Abstract
Currently
there is great interest in developing manufacturing methods
for integrating
electronic circuitry into flexible and stretchable substrates
for a spectrum of
applications including roll-up displays, wearable biosensors,
smart labels, and
electronic skins (‘e-skins’) for robotics, for example. One
fabrication
strategy that has captured imaginations involves the use of
digital or analog
printing techniques to pattern electronically functional inks
onto paper,
plastic, rubber, or metal foils. However, “printed
electronics” has a number of
significant challenges, including spatial resolution, pattern
registration, and
printed circuit performance. In this talk, I will describe a
multi-pronged
approach to address these challenges that may bring
roll-to-roll printed
electronics closer to reality. To begin, I will show that
innovations in
materials allow the fabrication of printable, low voltage thin
film transistors
(TFTs), the key building blocks of flexible circuits, and that
these can be
incorporated into simple printed circuit demonstrations
involving two dozen
TFTs and an equivalent number of printed resistors and
capacitors. The second
half of the talk will describe a novel liquid-based
fabrication approach that
we term SCALE, or Self-Aligned Capillarity-Assisted
Lithography for
Electronics. The SCALE process employs a combination of
digital printing and
in-substrate capillary flow to produce self-aligned devices
with feature sizes
that are currently as small as 1 m. The talk will finish with
a discussion of
the new opportunities in flexible microelectronics afforded by
liquid-based
processing.
Bio
C.
Daniel Frisbie is Distinguished McKnight University Professor
and Head of
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University
of Minnesota. He
obtained a PhD in physical chemistry at MIT in 1993 and was an
NSF Postdoctoral
Fellow at Harvard. His research focuses on materials for
printed electronics,
including organic semiconductors and their applications in
devices such as
transistors and solar cells. Research themes include the
synthesis of novel
organic semiconductors, structure-property relationships,
organic device
physics, and the application of scanning probe techniques.
Recent efforts also
include new manufacturing approaches to flexible electronics
and the use of gel
electrolytes as high capacitance gate insulators in OTFTs to
lower drive
voltages. From 2002-2014, Frisbie led a multi-investigator
effort in Organic
Optoelectronics at the University of Minnesota, sponsored by
the Materials
Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program of the
NSF. He is
currently the lead investigator on a Multi-University Research
Initiative
(MURI) grant funded by the Office of Naval Research for
development of a
roll-to-roll printed electronics manufacturing platform.
For further
information
please contact Prof. Richard Lunt, Department of Chemical
Engineering and
Materials Science at [log in to unmask]
Persons with disabilities have the right
to request and receive
reasonable accommodation. Please call the Department of Chemical
Engineering
and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least one day prior to the
seminar;
requests received after this date will be met when possible.