ECE 730 Topic 27 - Materials, Processes, and Applications for Printed and Flexible Electronics
Instructor: Professor William S. Wong
Course description
The course will provide a survey of the materials and processes use to fabricate flexible electronic devices. Organic and inorganic semiconductors, dielectrics, and metals will be presented along with the advantages and disadvantages for integrating disparate materials onto novel platforms such as plastic, paper, and textiles. An overview of different processing techniques will be presented to describe the many conventional and emerging technologies for fabricating thin-film devices. Conventional processes such as plasma-enhance chemical vapor deposition and sputtering along with emerging processes such as ink-jet printing and nano-imprint lithography will be reviewed. General applications in display and image sensor arrays will be presented based on selection of materials, processes, and device performance. Finally, consideration of appropriate applications for flexible electronics and their operation under mechanical strain and concepts in the mechanics of thin films will be taught.
Course objective
The course will provide an introductory survey of the technology and applications for printed and flexible electronics.
- Acquire and develop basic concepts and understanding of thin-film electronic materials and device processing.
- Develop an understanding of the relationship between materials quality, device performance, and target applications for electronics on soft matter.
- Understand the basic concepts for integration of thin-film devices on flexible platforms and the advantages and disadvantages of emerging technology used for the heterogeneous integration of disparate materials.
- Obtain a fundamental understanding of the limitations of the technology and the pathways for commercialization of emerging materials, processes, and tools for printed and flexible electronic systems.
Prerequisite
Basic understanding of electronic materials (ECE 209) and device physics (ECE 331) is recommended.
Syllabus
-
Introduction
to
Flexible
and
Printed
Electronics
and
their
Materials
Systems
(1
week)
- Background and history, trends, emerging technologies, general applications, areas of research
-
Introduction
to
Semiconductors
&
Circuit
Elements
(1
week)
- Carrier transport, doping, band structure, thin-film electronic devices
-
Thin-film
Deposition
and
Processing
Methods
for
Flexible
Devices
(1
week)
- CVD, PECVD, PVD, etching, photolithography, low-temperature process integration
-
Materials
for
Flexible
and
Printed
Electronics
(2
week)
- Nanowire and nanoparticle synthesis, transition metal oxides, amorphous thin films, polymeric semiconductors, structure and property relationships, paper-based electronics, textile substrates, barrier materials.
-
Thin
Film
Transistors
1:
device
structure
and
performance
(2
weeks)
- I-V characteristics, gradual channel approximation, electrical stability, lifetime extraction, characterization methods for rigid and flexible devices.
-
Solution-based
Patterning
Processes
(2
weeks)
- Ink-jet printing, gravure, imprint lithography, spray pyrolysis, surface energy effects, multilayer patterning, design rule considerations.
-
Contacts
and
Interfaces
to
Organic
and
Inorganic
Electronic
Devices
(1
week)
- Schottky contacts, defects, carrier recombination, effect of applied mechanical strain
-
Mechanics
of
Thin-films
and
Flexible
Thin-film
Transistors
(1.5
week)
- thin-film mechanics models, neutral plane, conformal electronics, mechanical modeling.
-
Flexible
Electronics
Applications
(1
week)
- Displays, sensor arrays, memory devices, MEMS, lab-on-a-chip, and photovoltaics
-
Introduction
to
Cost
Models
and
Economics
of
Printed
Flexible
Electronics
(0.5
week)
- Overview of display industry cost models, cost advantages and disadvantages for printed electronics, scaling of large-area flexible systems, cost of goods sold for display applications.
Textbook
None required. Article handouts provided and lecture notes will supplement course lectures.
Grade Distribution
Project:
40%
Assignments:
10%
Final:
50%