Conductive plastics discovery could revolutionise microelectronics

[nsane.forums]

Australian team's ion beam bonding uses available technology

A team of Australian scientists has found a way to print microelectronics onto flexible plastic film, using equipment already in use throughout the industry.

The team took a flexible plastic sheet and used an ion beam to etch a layer of metal over it, forming circuits to conduct electricity. This technique is currently used in the microelectronics industry to add conductivity to silicon, but adapting this to plastics has never been achieved before.

"It opens new avenues to making plastic electronics." said associate professor Adam Micolich of the University of New South Wales (UNS) School of Physics.

"This material is so interesting because we can take all the desirable aspects of polymers - such as mechanical flexibility, robustness and low cost - and into the mix add good electrical conductivity, something not normally associated with plastics,"

The team demonstrated the technique by printing electrical resistance thermometers that performed as well, or better, than the industry standard platinum resistance devices used today.

Plastic circuits produced in this way are more tolerant to being exposed to air than current silicon technology the team said. In addition all of the equipment they used is already in operation printing on silicon and so there are few hurdles to large-scale deployment.

“In theory, we can make plastics that conduct no electricity at all or as well as metals do â€" and everything in between,” said team member Andrew Stephenson.

"In fact, we can vary the electrical resistivity over 10 orders of magnitude - put simply, that means we have ten billion options to adjust the recipe when we're making the plastic film.

Plastic is traditionally such a poor conductor of electricity it is used as an insulator, but the ability to print circuits onto flexible plastic open up options in the design of flexible screens and e-paper.

The research has been published in the journal ChemPhysChem bys team from UNS the University of Queensland.

View: Original Article