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A

SEMINAR REPORT
ON

POLYTRONICS
Submitted for partial fulfillment of the requirement for award the degree
of
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
by
SANJEEV KUMAR SINGH
(ROLL NO. 158406)
Under guidance of
Prof. S. P. GANGWAR

Department of Electronics Engineering

Kamla Nehru Institute of technology, Sultanpur


Affiliated to
Dr. A. P. J. ABDUL KALAM TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW
April -2017

I
Department of Electronics Engineering
Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, Sultanpur

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Registration no. 158406) has successfully
delivered a seminar on the topic Polytronics for the partial fulfillment of the requirement
for the award the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electronics Engineering from Kamala
Nehru Institute of Technology, Sultanpur.

Prof. S. P. Gangwar Prof. Y. K. Mishra


Seminar In charge and Guide Head of Department

II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Y. K. Mishra the head of the
department, Prof. S. P. Gangwar the seminar in-charge and seminar guide sincerely
extended their help and provided resourceful and helpful inputs without which the work
would never have been accomplished. I would also like to express my thankfulness to Prof
R. K. Singh Sir for guiding and correcting me in my efforts. I extend my cordial gratitude
and esteem to my teachers, whose effective guidance, valuable time and constant
inspiration made it feasible and easy to carry out the work in a smooth manner.
I express my gratitude to all my friends and classmates for their support and help in this
seminar. Last, but not the least I wish to express my gratitude to God almighty for his
abundant blessings, without which this seminar would not have been successful.

SANJEEV KUMAR SINGH


B .Tech 6th semester
Electronics Engineering
KNIT Sultanpur
Uttar Pradesh

III
CONTENTS

Chapter Page no.


Certificate II
Acknowledgement III
Content IV
Abstract V
Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 What is Polytronics? 2
1.3 Need and barrier of Polytronics 2
Chapter 2
2.1 What is Polymer? 3
2.2 Classification of Polymer based on Origin 4
2.3 Classification Based on Structure 4
2.4 High Temperature Polymer 5
2.5 How Polymer Conducts 6
2.6 Advantage and Disadvantage of Polymer 7
Chapter 3
3.1 State of Art 8
3.2 The offer of Polytronics 9
3.3 New Trends in Polytronics 10
Chapter 4
4.1 Application of Polytronics 12
4.2 OFET 12
4.3 OLED 15
4.4 Printed Electronics 18
Chapter 5
5.1 The Nearest Future: Flexible Electronics 19
5.2 E-Report 21
5.3 Plastic Battery 22
Conclusion 24

IV
References 25

List Of Figure
Figure Name Page no.
Fig 2 Printing of Circuit 5
Fig 3 Chain of Carbon with Hydrogen 7
Fig 4.1 Schematic of Three Kind of FET 13
Fig 4.2 Prototypes OLED Panels 14
Fig 4.3 Flexible OLED Device 16
Fig 4.4 Printed and Conventional Electronics 17
Fig 5.1 Flexible Film Substrate 18
Fig 5.2 Reel to Reel Processing of Polymer transistor 19
Fig 5.3 E-Book Reader 20

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Abstract
With the invention of the transistors in the early half of the nineteenth century, the field of
electronics has undergone innumerable changes that have had tremendous impact on the life
of the common man. Be it education, entertainment or healthcare, there is possibly no field
where electronics has not made an impact. The entire concept of electronics is based on the
study of materials called semi-conductors. Silicon is one such material that is widely used in
the manufactur4e of electronic circuits. However the use of silicon has various disadvantages
that have led researchers and sci4entists all over the world to look for other alternatives.
Research has already begun for materials that can successfully replace Silicon and can come
out with better performances. For long, it was believed plastics were materials with poor
conductivity. However researchers have proved that when plastics are combined with other
substances in proper chemical compositions they can behave as good conductors of
electricity. This has led to the emergence of an all-new field in which plastics or conjugated
polymers are exclusively used in the manufacture of electronic products. This is the field of
POLYTRONICS. The use of plastics not only reduces the cost involved in the manufacture
of electronic items, but also makes them more flexible and portable. Also Polytronics seems
to be the best answer to the growing menace of electronic wastes.

Through this report we essentially aim in presenting some of the recent development in the
field of Polytronics. The report starts of with the introduction in which detailed some of the
major disadvantages of Silicon that led to the emergence of Polytronics. We have also
presented some of the recent breakthroughs in this field such as Printing of circuits, Rubber
electronics, Electronic report, Organic LEDs etc With deforestation, due to rampant use of
organic report, becoming a major issue of concern, Electronic report, which is a direct
application of Polytronics, is being considered as one of the best solutions. Use of Silicon in
the manufacture of electronic products makes it very difficult for them to be recycled at the
end of their life. Due to rapid development of electronics, more and more electronic items are
becoming obsolete and their inefficient disposal has resulted in excessive damage to the
environment in the form of e-waste. In this report we have presented our views on how
Polytronics can effectively reduce this problem.

