A combined experimental and theoretical study on the side ingress of water into barrier adhesives for organic electronics applications

This paper presents a thorough experimental and theoretical analysis of a model system for the mechanism of cathode degradation in OLED and OPV devices due to lateral side ingress of water vapour into laminated thin film barrier structures. The experimental procedure allows for full quantitative control over layer dimensions of the laminate, as...

Reliable filling of through vias with silver based conductive adhesives in flexible PEN substrates using low-cost optimized stencil printing methods

Systems-in-foil technologies address the current need to manufacture low-cost, low-complexity and high-reliabiltiy large area organic electronics in the field of OLEDs, OPVs and sensors. For substrates with multiple layers of conductive tracks, there is a need to realize contact positions on either side of the foil. Unfortunately, typical...

A common gate thin film transistor on poly(ethylene naphthalate) foil using step-and-flash imprint lithography

In this paper the fabrication of flexible thin film transistors (TFTs) on poly(ethylene naphthalate) foil is reported, with the source-drain layer patterned by step-and-flash imprint lithography (SFIL) as a first step towards fully UV-imprinted TFTs. The semiconductor was deposited by inkjet printing of a blend of TIPS-pentacene/polystyrene. The...

Fabrication of flexible field-effect transistors on 25 μm pen foil

The development of high performance thin-film transistors on flexible plastic substrates is of great importance for the manufacturing and industrialization of flexible electronic devices, such as flexible displays. Here we present different approaches to fabricate bottom-gate field-effect transistors on 25 μm heat stabilized polyethylene...

Double-layer imprint lithography on wafers and foils from the submicrometer to the millimeter scale

In this paper, a thermal imprint technique, double-layer nanoimprint lithography (dlNIL), is introduced, allowing complete filling of features in the dimensional range of submicrometer to millimeter. The imprinting and filling quality of dlNIL was studied on Si substrates as a model system and compared to results obtained with regular NIL (NIL)...

Electroplating of electrical circuitry on optoelectronic windows for thin film solar cells on foil

In many flexible electronic devices transparent conductive oxide (TCO) window layers are used for current collection. The trade-off between the electrical resistance and optical transmission of TCOs results in power losses. Increasing the electrical conductivity by combining metallic grids with TCOs enables reduction of these power losses....

Flexible biochips for detection of biomolecules

Miniaturization of biosensors is envisaged by the development of biochips consisting of parallel microarray patterns of binding sites on rigid substrates, such as glass or silicon. Thin plastic substrates are promising flexible alternatives because of the possibility for large-area roll-to-roll manufacturing of disposable chips at lower costs....

Lithographic patterning of metals on flexible plastic foils

In this paper the challenges of patterning electrodes with separations in the micron and sub-micron range onto thin polyethylene naphthalate foils for use in biochips are discussed. It was found that it was necessary to improve the adhesion of the metal electrodes to the foil by using plasma treatment and/or an adhesion layer, and a quantitative...