Printed electronics are anticipated to be
one of the fastest growing technology sectors. With an
increasing reliance on electronic publishing, traditional
printing companies have been experiencing declining
revenues. The industry is hoping that printed
electronics will reverse the concerning trend. R&D
tax credits are available to help facilitate this transition
from prior generation printing technologies.
The Research &
Development Tax Credit
Enacted in 1981, the federal Research and
Development (R&D) Tax Credit allows a credit of up to 13
percent of eligible spending for new and improved products and
processes. Qualified research must meet the following four
criteria:
• New or improved products,
processes, or software
• Technological in nature
• Elimination of uncertainty
• Process of experimentation
Eligible costs include employee wages, cost of supplies, cost
of testing, contract research expenses, and costs associated
with developing a patent. On January 2, 2013, President Obama
signed the bill extending the R&D Tax Credit for 2012 and
2013 tax years. A similar extension is expected for
2014.
The Rise of Electronic
Printing
Electronic newspapers and magazines have
significantly replaced the traditional ink-on-paper printing
industry. Printing companies that hope to survive
in this new electronic oriented atmosphere are being forced to
rethink their strategies. They need to create new
products in order to prosper in the rapidly accelerating
electronics environment. Printed electronics provides a
good alternative.
Printed Electronics
Printed electronics is a broad term used
for a range of different printer technologies. Generally, it
involves the use of 3D printers to create electronic
components by stacking layers of electronically conducive ink
on top of each other to achieve a desired form. Constructing
electronics on non-conventional substrates, such as paper,
clothes and plastics, can benefit a range of technologies,
including flexible displays, paper electronics, bio-integrated
sensors, wearable clothing and more. Due to their
widespread practical uses many analysts expect this emerging
field to grow from its current annual revenue level of $16
billion in 2013 to $76 billion by 2023 . Conversely,
traditional printing which involves the use of common printing
equipment to define patterns on two dimensional materials, is
roughly a $76 billion industry (as of 2012) and
has been declining at a rate of about 5% annually since its
peak in 2000 when the industry had $165 billion in annual
revenue. The declining revenues in the traditional
printing industry and the inverse in the printed electronics
industry provide a good opportunity for traditional printing
companies who are seeking a solution to the declining revenues
trend.
Chart 1 below by IDTechEx
demonstrates the rising revenue in the printed electronics
industry.*
R.R.
Donnelley & Sons, Co.
R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Co. the 150-year-old printing giant
in Chicago has recognized the opportunity. CEO Thomas J.
Quinlan III plans to diversify beyond traditional printing,
which now accounts for only 24% of sales, down from 70% in
2000. When the company began searching for new sources
of revenue around 2009 it saw the emerging field of printed
electronics as a good market replacement.
The company anticipates that printed
electronics will actually replace traditional methods of
production in a vast array of industries. Antennas for
RFID tags, for example, will generate about $9 billion of
sales this year. The antennas are embedded in packing
labels, stickers and tags the size of credit cards that can be
loaded with digital information and then read by smart phones
or other devices via short-range wireless networks.
Currently, only about 1% of those antennas are created using
the printed electronics method. Some analysts predict
that over the next ten years printed electronics could capture
about 50% of this market.
The process has other applications as well. For
instance, Donnelley is building batteries that can be printed
on the surface of fraud-protected credit cards and act as a
source of power to produce lighted images on the cards.
The new printing method can also create
various electronic sensors. At least some variation of
electronic sensors are used in virtually every electrical
product created. This provides an incalculable
opportunity for the electronic printing industry to seize
upon.
How it’s Done
With printed electronics, an electronically
conducive type or blend of ink is chosen as an appropriate
printing material. This may include any solution-based
formula depending on the product being created. A
suitable printing process is similarly chosen based on the
materials involved and the task at hand. Creating and
matching the material with the appropriate printing process
creates a wide array of options which makes the development of
printing methods and the choice of ink materials the field’s
essential tasks. Industry leaders typically invest
heavily in R&D in pursuit of this end. Developers
must overcome other significant technological hurdles as
well.
