Market & Technology Trends in Materials &
Equipment for Printed & Flexible Electronics
Dr Eric Mounier, Yole Developpement

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Fields of Expertise
MEMS & Image
Sensors
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& Med Tech
Power
Electronics
OLED, LED &
Laser Diode
Semiconductor
Manufacturing
Compound
Semiconductors
Printed Electronics /

•Market & Applications
•Equipment & Materials challenges
•Conclusions

MARKET & APPLICATIONS
Displays, Lighting, Sensing, Energy Generation, Smart
Systems & IoT

Application Landscape 2013-2020+
Flexible Electronics
Application enabling / Function
enabling
Flexible PV
Electronic
Paper
2020+
2013
Flexible Electronics
Application enabling /
Function enabling
Flexible
PV
Electronic
Paper
In the next several years, the number of applications using printing processes
for Flexible Electronics will grow. Few examples:
Non printed
Printed

Application Landscape 2013-2020+
Flexible Electronics
Application enabling / Function
enabling
Small OLED
Displays
Flexible PV
Electronic
Paper
Large
OLED
Displays
OLED
General
Lighting
Conformable
OLED Lighting
Sensors
(photo, RFID,
chemical, force,
touch …)
2020+
2013
Flexible Electronics
Application enabling /
Function enabling
Flexible
PV
Electronic
Paper
In the next several years, the number of applications using printing processes
for Flexible Electronics will grow. Few examples:
Non printed
Printed
Systems on
Foil
Touch
screens
…

• Main market drivers for flexible electronics are:
– The possibility to add new functionalities:
• Conformability for OLED lighting (for the automotive industry),
• Conformability for OPV (energy harvesting)
• Robustness for small OLED displays (for smart phones & tablets)
– The possibility to create new applications:
• Wearable electronics.
– Flexible electronics is NOT meant to be low-cost, and usually uses expensive processes (MOCVD,
evaporation)
• The main market driver for printed electronics is:
– Cost reduction due to high volume (roll-to-roll) manufacturing or by using fewer expensive
manufacturing processes (MOCVD, evaporation):
• Potentially lower cost OLED TVs could be built if solution-based manufacturing is mastered and potentially low cost
OPV could appear if technical challenges are leveraged
• Up to 30% cost reduction
Market drivers for flexible and printed electronics are different,
even though manufacturing processes and end applications share
similarities.

Flexible & Printed Applications Market for the
Different Functions (US$M)
$0,0
$100,0
$200,0
$300,0
$400,0
$500,0
$600,0
$700,0
$800,0
$900,0
$1 000,0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Flexible Applications based on PE Technologies Forecast 2012-2020 in US$M
Sensing Displaying Lighting Energy generation Substrates
© Yole Développement 2013
Smart systems
After 2020, we believe sensors market
will ramp-up, driven by IoT applications.

The Internet of Things Roadmap:
printed electronics as a possible low cost solution to achieve GEN7 products
GEN 7
Annual Market Volumes per Specific
Application
Solution Price per
sensor module
Large Industrial
Smart Sensors
First Generation
of IoT Sensors
Advanced Generation
of IoT Sensors
GEN 1
GEN 2
GEN 3
GEN 4
GEN 5
Printed
Electronics
Sensors'
Swarm
100 000
10 000$2000
$250
$50
$5
$0.5
$0.25
$0.05
Polytronics
Systems
Integrated
IoT Sensors
1 000 000
10 000 000
100 000 000
1 000 000 000
50 000 000GEN 6
Today 2016 2018 2020 20242022

Printed Electronics as a Future Technology for IoT
• Printed electronics systems are the final step to low cost sensing.
• Such devices are meant to be disposable, with a short lifespan, and used by the
Billion.
– An example of application is typically item-level sensing & RFID
– e.g. food chain control sensor
• Main technical challenges as of today are technical in term of printing materials
and equipment, and linked to cost as no large volume market yet exist.
Patch electronic
Source: MC 10 Inc.
Printed sensor concept
Source: CEA_Leti