VI
1. Chapter
1.1 Introduction
The modern day electronics industry has been largely influenced by silicon. The very fact that
silicon is widely available makes it an integral part of semiconductor chips.
However the widespread use of silicon in electronic goods has a large number of
disadvantages some of which are listed below:
Production of silicon embedded circuits involves a huge investment (to the tune of billions of
dollars).
These circuits also consume more power
Moreover since silicon chips are not flexible, the products, which make use of these, are not
easily portable.
So, many organizations and institutes are on the lookout for alternatives, which can effectively
replace the uses of silicon and thus eliminate the above disadvantages.
This report looks into one such alternative, an all new exciting and emerging field called
Polytronics.
This field essentially deals with the use of plastics or conjugated polymers as electricity
conducting materials. Hence the name Polymer electronics or Polytronics
Through this report we have established our views on how polytronics could help in reducing
the problems associated with the present day electronics.
Also in this report we have discussed about the additional benefits that this technology can
provide.

1.2 What is Polytronics?


Polymer + electronics
Influence of plastic in electronics
All-new field in which plastics or conjugated polymers are exclusively used in the
manufacture of electronic products.
Emerging technologyfocusesdevelopment of electronic devices incorporating.
Electrically conductive and semi conductive organic materials, especially organic polymers.
Offers the prospectadvanced electronics platform using new materials, processes &
electronic device

1.3 Needs and barriers of polymer electronics

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The present technology development of polymers active devices is comparable with that at the
beginning of the silicon-based IC industry, some 30 years ago, but with the technology possibilities
of today. In quest of cheap polytronics, researchers over the last five years have progressed from
making fairly rudimentary single all-polymer transistors, to expected integrated circuits made all,
or nearly all, from plastics in the future. The use of polymer electronics is opening up an
exceptionally large market and is made possible by the low cost of plastic ICs. It is expected that,
once the development of the production process is completed, the plastic chips can be produced at
a cost price of the order of Cents per finished chip.
In order to make this vision a reality, combined research is necessary in order to overcome the
actual problems. Some of them are:

The polymeric elements are up to now not suitable for production because of the not optimized
materials and fabrication techniques. The reproducibility of production is not yet given.
The development currently still concentrates very much on the optimization of the single
elements. For the development of systems, a design environment including simulation
possibilities is however urgently required.
For production of efficient and marketable products, the integration of important elements
(NMOS, bipolar transistors) has not yet been carried out.
The materials for the packaging of the polymer electronic elements are not yet solved
satisfactorily from the system aspect. A specific new and further development of passivating,
molding and connection technologies, based on hybrid materials, should positively affect the
costs of the systems and their long-term stability.
The widespread use of siliconelectronic goodslarge number of disadvantages some are,
Production of silicon embedded circuits involves a huge investment.
These circuits also consume more power.
Moreover since silicon chips are not flexible, the products, which..use, are not easily
portable.
By using polytronics these limitations can overcome.

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2. Chapter
2.1 What is Polymer?
(poly- many) + (mer- parts)

Large molecule/macromolecule composedmany repeated subunits.

Becausebroad range of properties both synthetic & natural polymers play an essential and
ubiquitous roleeveryday life.

Formed becausedouble and triple bonds between monomer to form a rigid structure and
unique chemical & physical characteristics.

Organic polymerschains of carbon atoms combined with hydrogen atoms

H H H
C C C

C C C
H H H

Fig 2.1 chain of carbon with hydrogen

It is a conjugated chain comprisealternating single and double bonds between the carbon
atoms.

2.2 Classification of polymer based on origin

There are three types of classification under this category.

Natural polymers: These are polymers which occur naturally and are found in plants and
animals. For example: proteins, starch, cellulose and rubber. To add up, we also have
biodegradable polymers which are called bio polymers; this will be discussed here a little later.
Semi synthetic polymers: They are derived from naturally occurring polymers and undergo
further chemical modification.

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Synthetic polymers: These are man-made polymers. Plastic is the most common and widely
used synthetic polymer. It is used in industries and various daily products.

2.3 classification of polymer based on structure

This category has the following classifications:

Linear polymers: The structure of polymers containing long and straight chains fall in this
category. PVC, i.e. poly-vinyl chloride is largely used for making pipes and electric cables, is
an example of a linear polymer.
Branched chain polymers: When linear chains of a polymer form branches ,then such
polymers are categorized as branched chain polymers. Low-density polythene is an example of
branched chain polymers.
Cross-linked or network polymers: These polymers are composed of bi-functional and tri-
functional monomers. They have a stronger covalent bond as compared to various linear
polymers. Bakelite and melamine are examples in this category.