Ken Vartanian, marketing director at Optemec, the 3-D printing
company known for their expertise in high-performing
materials, say of the R&D process, “The gating item was
the substrate,” referring to early attempts to apply graphics
technologies such as gravure, inkjet, and screen printing to
printing electronics. “The ink had to cure at low temperatures
to handle the variety of substrates.” Other limitations at
Optemec and within the printed electronics industry as a whole
usually involve thick ink viscosity, wide feature resolution,
and the traditional boundaries associated with printing on
flat surfaces. Overcoming these challenges
generally involves an intensive trial and error process of
experimentation. But the benefits are well worth the
costs. Printed electronics is expected to facilitate
widespread, low-cost, high-volume solutions to a wide array of
applications. The Chart 2 below demonstrates how
flexible electronics applications , a sub-sector of printed
electronics, will emerge in the upcoming decade:
Wearable Electronics
Wearable technology includes glasses,
jewelry, headgear, belts, arm wear, wrist wear, leg wear, skin
patches, exoskeletons, and e-textiles. Much of this
technology is made possible using printed electronics.
Large players such as Apple, Accenture, Adidas, Fujitsu, Nike,
Phillips, Reebok, Samsung, SAP and Roche have all recognized
the opportunities in this segment and are behind promising new
developments, many of which are beginning to emerge from the
R&D phase. Google recently announced a contact lens
product that uses printed electronics to measure glucose
levels for diabetics. This project in which Google has
partnered with Novatis, the pharmaceutical giant, provides an
example of the billions of dollars in potential revenue
available across the digital healthcare market, which is
probably the largest source of revenue for wearable
technology. Researchers at the University of
Michigan are creating an ultrathin light detector that can
sense wavelengths not visible by the naked eye. This new
innovation has the potential to put heat vision technology
into a contact lens.
OM signal, the Montreal startup company, is banking on the
future of the wearable’s market in which clothes gather
information about a person’s health. Their exercise
shirts contain sensors that measure breathing, heart rate and
calories burned. The measurements are transmitted to a
mobile app so users can evaluate their progress and compete
against each other. Bio-signals translated into readable
gauges can inform them how to operate at optimal efficiency by
recommending when to slow down, speed up or take a
break. This technology could provide very meaningful
data for conscientious users.
Traditionally, the most common self-monitoring tool was the
scale in the master bathroom. After a period of
overindulgence one might step on it only to realize that they
gained much more weight than they realized. With
wearables one can now monitor heart rate, blood pressure,
temperature fluctuations, stress patterns, calorie burn rate
and other physical/physiological data all providing real
insight about the state of the user’s health and how it has
been evolving over time.
This data is useful not just for exercise enthusiasts.
With widely available non-stop insight into large numbers of
users, professionals and researchers will be given the tools
to provide in depth analysis across broad spectrums of the
population. Doctors may rely on them for their diagnosis
while fitness coaches and trainers would use them when
planning workout regimens.
Despite these benefits wearables, like
all new technologies, they face some key challenges.
Particularly, researchers struggle to produce smaller, more
efficient, non-invasive products while integrating more
sensors to provide better data. Flexible batteries and
chargeable products that can react instantly are still largely
in the R&D phase. Data storage and privacy solutions
require some further development as well. The cloud
infrastructure needed to support the massive amount of data
that will be generated is not completely in place and R&D
will always be continuous in order to combat hackers and
identity thieves. For more information about wearable
electronics see our article “The R&D Tax Credit Aspects of
Electronic Wearables”.
Smart Labels
Many analysts expect smart labels to
replace the traditional silicon processors found on typical
retail items. These smart labels are best created using
electronic printing. They contain sensors used to
collect data in order to provide information such as
temperature records of perishable food/medications or that
which can be used in inventory management and asset tracking.
Radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) are intelligent bar
codes that communicate with a network in order to provide
automatic and detailed information about the product they are
attached to. With the use of RFID technology the
inventory process becomes almost fully automated. It
largely eliminates the need for the object to be recorded
manually with the use of a hand held scanner. Many
analysts look forward to the day where the check out process
at the grocery store is largely eliminated. Instead of a
clerk scanning each item, the products in your cart will
automatically communicate with the network in order to
generate the grocery bill. As you place products in and
out of your shopping cart the RFID sensors will alert your
i-phone, adjusting the tab.
Still RFID technology has many challenges. Reader
collision occurs when the signals from two or more readers
overlap. The tag is unable to respond to simultaneous
queries. Tag collision, a similar problem, occurs when
many tags reflect signals back to the reader at the same
time. The reader often has difficulties responding to
this large volume of data. Systems must be carefully set
up to avoid these problems. They do this by isolating
individual tags. For example, with a “gap pulse” method
each tag consults a random number counter which tells it how
long to wait before sending its data. Methods such as
this often solve the technological hurdles after an often
intensive process of experimentation.
