Market & Technology Trends in Materials & Equipment for Printed & Flexible Electronics

Dr Eric Mounier, Yole Developpement

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Fields of Expertise

MEMS & Image Sensors

Photovoltaics

Advanced

Packaging

Microfluidic

& Med Tech

Power Electronics

OLED, LED &

Laser Diode

Semiconductor Manufacturing

Compound

Semiconductors

Printed Electronics /

• Market & Applications

• Equipment & Materials challenges

• Conclusions

MARKET & APPLICATIONSDisplays, Lighting, Sensing, Energy Generation, Smart Systems & IoT

Application Landscape 2013-2020+

Flexible Electronics

Application enabling / Function

enabling

Flexible PV

Electronic

Paper

2020+

2013

Flexible Electronics

Application enabling /

Function enabling

Flexible

PV

Electronic

Paper

In the next several years, the number of applications using printing processes

for Flexible Electronics will grow. Few examples:

Non printed

Printed

Application Landscape 2013-2020+

Flexible Electronics

Application enabling / Function

enabling

Small OLED

Displays

Flexible PV

Electronic

Paper

Large

OLED

Displays

OLED

General

LightingConformable

OLED Lighting

Sensors (photo, RFID,

chemical, force,

touch …)

2020+

2013

Flexible Electronics

Application enabling /

Function enabling

Flexible

PV

Electronic

Paper

In the next several years, the number of applications using printing processes

for Flexible Electronics will grow. Few examples:

Non printed

Printed

Systems on

Foil

Touch

screens

…

• Main market drivers for flexible electronics are:

– The possibility to add new functionalities:

• Conformability for OLED lighting (for the automotive industry),

• Conformability for OPV (energy harvesting)

• Robustness for small OLED displays (for smart phones & tablets)

– The possibility to create new applications:

• Wearable electronics.

– Flexible electronics is NOT meant to be low-cost, and usually uses expensive processes (MOCVD, evaporation)

• The main market driver for printed electronics is:

– Cost reduction due to high volume (roll-to-roll) manufacturing or by using fewer expensive

manufacturing processes (MOCVD, evaporation):

• Potentially lower cost OLED TVs could be built if solution-based manufacturing is mastered and potentially low cost

OPV could appear if technical challenges are leveraged

• Up to 30% cost reduction

Market drivers for flexible and printed electronics are different, even though manufacturing processes and end applications share similarities.

Flexible & Printed Applications Market for the Different Functions (US$M)

$0,0

$100,0

$200,0

$300,0

$400,0

$500,0

$600,0

$700,0

$800,0

$900,0

$1 000,0

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Flexible Applications based on PE Technologies Forecast 2012-2020 in US$M

Sensing Displaying Lighting Energy generation Substrates

© Yole Développement 2013

Smart systems

After 2020, we believe sensors market

will ramp-up, driven by IoT applications.

The Internet of Things Roadmap: printed electronics as a possible low cost solution to achieve GEN7 products

GEN 7

Annual Market Volumes per Specific Application

Solution Price per sensor module

Large Industrial

Smart Sensors

First Generation

of IoT Sensors

Advanced Generation

of IoT Sensors

GEN 1

GEN 2

GEN 3

GEN 4

GEN 5

Printed

Electronics

Sensors'

Swarm

100 000

10 000$2000

$250

$50

$5

$0.5

$0.25

$0.05

Polytronics

Systems

Integrated

IoT Sensors

1 000 000

10 000 000

100 000 000

1 000 000 000

50 000 000GEN 6

Today 2016 2018 2020 20242022

Printed Electronics as a Future Technology for IoT

• Printed electronics systems are the final step to low cost sensing.

• Such devices are meant to be disposable, with a short lifespan, and used by the Billion.

– An example of application is typically item-level sensing & RFID

– e.g. food chain control sensor

• Main technical challenges as of today are technical in term of printing materials and equipment, and linked to cost as no large volume market yet exist.

Patch electronic

Source: MC 10 Inc.Printed sensor concept

Source: CEA_Leti

Focus on Applications

SENSING

DISPLAYS LIGHTING

PHOTOVOLTAICS

• Several large players are involved in large OLED

display development, and in printed processes for those

displays.

– LG and Samsung start shipping non-printed products

in 2013 (curved for Samsung)

– Panasonic and Sony started a joint venture for OLED

TV production.

– Material companies such as DuPont work together

with device manufacturers to develop efficient

technologies for printed OLED TVs.

• Organic and Printed Electronic devices for large-area photonics and image sensors.

• Converts plastic and glass surfaces into smart surfaces.

• New generation of opto-electronic sensors with 3D product integration capability recognizing shapes and form factors.