Focus on Applications
SENSING
DISPLAYS LIGHTING
PHOTOVOLTAICS
• Several large players are involved in large OLED
display development, and in printed processes for those
displays.
– LG and Samsung start shipping non-printed products
in 2013 (curved for Samsung)
– Panasonic and Sony started a joint venture for OLED
TV production.
– Material companies such as DuPont work together
with device manufacturers to develop efficient
technologies for printed OLED TVs.
• Organic and Printed Electronic devices for large-area
photonics and image sensors.
• Converts plastic and glass surfaces into smart surfaces.
• New generation of opto-electronic sensors with 3D
product integration capability recognizing shapes and
form factors.

Applications and Market Segments of OLED
OLED for Displays

Potential Advantages of OLED for Lighting
Lightweight &
Flexible
“Natural” lighting
due to area light
Broad color range &
Tunable color
Transparent
Novaled
Variety of sizes and
shapes
Glare-free diffuse light
 Very low panel-to-
luminaire losses
Lumiotec
Thin

Comparison of OLED with Other Lighting Sources
Incandescent Fluorescent LED OLED
Efficacy 10 - 15 lm/W 40 - 100 lm/W
80 - 130 lm/W (cold white)
65 - 90 lm/W (warm white)
12 - 40 lm/W
Lifetime LT 70 (hours) 1,000 - 2,000 5,000 - 50,000 10,000 - 50,000 4,000 - 10,000
CRI > 95 80 - 85
80 (cold white)
90 (warm white)
> 80
Form factor Heat generating
Linear or compact gas filed
glass tube
Point source high intensity
lamp (glare)
Large area thin diffuse
source - Can be flexible,
transparent…
Dimmable
Yes - But much lower
efficacy
Yes - But efficiency
decreases
Yes - But efficiency
decreases
Yes - And efficiency
increases
Noise No Yes No No
Switching time Good Poor Excellent Excellent
Tunable color No No Yes Yes
Environmental issues Low efficiency Contains mercury vapor None None
Manufacturing costs Low Medium High Very high
Comparison of characteristics of different lighting sources
Source: Yole Développement

OLED Panel Acceptable Cost
• Displays: Main drivers include new features for small display (linked to flexibility) and lower cost for large
display (linked to printability).
• Lighting:
– Printed OLED will focus general lighting  cost is a strong driver.
– Flexible OLED lighting will typically focus luxury & design lighting  cost is less critical for these
applications.

LEDs vs. OLEDs
Cost Roadmap Comparison
In 2013, there was a factor of 57 between OLEDs (~169 $/klm) and LEDs (~2.96 $/klm) at the cost level… This
should be reduced to a factor of 16 by 2020 (OLED at ~13 $/klm vs. LED at ~0.8 $/klm).

Which PV Can Be Flexible?
The potential for flexible devices is determined mainly by the nature of substrate used.
Existing PV technologies and substrates used.
Flex & Printed PV

Why Go “Flexible”?
Potential for lower costs
due to Roll-to-Roll
manufacturing
More rugged applications (no fragile glass)
Lightweight applications
Applications on curved surfacesSmall when not used
Manufacturing Applications

Flex & Printed PV
Technology push vs. market pull
Technology push
• Flexible substrates
• Novel chemistry
• Novel materials compatible with flexible
devices
• Novel wet-processable materials
• Wet deposition of thin layers
• Roll-to-roll equipment
=> Opportunity for many R&D and
industrial players, especially material and
equipment suppliers
Market pull
• Potentially low-cost manufacturing
• Liberty of designs
• New applications
• Added value for existing applications
But
• Tough competition with rigid PV
• Low-cost manufacturing still to be
proven
• Added value perceived by customers?
• Niche markets only?