Nonetheless, the technology costs need
to be slightly reduced in order to make the applications
widespread. With RFID technology, item level tagging is
generally considered economically feasible only when the cost
per tag drops below 5 cents. Conventional silicone tagging
costs about 13 cents per tag and is unlikely to drop below the
five cent per item range. This realization has generated
substantial interest in the RFID method which provides better
potential. Implementing these systems and finding ways
to manufacture them at cheaper costs often involves an
intensive trial and error process of experimentation.
This is the type of activity which normally triggers the
R&D tax credit. For more information about RFID and Smart
sensors see our articles “R&D Tax Aspects of Radio
Frequency Identification” and “The R & D Credit
Opportunity for Smart Sensors”.
Flexible Electronics
The global flexible electronics market is
expected to reach $13.23 billion by 2020, at an estimated
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.73%. Of this,
North America is the largest market followed by Europe and the
Asia Pacific region. Large opportunity lies within this
sector; however, researchers that can best figure out how to
provide functional, lightweight and versatile products that
operate without deterioration in performance will be the ones
most likely to succeed.
The ability to bend flexible electronics products provides
utility but also creates significant challenges. In a
conventional LCD display, the liquid crystals within the
pixels need to be perfectly positioned between two sheets of
glass. These sheets cannot be bent without misaligning
the pixels which are illuminated by a backlight.
Flexible electronics engineering however is different. With
this each pixel glows on its own, thus allowing for the
flex. Still, other component
parts inside need to survive being bent. These different
layers of components (the battery, the electronics, and the
touch component) are usually stacked. But, the inner
layers need to bend more than the outer ones while still being
properly aligned. Achieving this involves a significant amount
of scientific experimentation. Some researchers look to
stretchable electronics as a solution. However,
stretchable electronics contain their own challenges.
Like most printed electronics, researchers struggle to create
products that retain full function-ability after multiple
bends or stretches.
Inorganic Printed
Electronics
Inorganic electronic materials have been
applied in many fields due to their reputation for high
performance, stability and reliability. These
capabilities have attracted much attention from scientists and
industrialists throughout the industry. This has led to
accelerated progress in various industry segments involving
printed conductors, transistors, solar cells and quantum dot
LED. Nevertheless, these advances are limited by certain
hurdles. Solution processing is rather complex and the
temperatures necessary to obtain sufficient performance are
too high for the most common inexpensive flexible
substrates. However, researchers at MIT believe
that by exploiting the reduced melting point and high
solubility of nano-particles, they have demonstrated that
inorganic materials can be processed at plastic-comparable
temperatures. This process however is still largely in
the R&D phase. For now, the technology remains very
useful in instances where there is a failure to reduce
processing temperatures in order to take advantage of the
cheaper organic process.
Organic Printed
Electronics
Organic Printed electronics refers to the
conventional method of printing electrical components on
light, flexible, cheaper to make and easier to shape
plastics. Although this material provides some
processing benefits its major drawback involves durability and
higher voltage restrictions. Overcoming these challenges
involves significant R&D. For products that need
increased durability and require processing at low
temperatures scientists should consider their alternatives in
achieving low temperature processing with Inorganic materials
or creating durable products with organic electronics.
IDTechEx demonstrates the market
for inorganic versus organic electronics in Chart 3 below.*
*IDTechEx "INorganic and Composite
Printed Electronics 2012-2022: Needs, Opportunities,
Forecasts".
Xerox/Parc
PARC is an independent, wholly owned
subsidiary of Xerox that specializes in innovation and R&D
services. They provide custom R&D services, technology,
knowledge, and intellectual property to Fortune 500 and Global
1000 companies, startups, and government agencies and partners
. Since PARC was created, it has pioneered many technology
platforms. Some examples include the Ethernet, laser printing,
ubiquitous computing, and the graphical user interface (GUI).
Today, they continue their physical, computer, and social
sciences research which enables breakthroughs for their
clients' businesses.
Recently, researchers at PARC have created a new method of
manufacturing electrical motherboards. The method
involves chopping up semiconductors into very small “chiplets”
about the size of a human hair and mixing them into an ink
solution that generates positive and negative charges.
The ink chiplets are then guided to the precise location of a
glass substrate, using electrical fields that are generated by
wires in a spiral pattern. From there, a specialized
roller picks them up and places them on a plastic substrate,
where a 3D printer wires them together.
It usually takes an electrical engineer like Eugene Chow, Ph.D
in electrical engineering a lead scientist at PARC, to
understand exactly how this process works. What is
important is that the technology has the potential to allow
for the electrical printing of high-grade performance chips,
something the industry is currently struggling to
accomplish. The process contains many hurdles as it is
still in a very early state of development but it could
possibly further broaden the reach of electrical printing and
open up thousands of more practical uses.
