Flexonics.org

Project Overview

INTRODUCTION

For many years the revolutionary silicon technology ruled over industries and patents, fast and compact PCs, electronics that make our life easier, renewable energy devices etc. But silicon has its own potentials. Today it has reached its lower limits, making scientists and industries to look for a better and cheaper technology. A technology that can handle with people’s needs.

Flexible electronics seemed to be a good solution to silicon problem giving, theoretical at least, devices that can be more functional and much cheaper.But there is a real big problem that has to be solved. Flexible electronics brought forward the problem of encapsulation. Oxygen and vapor permeability results to degradation of the devices giving them small lifetime and making them unproductive.

Flexible, customized opto- & electronic devices (FEDs) for communication and visualizing of information, and for generation of electricity through renewable sources (based for example on organic light emitters –OLEDs and organic PV modules, respectively) will have a major impact on our daily life. Given that we will manage to encapsulate them into transparent, ultra-high barrier, flexible materials, which provide protection against oxygen and vapor, long-term stability and endurance. The realization of such materials, compatible with roll-to-roll (r2r) production processes will allow effective large-area FEDs production.

MISSION

FLEXONICS mission is to develop the required material systems, processes & their process control for the production of transparent flexible encapsulation materials for the new generation of FEDs, with emphasis to the ultra-barrier films, and will link the traditional r2r polymer film conversion industry & current optoelectronics industry.

GOALS

1. materials systems consisting of alternating inorganic/organic layers few nm thick to improve the current barrier properties of flexible films by a factor of 1000,
2. the relative r2r processes, which will be used for the production of such materials, 3) optical & real-time techniques for process control and optimization, with final and specific goal the effective encapsulation of flexible OPV and OLED devices.

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS

Duration: 39 months

Contract Type: Specific Targeted Research Project

Project Reference: NMP3-CT-2005-013883