CHALLENGES

Main Technology Challenges for Flexible & Printed
Electronics
• Flexibility:
– Flexible substrate, encapsulation and anode
compatible with processing conditions
– Cost-effective barrier material for encapsulation
– Low-cost R2R manufacturing
– Scalability to large size (PV, large OLEDs)
– Adhesion on substrate (thermal cycling, roll/unroll,
ageing…)
– Reliability over time
• Printability:
– Development of Novel Materials (Absorber, Electrodes…)
– Ink formulation
– Interfacial engineering
– Low-cost R2R manufacturing
• “All-by-printing” manufacturing process is hard to achieve
to date (vacuum process steps are sometimes a must).
• The advantages of printing process are often less
pronounced, because of the need for subsequent heat
treatment and other non-printing steps.
– Scalability to Large Size
– Lifetime and stability
– Low efficiency (for OPV modules: 15-20% lab results)
– Improvement in the amount of wasted ink during printing
processes
• Shorten production line processes
• Smaller dosage systems
• Effective filter before the dies

Meeting flexible and/or printed electronic challenges with the
right materials
Complexity of OLED ligthing layer structures
• The number of materials to deal with in an OLED system can be high and the deposition of each
layer quite complex
HTL (Hole transport layer)
Hole Transport Layer = Layer that allows the transmission of positive charges
only
EML (Emissive layer)
Emissive Layer (organic semiconductor) = Active material that emits a photon
when excited by recombination of a positive and a negative charge.
Anode Anode = Electrode emitting the positive charges only
Cathode
Cathode = TCO (transparent conductor) is used as an electrode emitting the
negative charges. TCOs are used for their conducting properties and
transparency
HIL (Hole injection layer)
Hole Injection Layer = Layer that allows the injection of the positive charges in
the structure
Electron blocking layer Electron blocking layer: Prevent migration of electrons outside the EML
EIL(Electron injection layer)
Electron Injection Layer = Layer that allows the injection of negative charges in
the structure
Hole blocking layer Hole blocking layer: Prevent migration of holes outside the EML
ETL(Electron transport layer)
Electron transport Layer = Layer that allows the transmission of the negative
charges in the structure

Meeting flexible and/or printed electronic challenges with the
right materials
Weak points of organic molecules in Electronics
• The performance of materials available is not yet high enough to compete
with existing technologies
– As an example the lifetime of blue emitters in OLED devices
Efficiency and Lifetime of blue emitters
Color Efficiency (cd/A) LT50 (hours)
Blue (Fluorescence) 5 to 20 10K to 40K
Green (Phosphorescence) 25 to 85 150K to 500K
Red (Phosphorescence) 10 to 35 120 K to >500K
Source: Engadget, University of Michigan

Meeting flexible and/or printed electronic challenges with the
right materials
The matter of deposition techniques
• Deposition techniques have not yet reached the level of maturity to be
compatible with mass production
– Evaporation techniques are not well adapted to mass production of large scale
OLED displays (expensive equipment, size limitation, high material waste).
– Materials deposited via evaporation generally show little flexibility
– Some barriers need to be overcome before printing techniques can be applied
for mass production:
• Polymer or solution-processable small molecule materials must be developed that
meet the standards defined by competing technologies. Today, promising results were
obtained but more development is needed before commercialization.
• Solution must be found to avoid mixing materials of two adjacent layers during the
different manufacturing steps
• Equipment for material deposition must be scaled to the size & productivity of
competitive technologies (e.g. LCD).

