Micro-Electronic Printing:The State of the Art, Current Research Activitiesand the Future Potential

摘要

The development of printable microelectronics is opening new markets for theskills resident in the printing community and the opportunity to add value toexisting products such as packaging. This paper reviews the latest publishedresearch in what is a rapidly advancing science. The potential markets forprinted flexible electronics are discussed, before examining the printingprocesses and materials that are being developed. Issues relating to the qualityassurance are discussed as when printing a functional product, print integrity isessential.The realisation of micro and nano technology is likely to rely on printing. Inorder to realise its full potential ther are still many areas, such as ink rheologywhere the impact on the process and the fundamental science is poorlyunderstood.