We have classified the general polymers, but missed out on one and that is bio polymers. Bio
polymers, as the name suggests is obtained from the living organisms. In a broad sense we can
also say that these are biodegradable polymers. There is a difference between the synthetic
polymers and the bio polymers; the structure is very well defined in case of bio polymers. Bio
polymers include various bio molecules for instance carbohydrates and proteins. These
molecules fold into characteristic shapes as found in protein molecules where folding occurs.

2.4 High temperature polymer

The polymers which are stable at high temperature are known as high-temperature polymers. The
molecular weight of these polymers is high so that they are not destroyed at high temperature.
These polymers find an extensive application in the health care industry. They are used for making
sterilization equipments and is an important part of the chemical industry. High temperature
polymers also find application in the manufacturing of heat and shock-resistant objects. To know
more about classification of polymers, bio polymers and high temperature polymers kindly install
our app, the Byjus learning app

2.5 How polymer conducts

Depending on the type of charge transport by the carriers responsible for it

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Ironically conductive polymer:
It is used as a solid-state electrolyte in batteries.
Eg: poly ethylene oxide which contain lithium per chlorate (LiClO4).
Electronically conductive:
Filled conductive polymers
Intrinsically conductive polymers

2.5.1 Intrinsically Conductive Polymers (ICPs)


Inherently conductive polymers were accidentally discovered in the 1970s by a Japanese chemist
when excess catalyst was added to a batch of polyacetylene. When the resulting silvery film was
doped with various oxidising agents in later work in American laboratories, the material was found
to have become conductive and this resulted in the development of a number of other conductive
poly-mers.
The most extensively studied conductive polymer systems to date are these based on the following
polyaniline
polythiophene
polypyrrole
polyacetylene

Figure 2.2 Structures of conducting polymers

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Following a major problem with static-discharge damage to a large quantity of photographic film
made by AGFA in the late 1980s, the parent company, BAYER AG, devel-oped an antistatic agent
based on the ICP polythiophene which solved the problem. The material is now marketed under the
trade name BAYTRON, described by the manufacturer as having high conductivity, high
transparency, high stability and offering easy processing (see p.3).

Polypyrrole and polythiopene differ notably from polyace-tylene in that they may be synthesised
directly in the doped form and also that they are stable in air. Their electrical conductivities are
(relatively) low but sufficient for many practical purposes.

Properties
The properties of ICPs depend to a great extent on the na-ture of the excess charge and its size.
The positive or negative excess charge can be introduced into the poly-mer system with
conjugated double bonds by chemical or electrochemical oxidation/reduction following the
polym-erisation reaction. The properties, therefore, can be greatly influenced by the degree of
oxidation or reduction applied to the original polymer.
ICPs exhibit a unique combination of properties, including the following:
electrical conductivity
ability to store an electric charge
ability to exchange ions

2.5.2 Two condition to become conductive


The first condition is the polymer consists of alternating single and double bonds, called
conjugated double bonds.
In conjugation, the bonds between the carbon atoms are alternately single and double. Every bond
contains a localized sigma () bond which forms a strong chemical bond. In addition, every
double bond also contains a less strongly localized pi () bond which is weaker
The second condition is the plastic has to be disturbad - either by removing electrons from
(oxidation), or inserting them into (reduction), the material. The proceses is known as Doping.

2.5.3 There are two types of Doping


Oxidation with halogen(p doping)
Reduction with alkali metal (n doping)

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Conductive polymers or, more precisely, intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) are organic
polymers that conduct electricity. Such compounds may have metallic conductivity or can be
semiconductors. The biggest advantage of conductive polymers is their process ability, mainly by
dispersion. Conductive polymers are generally not thermoplastics, i.e., they are not thermoform
able. But, like insulating polymers, they are organic materials. They can offer high electrical
conductivity but do not show similar mechanical properties to other commercially available
polymers. The electrical properties can be fine-tuned using the methods of organic synthesis and
by advanced dispersion techniques

2.6 Advantage and Disadvantage of polymer

2.6.1 Advantages
Manufacture is relative simple and inexpensive equipment at low cost.
Light weighted and flexible, very durable under stress and flex can be easily applied over a
large surface area.
Freedom of choice of their chemical composition
Adaptable in various ways because of printing methods that can be adjusted to current
requirements quickly (printed electronics

2.6.2 Disadvantages
Due to their intrinsic physical properties (i.e. limited mobility of charge carriers), the
performance of polymer electronic products lacks the speed of its silicon counterpart.
Research is still on going to increase performance for more complex functionality.
To be able to improve performance one should be able to distinguish between problems
introduced during preparation, intrinsic material properties, and device characteristics