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right
materials
Printable and flexible anode
• Single printing steps will progressively be incorporated into evaporation production lines.
• The first layers that have the potential to be printed are the anode and the HIL / HTL layers.
• ITO is so far the most widely applied TCO (transparent conductive oxide) material for Anode
– High conductivity + high optical transparency
– ITO resistivity is generally from 6 to 12 Ohm.sq-1 for a transmittance of ~85%.
• ITO drawbacks for printed and flexible electronics:
– Not resistant to mechanical bending (brittle)
– High processing temperature  Issues with flexible substrates such as PET.
– Cannot be easily adapted to the solution processes.
– The price of Indium is volatile and its supply unsafe
• These drawbacks are strong enough for the industry to look for alternatives

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right
materials
Printable and flexible anode – alternatives to ITO
• Emerging application of new materials for electrode include:
– Highly conductive PEDOT:PSS (conductivity remains lower than that of ITO). Conductive PEDOT can also be
combined with a silver metallic grid and enhance its performance.
– Carbon nano-tubes, good transparency but higher resistivity than ITO
– Graphene (single layer of graphite) is performing well but the manufacturing of defect-free graphene is
considered as quite challenging.
– Metallic grids (Ag or Cu) applicable on flexible substrates (PET) via a roll-to-roll process with a resolution of 10
to 15 microns. It covers less than 10% of the surface, it appears transparent.
– Silver nanowires: They are solution-processable & form a network of wires providing good conductivity, low
resistivity (similar as that of ITO) and transparency
Source: SEM images from CEA LITEN-Simonato et al
Carbon nano-tubes Metallic grids Silver nanowires

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right
materials
Printable and flexible anode – alternatives to ITO for sensors
• Touch & force sensors market will strongly benefit from cost-efficient alternatives to ITO
• Metal grid, carbon nanotubes, silver nanowires and PEDOT-based solutions (conductive
polymers) are also well positioned to replace ITO on sensor applications
• New printable and flexible transparent conductor materials will open the doors to a very broad
range of applications and the rising interest for IoT will contribute to a significant
Air gap
LCD Display
ITO Patterned substrate
ITO Patterned substrate
Optically Clear Adhesive
Cover
Optically Clear Adhesive
Adhesive
Fig. Example of the structure of a capacitive touch sensor

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right
materials
Challenges of encapsulation techniques
• Encapsulation: barrier properties against moisture and oxygen.
• Formerly, encapsulation was done using cavity glass encapsulation with epoxy adhesives (for sealing) and
additional desiccants like CaO (to absorb water and oxygen).
• Rigid glass encapsulation will remain the dominant technology for the next few years, as long as no flexibility
is required in the final product.
• However, rigid materials are not amenable for use in flexible electronics. Hence, several flexible
encapsulation approaches have been developed:
Epoxy adhesive
Organic materialsGlass substrate
Getter
Glass or metal
Epoxy adhesive
Organic materials
Barrier layers
Barrier layer
Flexible substrate

Meeting flexible and printed electronic challenges with the right
materials
Challenges of encapsulation techniques
• Flexible glass is option for encapsulation, available in roll format.
– It provides some flexibility, the potential for roll-to-roll manufacturing and efficient barrier properties.
– Glass remains brittle & its flexibility limited
– Its price is high & not adapted to all applications.
• Multilayer barrier films, alternating polymer and inorganic oxide layers are deposited by
physical, chemical vapor deposition or atomic layer deposition (PVD, CVD or ALD).
– It is the most common non-glass approach to OLED encapsulation.
– It can be applied in roll or laminate form or as a directly-deposited coating on top of OLED devices.
– It is compatible with roll-to-roll production processes.
Source: Corning
Source: Vitex Systems

CONCLUSIONS

Final Conclusions
• We believe Printed & Flex Electronics market could boost to be close to $1B
by 2020 with a 27% CAGR.
• On the equipment side, the industry starts from zero and future production
will have to be handled by tools bought over the 6 next years.
– Industry is looking for a high throughput, high resolution deposition techniques to
lower costs
• On the material side, having the right material as replacement to ITO and
finding a good barrier technology are short-tem technical challenges.
• No technology (Material/Deposition process) has taken an advantage over
others so far and a breakthrough is expected within the next 3 years (mass
production for cost decrease)

We are flexible, aren’t we ?
Thank you …