Soligie Printed
Electronics
Soligie Printed Electronics located in
Savage, Minnesota provides custom, robust, repeatable
manufacturing solutions for printed electronics by leveraging
multiple printing platforms with a deep materials knowledge
and experience. Soligie partners with customers to meet
their unique requirements from concept design to volume
manufacturing with a continuous focus on quality
management. Their vision is to be the premier resource
for advancing programs to commercialization with their
partners by leveraging expertise and innovation in flexible
electronics. Their mission is to deliver comprehensive
solutions by optimizing, applying, and integrating
technologies, enabling their customers to realize successful
new products. This innovation and resulting
differentiation drive growth for Soligie and their partners.
Last December, FlexTech Alliance
presented two R&D awards to Soligie. The purpose of
the awards was to advance flexible, printed electronics
manufacturing. The team will develop and demonstrate a
sensor platform leveraging printed components and
silicon-on-polymer technology to achieve a thin, conformable
and lightweight form factor. The goal is commercializing
a sensing system consisting of a power source,
microcontroller, display, and wireless communication channel,
as well as an interchangeable or disposable portion that can
be chosen by the user based on the application.
Commercial and military applications include vital sign
monitoring, environmental monitoring, point-of-care
diagnostics, structural health monitoring, and many others.
University Efforts
There is a tremendous amount of research
being done in the field of printed electronics at the
university level. Industries often collaborate with the
universities to achieve their research and development
goals. Many successful companies in various industries
including printed electronics have been formed out of
start-ups launched from the universities.
MC10, a 30-person Cambridge, Mass based start-up company,
recently raised $10 million to create products such as
skin-stickers to perform functions such as the monitoring of a
baby’s fever or to replace traditional pacemakers inside the
body. Investors included Medtronic in Minneapolis, North
Bridge Venture Partners in Massachusetts, and Braemar Energy
Ventures in New York.
The start-ups’ vision is to expand the electronically printed
semi-conductor chips into a new line of applications.
Chief executive David Icke says “The most exciting stuff is
where people who haven’t thought they can use electronics
before can now be freed from that boxy, rigid format, and can
allow electronics to flex and stretch and bend and move
seamlessly with the body.”
In 2008, Western Michigan University (WMU) formed the Center
for the Advancement of Printed Electronics (CAPE).
WMU is well-known for its knowledge on printing. Led by
its director, Dr. Margaret Joyce, CAPE is utilizing its
inkjet, gravure, screen and flexo capabilities to look at some
of the challenges facing the PE field, most notably the
ability to integrate materials into the printing process.
The Georgia Institute of Technology is
the home of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics
(COPE). Established in 2003, COPE works closely with
many of the research centers and institutes at Georgia Tech to
provide a focal point for campus-wide efforts on functional
organic optical and electronic materials.
Led by Co-directors Bernard Kippelen and Seth Marder, COPE is
developing new materials and device concepts for organic
light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic field-effect
transistors, memories, capacitors, photodiodes and solar
cells, which can then be incorporated into displays, image
sensors, and radio-frequency identification tags. COPE
is also working with Solvay S.A. to develop organics-based
thin-film transistors that can be fabricated onto low-cost
flexible substrates at low temperature for applications in
plastic electronics.
Organic and Printed
Electronics Association
The OE-A describes itself as the leading
international industry association for organic and printed
electronics. Its members include world-class global
companies and institutions ranging from R&D institutes,
component and materials suppliers to producers and
end-users. This includes over 220 companies from Europe,
North America, Asia and Australia who work together to foster
collaboration by all participants of the value chain, starting
with the Research and Development phase and continuing through
final end-users of the product. It does this by issuing
public relations campaigns, initiating R&D activities for
devices that demonstrate the capabilities of emerging
electronics, and providing information to guide R&D
funding. Basically, it links the gap between academia
and industry. This type of collaboration promoting
Research and Development is something that is being stressed
lately throughout all innovating industries.
Conclusion
Nothing spurs the embracing of new
technology like the demise of an existing industry.
R&D tax credits are available to help those printers who
are making the effort to transform their business.
ll, other component
parts inside need to survive being bent. These different
layers of components (the battery, the electronics, and the
touch component) are usually stacked. But, the inner
layers need to bend more than the outer ones while still being
properly aligned. Achieving this involves a significant amount
of scientific experimentation. Some researchers look to
stretchable electronics as a solution. However,
stretchable electronics contain their own challenges.
Like most printed electronics, researchers struggle to create
products that retain full function-ability after multiple
bends or stretches.