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3. Chapter
3.1 State of the Art
The history of polymer electronics started more than 25 years ago firstly conductors, than
semiconductors, transistors and fully functional polymer ICs. But the mobility of charge carriers in
polymers is limited and incomparable to silicon. Nevertheless in the last 10 years many properties
of material were improved. For example, field effect mobility could be increased from below 10 -3
cm2/Vs to higher than 1 cm2/Vs both for vapors-deposition materials and for polymers and
solutions which can be spin-coated . For spin-coated organic-inorganic hybrid materials up to 50
cm2/Vs can be measured at room temperature. However, all mentioned values are only achieved for
p-type materials so that the realization of corresponding n-channel-transistors (and therefore of a
complementary logic or a bipolar technology) still needs intensive research.
Simple polymer transistors were reported at the beginning of nineties. In 2001 a report was
published. that the Polymer Electronics team at Philips Research works on 48-bit code generators,
comprising about 1,000 transistors. Such ICs provide the same function as bar codes, but will in
addition allow for electronic read-our any programming. Organic field effect transistors (OFETs)
with regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophenes) as semiconductor and poly(4-vinylophenol) as insulator,
processed by TITKF/Siemens AG group , show good saturation behavior and on/off ratios from
several hundred up to about 3,000. The field effect mobility is in the range of 10 -2 10-1cm2/Vs.
The same team reports the results of their work on polymer field effect transistors (PFETs). The
transistors with a polyaniline /polyamide composite result on/off ratios up to about 4.7103 .
Nevertheless, the use of polymer transistors in ICs is still in its infancy.
The second branch of active polymers is related to photonic applications. It was discovered
thirteen years ago that some conjugated polymers exhibit electro-luminescence. The potential of
this discovery for novel lighting concepts was recognized almost immediately. As the result of
researcher centers and industry, a polymer LED, (named also as OLED by using a Organic
modifier) displays appeared. Devices for use in a passive matrix OLED display (mobile phones
e.g.) require a low forward voltage, high luminance efficiency, and low reverse current. They
usually consist of multi-layered structures to facilitate charge injection from the contacts as well as
carrier transport into the emitting layer. The luminance efficiency can be increased by doping the
emitting layer with special dye molecules. In bilayer devices, the electroluminescence can be
controlled by thickness optimization of the different emitting layers up to white emission
Polymers in electronics are widely used as passive materials. There are etching and soldering
resists, dielectrics, boards, materials for encapsulating, unedifying and coating, electrically and
thermally conductive adhesives for electronic interconnecting.

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3.2 The offer of polymer electronics
The role of polymer electronics is not primarily a replacement for existing silicon devices, but
opens up the prospect of completely new applications that combine the features of transistor, LED,
detector and interconnect devices with the freedom of design, flexibility and low cost of plastics. In
view of these new findings it seems possible that polymers may solve present and coming
problems and add new functionality to microelectronic circuits and systems. Polytronics creates a
new and very promising technological area with new applications and products. Examples are:
Full polymer transponders (RFID),
Printable tags,
Flexible systems,
Disposable electronics,
Body area networks, smart clothing wearable computing,
Pervasive computing and communication systems,
Electronic circuits for "polymer based" photovoltaics, detectors, imaging applications, displays,
illumination systems,
Disposable and low cost sensors (biochemical),
Actuators,
Disposable low cost memories (bistable).
The practical use in every days life of polytronic products offers advantages from the
environmental point of view. Products based on polytronics can be manufactured with relative
simple and inexpensive equipment at low cost. Other important advantages are related to the
unique mechanical properties of polymers: they are light weighted and flexible, very durable and
rugged under stress and flex, and can be easily applied and maintained over a large surface area.
The manufacturing of polytronic-based electronic products does not have to be done in large, ultra
pure, energy-devouring clean rooms. The polymer materials are used selectively where they are
needed (printing) and are not wasted. The organic material can be effectively dealt with after use
and in recycling. No high temperatures need to be applied in the processing of organic materials.

Not only the manufacturing possibilities but also the materials used are very promising from
the environmental point of view compared to the materials used in todays electronic products:
Polytronics seems to be great hope for future mobile products, the mass market of the future,
because their environmental performance can be improved to a great deal by means of engineering,
in contrast to the toxic properties of, for instance, many metals.

3.3 New Trends in Polytronics

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In this section we look into some of the areas in which polytronics is making a huge impact.

3.3.1 Printing of circuits

Fabrication of microelectronic components would allow manufacture of complete gadgets through


just printing process in the near future. Such a technology is being developed by the University of
California. The technology would focus on building any electronic device from bottom up
gradually, so, instead of building a device by adding new components through the regular
assemble and build technique, the entire product would come out of the printer complete with
electronic circuitry embedded in the product itself.

