Title
A thin-film microprocessor with inkjet print-programmable memory
Author
Myny, K.
Smout, S.
Rockelé, M.
Bhoolokam, A.
Ke, T.H.
Steudel, S.
Cobb, B.
Gulati, A.
Rodriguez, F.G.
Obata, K.
Marinkovic, M.
Pham, D.V.
Hoppe, A.
Gelinck, G.H.
Genoe, J.
Dehaene, W.
Heremans, P.
Publication year
2014
Abstract
The Internet of Things is driving extensive efforts to develop intelligent everyday objects. This requires seamless integration of relatively simple electronics, for example through ‘stick-on’ electronics labels. We believe the future evolution of this technology will be governed by Wright’s Law, which was first proposed in 1936 and states that the cost of a product decreases with cumulative production. This implies that a generic electronic device that can be tailored for application-specific requirements during downstream integration would be a cornerstone in the development of the Internet of Things. We present an 8-bit thin-film microprocessor with a write-once, read-many (WORM) instruction generator that can be programmed after manufacture via inkjet printing. The processor combines organic p-type and soluble oxide n-type thin-film transistors in a new flavor of the familiar complementary transistor technology with the potential to be manufactured on a very thin polyimide film, enabling low-cost flexible electronics. It operates at 6.5 V and reaches clock frequencies up to 2.1 kHz. An instruction set of 16 code lines, each line providing a 9 bit instruction, is defined by means of inkjet printing of conductive silver inks.
Subject
Mechanics, Materials and Structures
HOL - Holst
TS - Technical Sciences
Industrial Innovation
Complementary technology
Metal oxide semiconductor
N-type semiconductors
Plastic foil substrates
Thin-film technology
Transistors
Microprocessor chips
P2ROM memory
Write-once-read-many
WORM
Print-Programmable Read-Only Memory
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0e2f0720-a92c-409f-8917-2ad2e697bbca
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep07398
TNO identifier
868263
ISSN
2045-2322
Source
Scientific Reports
Article number
07398
Document type
article