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Considerations and Methodology to Determine R2R Manufacturing and Scaling of Electronic Devices on Flexible Stainless Steel Foil Substrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2017

Aditi Chandra*
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Mao Takashima
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Joey Li
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Patricia Beck
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Scott Bruner
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Dylan Tinsley
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Raghav Sreenivasan
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
Arvind Kamath
Affiliation:
Thinfilm Electronics, San Jose, CA, 95134 United States.
*
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Abstract

Stainless steel substrates enable a combination of low cost, flexibility, durability, high processing temperatures, and sub-100 um thickness making it well suited for sheet based and roll-to-roll processing. NFC (13.56 MHz) based circuits using high performance polysilicon TFTs on steel sheets have been manufactured using a hybrid printed process in a production environment. The process scheme utilizes a hybrid, additive materials approach encompassing low cost manufacturing steps such as slot die coating and screen printing of silicon and dopant inks to enable a high throughput, low cost, manufacturing flow. This paper describes the approach for migrating from a sheet-based hybrid process flow to a R2R-based process. A comparison of substrate choices and considerations for R2R process integration is presented. A sensitive electrical method for evaluating the feasibility of R2R-based process integration schemes and materials selection is presented. MIM capacitor leakage, TFT device characteristics, NFC circuit performance, and defect density considerations are shown as a function of steel substrate bending, down to a diameter of 0.75 inches. Electrical characteristics and optical inspections show no measurable change to insulator characteristics, demonstrating a high degree of flexibility and overall device and process capability for R2R processing.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

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References

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