Fig 3.1 printing of circuits

The structural, mechanical and electronic elements would be indicated using 3D printing
techniques, in three simple steps: using a CAD software tool think of a design, take the necessary
ingredients and insert them inside the printer and finally print. Technologists point out that for the
process to succeed in major applications two main criteria have to be fulfilled: Basically, the
material viscosity must be low enough to allow controlled ejection from the inkjet during
fabrication. Secondly, the material must remain a liquid for a sufficient time before jetting so as to
not clog the printing orifice, yet solidify within a reasonable time after jetting. With these two
things in place it would be possible to print almost anything from a combination of polymer and
oligomer solutions, polymer resins, molten solders and nano-particle suspensions.

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3.3.2 Rubber electronics

Researchers at the John Hopkins University have successfully built rubber circuits out of
several squashed but extendable gold wires. The circuits are about 20 times thinner than a human
hair and have the potential to be stretched by over half their initial length without loss of electrical
conductivity. Stretched gold wires are manufactured by electroplating gold onto a sheet of silver,
later on the silver is stripped and the wires are encased inside the polymer. The rubbery circuits
would be woven into clothes to monitor the heartbeat of sports persons or for better functions such
as artificial nerves that can bend inside the body. Such flexible circuits would be less painful to
embed in the brains of persons suffering from Parkinsons disease.

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4. Chapter
4.1 Application of polytronics
Fabrication of organic thin film transistors
Non-volatile memory devices based on organic transistors
Development of novel conjugated polymers for photovoltaic device applications
Fabrication of organic photovoltaic cells
Fabrication of organic light-emitting devices (OLED)
Ferroelectric polymers for thin film devices
Gene Sensors
Printed Electronics
Conducting Polymer Actuators and Micro pumps .
Responsive Membranes/Hybrid Plastics .
focused upon polymer membranes that incorporated electronically conducting polymers
and piezoelectric polymers

4.2 Organic Field Effect transistor (OFET)


An organic field-effect transistor (OFET) is a field-effect transistor using an organic
semiconductor in its channel. OFETs can be prepared either by vacuum evaporation of small
molecules, by solution-casting of polymers or small molecules, or by mechanical transfer of a
peeled single-crystalline organic layer onto a substrate. These devices have been developed to
realize low-cost, large-area electronic products and biodegradable electronics. OFETs have
been fabricated with various device geometries. The most commonly used device geometry is
bottom gate with top drain and source ectrodesel, because this geometry is similar to the thin-
film silicon transistor (TFT) using thermally grown SiO2 as gate dielectric. Organic
polymers, such as poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA), can also be used as dielectric.
In May 2007, Sony reported the first full-color, video-rate, flexible, all plastic display, in
which both the thin-film transistors and the light-emitting pixels were made of organic
materials

4.2.1 History of OFET


The field-effect transistor (FET) was first proposed by J.E. Lilienfeld, who received a patent
for his idea in 1930. He proposed that a field-effect transistor behaves as a capacitor with a

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conducting channel between a source and a drain electrode. Applied voltage on the gate
electrode controls the amount of charge carriers flowing through the system.

The first field-effect transistor was designed and prepared in 1960 by Kahng and Atalla using
a metaloxidesemiconductor (MOSFET). However, rising costs of materials and
manufacturing [citation needed], as well as public interest in more environmentally friendly
electronics materials have supported development of organic based electronics in more recent
years. In 1987, Koezuka and co-workers reported the first organic field-effect transistor based
on a polymer of thiophene molecules. The thiophene polymer is a type of conjugated polymer
that is able to conduct charge, eliminating the need to use expensive metal oxide
semiconductors. Additionally, other conjugated polymers have been shown to have
semiconducting properties. OFET design has also improved in the past few decades. Many
OFETs are now designed based on the thin-film transistor (TFT) model, which allows the
devices to use less conductive materials in their design. Improvement on these models in the
past few years have been made to field-effect mobility and onoff current ratios.

4.2.2 Materials for OFET


One common feature of OFET materials is the inclusion of an aromatic or otherwise
conjugated -electron system, facilitating the delocalization of orbital wavefunctions.
Electron withdrawing groups or donating groups can be attached that facilitate hole or
electron transport.

OFETs employing many aromatic and conjugated materials as the active semiconducting
layer have been reported, including small molecules such as rubrene, tetracene, pentacene,
diindenoperylene, perylenediimides, tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), and polymers such
as polythiophenes (especially poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)), polyfluorene,
polydiacetylene, poly(2,5-thienylene vinylene), poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV).

4.2.3 Device design of OFET


Three essential components of field-effect transistors are the source, the drain and the gate.
Field-effect transistors usually operate as a capacitor. They are composed of two plates. One
plate works as a conducting channel between two ohmic contacts, which are called the source
and the drain contacts. The other plate works to control the charge induced into the channel,
and it is called the gate. The direction of the movement of the carriers in the channel is from

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the source to the drain. Hence the relationship between these three components is that the
gate controls the carrier movement from the source to the drain.

