BASF announces its ready-to-use inks and ink sets for printing organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) for various applications, as well as real-life and mass-producible demonstrators built in collaboration with InnovationLab, a platform for research and knowledge transfer in the field of printed electronics.
BASF also announced that it is further strengthening its collaboration with InnovationLab to develop and manufacture devices that demonstrate the feasibility of printed organic electronics and its benefits in various applications.
The latest joint project is a high-performance sensor that can simultaneously detect the shape, size and pressure of objects that are on it. The sensor prototype is equipped with an active matrix of OTFTs manufactured with BASF materials.
The active matrix allows crosstalk to be avoided and "ghost" or false touch issues to be overcome. This is especially crucial when the pressure on fast moving items needs to be measured accurately, for instance to detect and monitor people access in public areas or to check contact pressure on print rolls or automotive parts.
"InkSet 2000SL is our latest offer in a series of packages that provide all inks required to manufacture thin film transistors. A comprehensive description of how to process the inks comes with the package. InkSet 2000SL enables higher mobility OTFTs than InkSet 1000SP and is thus suitable for active matrix for LCD and EPD backplanes as well as for circuitry"
"Through their cooperation, BASF and InnovationLab are together moving toward a position in the value chain that is currently almost unoccupied yet crucial for success: we offer products that our customers can apply directly, eliminating the need for them to handle any printing or integration themselves. The active matrix sensor demonstrator is our latest joint project to reflect this approach."
Kai Exner, Head of Technology, Organic Electronics, BASF New Business
"In principle, this solution is suitable for all applications for high-resolution pressure sensing or sensing of other physical effects that need flexible, unbreakable, cost competitively producible sensing elements."
"Product and system designers can make use of the entire available surface area. Since sensors are becoming more and more ubiquitous following the advent of the Internet of Things, we are convinced that this solution has high market potential."
Heike Pfistner, Head of Marketing, Organic Electronics, BASF New Business