Trade.Information

Cheap Semiconductors designed for one-time use,

A European company will mass produce electronic circuitry using industrial-size inkjet printers that spray intricate patterns onto super-thin surfaces, a cheaper alternative to silicon chips.

Nanoident Technologies opened its factory on Tuesday in Linz, Austria, and will be able to produce 40,000 square metres of semiconductors per year.

In traditional silicon wafer technology, patterns are engraved into the silicon before metal circuitry is embedded inside the grooves through a series of etchings and sprayings.

Printable electronics, on the other hand, use specialized polymer-based ink to spray patterns in layers onto other surfaces, including glass, plastic foil, or even paper. Printable electronics are cheaper to produce, but can't store nearly the amount of information as traditional chips and thus have limited applications.

Nanoident's semiconductors will focus on disposable organic semiconductors designed for one-time use, such as water-purity testers. Its first products will be delivered to its subsidiary companies, including U.S.-based Bioident, which markets products for medical, industrial and biochemical companies.

Printable electronic technology has taken off in recent years as companies look for cheaper ways to encode materials with information that can easily be scanned, particularly in the area of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

According to a market study by analyst NanoMarkets LC released in February, the smart packaging market will account for over $1.1 billion US in printable electronics components by 2011, growing to $4.2 billion in 2013.