When this capacitor concept is applied to the device design, various devices can be built up
based on the difference in the controller i.e. the gate. This can be the gate material, the
location of the gate with respect to the channel, how the gate is isolated from the channel, and
what type of carrier is induced by the gate voltage into channel (such as electrons in an n-
channel device, holes in a p-channel device, and both electrons and holes in a double
injection device)

Figure4.1 Schematic of three kinds of field-effect transistor (FET): (a) metal-insulator-semiconductor


FET (MISFET); (b) metal-semiconductor FET (MESFET); (c) thin-film transistor (TFT

4.3 OLED
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the
emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light in response
to an electric current . This layer of organic semiconductor is situated between two
electrodes; typically, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. OLEDs are used to create
digital displays in devices such as television screens, computer monitors, Portable systems
such as mobile phones, handheld game consoles and PDAs. A major area of research is the
development of white OLED devices for use in solid-state lighting applications.

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There are two main families of OLED: those based on small molecules and those employing
polymers. Adding mobile ions to an OLED creates a light-emitting electrochemical cell
(LEC) which has a slightly different mode of operation. OLED displays can use either
passive-matrix (PMOLED) or active-matrix (AMOLED) addressing schemes. Passive matrix
OLEDs (PMOLED) uses a simple control scheme in which you control each row (or line) in
the display sequentially whereas active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLED) require a thin-film
transistor backplane to switch each individual pixel on or off, but allow for higher resolution
and larger display sizes.
An OLED display works without a backlight; thus, it can display deep black levels and can
be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD). In low ambient light conditions
(such as a dark room), an OLED screen can achieve a higher contrast ratio than an LCD,
regardless of whether the LCD uses cold cathode fluorescent lamps or an LED backlight

Fig 4.2 Prototype OLED lighting panels

4.3.1 History of OLED


Andr Bernanose and co-workers at the Nancy-Universit in France made the first
observations of electroluminescence in organic materials in the early 1950s. They applied
high alternating voltages in air to materials such as acridine orange, either deposited on or
dissolved in cellulose or cellophane thin films. The proposed mechanism was either direct
excitation of the dye molecules or excitation of electrons.

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In 1960 Martin Pope and some of his co-workers at New York University developed ohmic
dark-injecting electrode contacts to organic crystals. They further described the necessary
energetic requirements (work functions) for hole and electron injecting electrode contacts.
These contacts are the basis of charge injection in all modern OLED devices. Pope's group
also first observed direct current (DC) electroluminescence under vacuum on a single pure
crystal of anthracene and on anthracene crystals doped with tetracene in 1963. using a small
area silver electrode at 400 volts. The proposed mechanism was field-accelerated electron
excitation of molecular fluorescence.

Pope's group reported in 1965 that in the absence of an external electric field, the
electroluminescence in anthracene crystals is caused by the recombination of a thermalized
electron and hole, and that the conducting level of anthracene is higher in energy than the
exciton energy level. Also in 1965, W. Helfrich and W. G. Schneider of the National
Research Council in Canada produced double injection recombination electroluminescence
for the first time in an anthracene single crystal using hole and electron injecting electrodes,
the forerunner of modern double-injection devices. In the same year, Dow Chemical
researchers patented a method of preparing electroluminescent cells using high-voltage (500
1500 V) AC-driven (1003000 Hz) electrically insulated one millimetre thin layers of a
melted phosphor consisting of ground anthracene powder, tetracene, and graphite powder.
Their proposed mechanism involved electronic excitation at the contacts between the graphite
particles and the anthracene molecules.
Roger Partridge made the first observation of electroluminescence from polymer films at the
National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The device consisted of a film of
poly(N-vinylcarbazole) up to 2.2 micrometers thick located between two charge injecting
electrodes. The results of the project were patented in 1975 and published in 1983.

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Fig 4.3 Demonstration of a flexible OLED device
4.4 Printed Electronics
Printed electronics is a set of printing methods used to create electrical devices on various
substrates. Printing typically uses common printing equipment suitable for defining patterns
on material, such as screen printing, flexography, gravure, offset lithography, and inkjet. By
electronic industry standards, these are low cost processes. Electrically functional electronic
or optical inks are deposited on the substrate, creating active or passive devices, such as thin
film transistors; capacitors; coils; resistors. Printed electronics is expected to facilitate
widespread, very low-cost, low-performance electronics for applications such as flexible
displays, smart labels, decorative and animated posters, and active clothing that do not
require high performance.
The term printed electronics is often related to organic electronics or plastic electronics, in
which one or more inks are composed of carbon-based compounds. These other terms refer to
the ink material, which can be deposited by solution-based, vacuum-based or other processes.
Printed electronics, in contrast, specifies the process, and, subject to the specific requirements
of the printing process selected, can utilize any solution-based material. This includes organic
semiconductors, inorganic semiconductors, metallic conductors, nanoparticles, nanotubes,
etc.
For the preparation of printed electronics nearly all industrial printing methods are employed.
Similar to conventional printing, printed electronics applies ink layers one atop another. So
the coherent development of printing methods and ink materials are the field's essential tasks.