Applications and Market Segments of OLED

OLED for Displays

Potential Advantages of OLED for Lighting

Lightweight &

Flexible

“Natural” lighting

due to area light

Broad color range &

Tunable color

Transparent

Novaled

Variety of sizes and

shapes

Glare-free diffuse light

Very low panel-to-

luminaire losses

Lumiotec

Thin

Comparison of OLED with Other Lighting Sources

Incandescent Fluorescent LED OLED

Efficacy 10 - 15 lm/W 40 - 100 lm/W80 - 130 lm/W (cold white)

65 - 90 lm/W (warm white)12 - 40 lm/W

Lifetime LT 70 (hours) 1,000 - 2,000 5,000 - 50,000 10,000 - 50,000 4,000 - 10,000

CRI > 95 80 - 8580 (cold white)

90 (warm white)> 80

Form factor Heat generatingLinear or compact gas filed

glass tube

Point source high intensity

lamp (glare)

Large area thin diffuse

source - Can be flexible,

transparent…

DimmableYes - But much lower

efficacy

Yes - But efficiency

decreases

Yes - But efficiency

decreases

Yes - And efficiency

increases

Noise No Yes No No

Switching time Good Poor Excellent Excellent

Tunable color No No Yes Yes

Environmental issues Low efficiency Contains mercury vapor None None

Manufacturing costs Low Medium High Very high

Comparison of characteristics of different lighting sources

Source: Yole Développement

OLED Panel Acceptable Cost• Displays: Main drivers include new features for small display (linked to flexibility) and lower cost for large

display (linked to printability).

• Lighting:

– Printed OLED will focus general lighting cost is a strong driver.

– Flexible OLED lighting will typically focus luxury & design lighting cost is less critical for these applications.

LEDs vs. OLEDsCost Roadmap Comparison

In 2013, there was a factor of 57 between OLEDs (~169 $/klm) and LEDs (~2.96 $/klm) at the cost level… This

should be reduced to a factor of 16 by 2020 (OLED at ~13 $/klm vs. LED at ~0.8 $/klm).

Which PV Can Be Flexible?The potential for flexible devices is determined mainly by the nature of substrate used.

Existing PV technologies and substrates used.

Flex & Printed PV

Why Go “Flexible”?

Potential for lower costs

due to Roll-to-Roll

manufacturing

More rugged applications (no fragile glass)

Lightweight applications

Applications on curved surfacesSmall when not used

Manufacturing Applications

Flex & Printed PVTechnology push vs. market pull

Technology push

• Flexible substrates

• Novel chemistry

• Novel materials compatible with flexible devices

• Novel wet-processable materials

• Wet deposition of thin layers

• Roll-to-roll equipment

=> Opportunity for many R&D and industrial players, especially material and equipment suppliers

Market pull• Potentially low-cost manufacturing

• Liberty of designs

• New applications

• Added value for existing applications

But

• Tough competition with rigid PV

• Low-cost manufacturing still to be proven

• Added value perceived by customers?

• Niche markets only?

CHALLENGES

Main Technology Challenges for Flexible & Printed Electronics

• Flexibility:

– Flexible substrate, encapsulation and anode compatible with processing conditions

– Cost-effective barrier material for encapsulation

– Low-cost R2R manufacturing

– Scalability to large size (PV, large OLEDs)

– Adhesion on substrate (thermal cycling, roll/unroll, ageing…)

– Reliability over time

• Printability:

– Development of Novel Materials (Absorber, Electrodes…)

– Ink formulation

– Interfacial engineering

– Low-cost R2R manufacturing

• “All-by-printing” manufacturing process is hard to achieve to date (vacuum process steps are sometimes a must).

• The advantages of printing process are often less pronounced, because of the need for subsequent heat treatment and other non-printing steps.

– Scalability to Large Size

– Lifetime and stability

– Low efficiency (for OPV modules: 15-20% lab results)

– Improvement in the amount of wasted ink during printing processes

• Shorten production line processes

• Smaller dosage systems

• Effective filter before the dies

Meeting flexible and/or printed electronic challenges with the right materialsComplexity of OLED ligthing layer structures

• The number of materials to deal with in an OLED system can be high and the deposition of each layer quite complex

HTL (Hole transport layer)Hole Transport Layer = Layer that allows the transmission of positive charges

only

EML (Emissive layer)Emissive Layer (organic semiconductor) = Active material that emits a photon

when excited by recombination of a positive and a negative charge.

Anode Anode = Electrode emitting the positive charges only

Cathode Cathode = TCO (transparent conductor) is used as an electrode emitting the

negative charges. TCOs are used for their conducting properties and

transparency

HIL (Hole injection layer)Hole Injection Layer = Layer that allows the injection of the positive charges in

the structure

Electron blocking layer Electron blocking layer: Prevent migration of electrons outside the EML

EIL(Electron injection layer)Electron Injection Layer = Layer that allows the injection of negative charges in

the structure

Hole blocking layer Hole blocking layer: Prevent migration of holes outside the EML

ETL(Electron transport layer)Electron transport Layer = Layer that allows the transmission of the negative

charges in the structure

Meeting flexible and/or printed electronic challenges with the right materialsWeak points of organic molecules in Electronics

• The performance of materials available is not yet high enough to compete with existing technologies

– As an example the lifetime of blue emitters in OLED devices

Efficiency and Lifetime of blue emitters

Color Efficiency (cd/A) LT50 (hours)

Blue (Fluorescence) 5 to 20 10K to 40K

Green (Phosphorescence) 25 to 85 150K to 500K

Red (Phosphorescence) 10 to 35 120 K to >500K

Source: Engadget, University of Michigan

Meeting flexible and/or printed electronic challenges with the right materialsThe matter of deposition techniques

• Deposition techniques have not yet reached the level of maturity to be compatible with mass production

– Evaporation techniques are not well adapted to mass production of large scale OLED displays (expensive equipment, size limitation, high material waste).

