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Hello from Semicon Europa 2012 in
Dresden! The first day of the conference was full of surprises and very
interesting presentations of new products and new technologies.
Being an electronics show, it is surprising
to see that almost half of the presentations are dedicated to plastic electronics.
There is a revolution in the design and creation of materials (normally
nanomaterial) that in the not too distant future will replace silicon as the main
substrate for semiconductor electronics, including photovoltaic. More
surprising is the fact that the era of organic materials used for electronics
is becoming a reality. Polymers, ceramics, thin films, and organic cells will
play the role of silicon today.
I want to talk today about two new
materials I saw.
Thin Films
A Norwegian company with the name of Thin Film
Electronics ASA has created memory using thin films. The company is a
leader in printing electronics. Today they presented a commercialized printed rewritable memory. Yes,
rewritable printed memory in thin films!!
It is to be used in systems that can
embed memory, sensors, display, wireless communication devices, and anything
else, at an extraordinary low cost. By integrating memory and sensing devices
into any system, they believe that they have started a new revolution: the "Internet
of Things."
Bringing intelligence to disposable
goods, printing electronics is introducing intelligence to the objects around
us; this is what they call the Internet of Things. The world that is ahead of
us will be one where virtually any object can have intelligence! And you think
that your smart phone is the greatest device ever invented! Very soon we all
have to understand the statement that Dorothy (of the Wizard of Oz) told Toto
(her little - too outspoken - dog): "Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore!"
Graphene
We hear every day about Graphene. Its
fame is well deserved … I think. I could not count how many companies
introduced new applications and new methods to produce it (cheaply, of
course!).
In one of the technical presentations
I attended, an enthusiastic professor from the University of Texas at Austin
was preaching (a better word would be "shouting") about this material. "Graphene",
he shouted, "is a material of infinite possibilities", his voice trembling
and his forehead sweating. This was said in front of an audience composed of highly
technical people!
You all know that graphene is the
strongest material in existence or ever invented (forget about steel) and its
uses have been growing every day. Some of the applications of graphene include:
 Wind
turbine blades- Flywheels
for energy storage
- High
power transmission lines
- Aerospace
products
- Electrical
energy storage (in ultracapacitors, for instance)
- Thermal
management
- Indium
Tin Oxide replacement for displays
- Photovoltaic
and many optical electronics devices
- Nanoelectronics
(the gate of transistors, logic devices, memory)
- Lightweight
electrical conductors
- Impermeable
films
- Food
packaging
- Organic
LED (OLED)
- Organic
photovoltaic (OPV)
- Fuel
cells
- Sensors
- Biosensors
- Pressure
sensors
- Strain
gauges
It has many more applications. Is this a marvel material? Let me know!
Tomorrow I will continue with the new
electronic materials and I will talk about the other revolution going on in the
semiconductor manufacturing industry: 3D assembly and packaging, and Atomic
Layer Deposition (ALD). Again, you will see that really we are not in Kansas
anymore.
Cheers!
Abe
Editor's Note: Click to read Notes from Semicon Europa - Part 1 about Abe's first day in Germany. You can also read Notes from Semicon Europa - Part 3.
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