The most important benefit of printing is low-cost volume fabrication. The lower cost enables
use in more applications. An example is RFID-systems, which enable contactless
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identification in trade and transport. In some domains, such as light-emitting diodes printing
does not impact performance. Printing on flexible substrates allows electronics to be placed
on curved surfaces, for example, putting solar cells on vehicle roofs. More typically,
conventional semiconductors justify their much higher costs by providing much higher
performance.

4.4.1 Printed Electronics Method


Flexo printing: a high pressure method that is especially well applicable to print on plastic
substrates
Offset printing: a flat printing technique that makes a high resolution possible
Gravure printing: a low pressure printing method that makes high volumes and the use of
organic dissolvent possible
Rotary screen printing: a method that allows to print in thick layers.

Fig 4.4 Printed and conventional electronics as complementary technologies

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5. Chapter
5.1 The nearest future: flexible electronics
A broad application field for full polymeric circuits is expected for the low-cost
integration of simple data processing functions on flexible film substrates (Figure 5.1). Such
products must be produced in very high volume. For this reason, many of the traditional
wafer based manufacturing tools used in the traditional electronics manufacturing will have
to be changed. Compared to the subtractive manufacturing sequence of layer deposition,
lithography and etching processes, which are used in the wafer-based processes, the organic
materials mostly make additive patterning techniques possible like the different printing
method.

Fig.5.1 Flexible film substrates; source: Fraunhofer Magazin

During last few years only few promising methods for printed polymer transistor have
been reported in literature. Infineon Technologies group informs that they have fabricated
pentacene thin film transistors on flexible polymeric substrate with gate electrodes prepared
using a combination of micro contact printing and selective electro less plating of nickel.
These transistors also employ a spin-coated polymer gate dielectric layer patterned by
photolithography and dry etching and have a carrier mobility of 0.03cm2/Vs, comparable to
pentacene transistors with vacuum-deposited gate electrodes.
Siemens Corporate Technology has presented OFETs and organic inverters based on
functional polymers with single layers applied by pad and screen printing. Using this
technique OFETs were assembled, in which poly(3-alkylthiophene) served as the
semiconductor, and poly(4-hydroxystyrene) as the insulator. Source-drain electrodes made
from polyaniline and gold with channel lengths of 20m have been patterned by pad printing.
Transistor electrodes consisting of silver filled ink with channel lengths of 100m were
directly pad printed. A functional semiconductor layer was applied by screen printing, while

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gate electrodes have been pad printed. Also pad printing technique was used for defining of a
full organic logic capable inverter. Good electrical characteristic of OFET have been obtained
and the results provide the variability of pad and screen printing for polymer electronics.
Both methods have the potential for development into large volume mass-production.
For flexible electronics, continuous flow, low- cost manufacturing processes with high
throughput have to be used. The best seems to be reel-to-reel industrial processes (R2R),
based on prints circuits on flexible substrates technique. The newest reports bring information
about other processes with prospect of being applicable in R2R industrial production lines.
TU Braunschweig have demonstrated an experimental process for obtaining conductive
polymer patterns by electrochemical polymerisation of conductive polymers on pre-patterned
electrode . The polymer patterns can easily be transferred to an insulating substrate. A lateral
resolution of 10m has been obtained and the results indicate that a higher resolution on the
scale of a few microns is possible.

Fig.5.2 Reel-to-reel processing of Polymer Transistor

5.2 Electronic Report


Electronic report and e-report are display devices that mimic the appearance of ordinary ink
on report. Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays that emit light, electronic report
displays reflect light like report. This may make them more comfortable to read, and provide
a wider viewing angle than most light-emitting displays. The contrast ratio in electronic
displays available as of 2008 approaches newsreport, and newly developed displays are

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slightly better. An ideal e-report display can be read in direct sunlight without the image
appearing to fade.
Many electronic report technologies hold static text and images indefinitely without
electricity. Flexible electronic report uses plastic substrates and plastic electronics for the
display backplane. There is ongoing competition among manufacturers to provide full-color
ability.
Applications of electronic visual displays include electronic pricing labels in retail shops and
digital signage, time tables at bus stations, electronic billboards, mobile phone displays, and
e-readers able to display digital versions of books and magazines.

Fig 5.3 I Liad e-book reader equipped with an e-report display visible in the sunlight
An E-report can be continuously updated via the Internet and even used as an innovative
display that can be rolled up tightly without any damage. These display devices are produced
using direct inkjet printing technology as it is quite economical and the circuit is a part of the
whole display package itself. The display typically uses E-ink, which is activated by electric
charge to update the content. Researchers at Philips semi-conductors are working on a
prototype whose circuitry is made from a semi-conducting organic material called
pentacene. They laid thin films of pentacene on a flexible plastic by simply spreading a
solution of the organic material over the plastic substrate. Since the circuit is a part of the
display itself, it is economical to produce. Research is also in progress to create full colour
display, which would be four times brighter than the devices made from liquid crystals.
A prototype is being developed in which the researchers have made use of a single sheet
covered with electronic ink that looks like ordinary report. The information is stored in a

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portable chip, and a slim line lightweight battery powers the display. The ink would rearrange
electronically fast enough to show even video movies.