– Materials deposited via evaporation generally show little flexibility

– Some barriers need to be overcome before printing techniques can be applied for mass production:

• Polymer or solution-processable small molecule materials must be developed that meet the standards defined by competing technologies. Today, promising results were obtained but more development is needed before commercialization.

• Solution must be found to avoid mixing materials of two adjacent layers during the different manufacturing steps

• Equipment for material deposition must be scaled to the size & productivity of competitive technologies (e.g. LCD).

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right materialsPrintable and flexible anode

• Single printing steps will progressively be incorporated into evaporation production lines.

• The first layers that have the potential to be printed are the anode and the HIL / HTL layers.

• ITO is so far the most widely applied TCO (transparent conductive oxide) material for Anode

– High conductivity + high optical transparency

– ITO resistivity is generally from 6 to 12 Ohm.sq-1 for a transmittance of ~85%.

• ITO drawbacks for printed and flexible electronics:

– Not resistant to mechanical bending (brittle)

– High processing temperature Issues with flexible substrates such as PET.

– Cannot be easily adapted to the solution processes.

– The price of Indium is volatile and its supply unsafe

• These drawbacks are strong enough for the industry to look for alternatives

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right materialsPrintable and flexible anode – alternatives to ITO

• Emerging application of new materials for electrode include:

– Highly conductive PEDOT:PSS (conductivity remains lower than that of ITO). Conductive PEDOT can also be combined with a silver metallic grid and enhance its performance.

– Carbon nano-tubes, good transparency but higher resistivity than ITO

– Graphene (single layer of graphite) is performing well but the manufacturing of defect-free graphene is considered as quite challenging.

– Metallic grids (Ag or Cu) applicable on flexible substrates (PET) via a roll-to-roll process with a resolution of 10 to 15 microns. It covers less than 10% of the surface, it appears transparent.

– Silver nanowires: They are solution-processable & form a network of wires providing good conductivity, low resistivity (similar as that of ITO) and transparency

Source: SEM images from CEA LITEN-Simonato et al

Carbon nano-tubes Metallic grids Silver nanowires

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right materialsPrintable and flexible anode – alternatives to ITO for sensors

• Touch & force sensors market will strongly benefit from cost-efficient alternatives to ITO

• Metal grid, carbon nanotubes, silver nanowires and PEDOT-based solutions (conductive polymers) are also well positioned to replace ITO on sensor applications

• New printable and flexible transparent conductor materials will open the doors to a very broad range of applications and the rising interest for IoT will contribute to a significant

Air gap

LCD Display

ITO Patterned substrate

ITO Patterned substrate

Optically Clear Adhesive

Cover

Optically Clear Adhesive

Adhesive

Fig. Example of the structure of a capacitive touch sensor

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right materialsChallenges of encapsulation techniques

• Encapsulation: barrier properties against moisture and oxygen.

• Formerly, encapsulation was done using cavity glass encapsulation with epoxy adhesives (for sealing) and additional desiccants like CaO (to absorb water and oxygen).

• Rigid glass encapsulation will remain the dominant technology for the next few years, as long as no flexibility is required in the final product.

• However, rigid materials are not amenable for use in flexible electronics. Hence, several flexible encapsulation approaches have been developed:

Epoxy adhesive

Organic materialsGlass substrate

GetterGlass or metal

Epoxy adhesiveOrganic materials

Barrier layersBarrier layer

Flexible substrate

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right materialsChallenges of encapsulation techniques

• Flexible glass is option for encapsulation, available in roll format.

– It provides some flexibility, the potential for roll-to-roll manufacturing and efficient barrier properties.

– Glass remains brittle & its flexibility limited

– Its price is high & not adapted to all applications.

• Multilayer barrier films, alternating polymer and inorganic oxide layers are deposited by physical, chemical vapor deposition or atomic layer deposition (PVD, CVD or ALD).

– It is the most common non-glass approach to OLED encapsulation.

– It can be applied in roll or laminate form or as a directly-deposited coating on top of OLED devices.

– It is compatible with roll-to-roll production processes.

Source: Corning

Source: Vitex Systems

CONCLUSIONS

Final Conclusions

• We believe Printed & Flex Electronics market could boost to be close to $1B by 2020 with a 27% CAGR.

• On the equipment side, the industry starts from zero and future production will have to be handled by tools bought over the 6 next years.

– Industry is looking for a high throughput, high resolution deposition techniques to lower costs

• On the material side, having the right material as replacement to ITO and finding a good barrier technology are short-tem technical challenges.

• No technology (Material/Deposition process) has taken an advantage over others so far and a breakthrough is expected within the next 3 years (mass production for cost decrease)

We are flexible, aren’t we ?Thank you …