5.4 Plastic Battery


Batteries are indispensable sources of power in our day-to-day life. However with their
widespread use and the ineffective ways in which they are disposed has led to serious
environmental problems.

To tackle this problem, researchers have developed all plastic batteries in which both of
the electrodes and the electrolytes are made of polymers. The positive and negative electrodes
are made of thin, foil-like plastic sheets. Electrolyte is a polymer gel film placed between the
electrodes holding the battery together.

These batteries are lightweight and can be molded into any size and shape for use in
satellites and important military equipment. Scientists are planning practical applications of
plastic batteries by linking them with solar cell charging system to power space satellites
when they are in orbit.

Tests at the Hopkinss lab have yielded positive results. Polymer batteries can be
recharged and reused a number of times without loss of power. Besides these dont contain
hazardous chemicals typically found in nickel-cadmium cells and are therefore
environmentally safe.

Fig 5.4 solid polymer cell

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5.4.1 History
Organic batteries are an alternative to the metal reaction battery technologies, and much
research is taking place in this area. Waseda University was approached by NEC in 2001, and
began to focus on the organic batteries. In 2002, NEC researcher presented a report on
Piperidinoxyl Polymer technology, and by 2005 they presented an organic radical battery
(ORB) based on a modified PTMA, poly (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy-4-yl meth-
acrylate).
In 2006, Brown University announced a technology based on polypyrrole. In 2007, Waseda
announced a new ORB technology based on "soluble polymer, polynorborene with pendant
nitroxide radical groups."
In 2015 researchers developed an efficient, conductive, electron-transporting polymer. The
discovery employed a "conjugated redox polymer" design with a naphthalene-bithiophene
polymer that has been used for transistors and solar cells. Doped with lithium ions it offered
significant electronic conductivity and remained stable through 3,000 charge/discharge
cycles. Polymers that conduct holes have been available for some time. The polymer exhibits
the greatest power density for an organic material under practical measurement conditions. A
battery could be 80% charged within 6 seconds. Energy density remained lower than
inorganic batteries

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Conclusion
In this report we have explained in detail some of the recent breakthroughs in the field of
polytronics. When implemented properly, polytronics can bring about a revolution in the life
of common man.
We would like to conclude the report by highlighting the importance of polytronics.
In fact the question to be answered at this stage is Why Polytronics? Apart from the
exciting features that we have discussed so far such as printing of circuits, electronic report,
OLEDs, rubber electronics etc Polytronics has a major role to play in protecting our
environment. With efficient use and reuse of such products we can go a step ahead in the
issue of electronic waste. Apart from safe guarding the environment in which we live, use of
plastics in the manufacture of electronic products bring down the cost involved in
production, thereby safeguarding the interest of the economy as well. The aim of Polytronics
is to build products that can reach the substratum of the society, to build a better society in
which each and every individual has access to the features that it has to offer.
Through this report we would again like to emphasize the fact that Polytronics is the
next big thing.
In short it is a field that offers tremendous opportunities for young and budding
engineers, field that is going to revolutionize the way in which we live

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References
[1] Hofstraat H. Will Polymer Electronics Change the Electronics Industry, 1st
International IEEE Conf. on Polymers and Adhesives in Microelectronics and
Photonics, Potsdam 2001, p.1

[2] Wedel A., Janietz S., Polymer Materials for Display Technology, 1 st International
IEEE Conf. on Polymers and Adhesives in Microelectronics and Photonics, Potsdam
2001, p.46

[3] Zschieschang U. Klauk H. Halik M. Schmid G. Radlik W. Weber W., Organic Thin
Film Transistors with Printed Gate Electrodes, 2nd International IEEE Conf. on Polymers
and Adhesives in Microelectronics and Photonics, Zalaegerszeg 2002, p.191

[4] Schrdner M. Sensfuss S. Roth H.K. Stohn R.I. Clemens W. Bernds A. Fix W.,Plastic
Electronics Based on Semiconducting Polymers, 1st International IEEE Conf. on
Polymers and Adhesives in Microelectronics and Photonics, Potsdam 2001, p.91

[5] Schrdner M. Sensfuss S. Roth H.K. Stohn R.-I Clemens W. Bernds A., All-Polymer
Field Effect Transistors, 2nd International IEEE Conf. on Polymers and Adhesives in
Microelectronics and Photonics, Zalaegerszeg 2002, p.188

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