News & Analysis
EE Times 40th Anniversary: From 3-D chips to cognitive computing
R Colin Johnson
11/5/2012 4:22 PM EST
Stretchable Electronics Flexes Muscles
Flexible electronics use polymer substrates for almost any application using printed circuit boards (PCBs) today. Thin Film Electronics, for instance, recently demonstrated printed ferroelectric non-volatile memories on polymer substrates in collaboration with Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).
By using complementary p- and n-type organic circuits,Thin Film has created the equivalent of CMOS circuitry on polymer substrates which it hopes to commercialize as flexible RFID tags. Next year Reebok International Ltd. will be the introduce the first flexible electronic device that improves athletic performance using wearable electronics from MC10 Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.)
And by 2023, flexible electronics devices will be omnipresent among conventional PCB applications--from flexible displays to printed batteries--as well as in new application areas such as implantable medical sensors that conform to living organs, such as a cardiac sensor that can be attached to the heart for in vivo monitoring.
Click on image to enlarge.
Source: Thin Film Electronics
Next: Death of the Disk Drive
Flexible electronics use polymer substrates for almost any application using printed circuit boards (PCBs) today. Thin Film Electronics, for instance, recently demonstrated printed ferroelectric non-volatile memories on polymer substrates in collaboration with Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).
By using complementary p- and n-type organic circuits,Thin Film has created the equivalent of CMOS circuitry on polymer substrates which it hopes to commercialize as flexible RFID tags. Next year Reebok International Ltd. will be the introduce the first flexible electronic device that improves athletic performance using wearable electronics from MC10 Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.)
And by 2023, flexible electronics devices will be omnipresent among conventional PCB applications--from flexible displays to printed batteries--as well as in new application areas such as implantable medical sensors that conform to living organs, such as a cardiac sensor that can be attached to the heart for in vivo monitoring.
Click on image to enlarge.
Source: Thin Film Electronics
Next: Death of the Disk Drive
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docdivakar
1/2/2013 12:59 PM EST
Nice list... how ever, I object to your statement that "3-D chips are one of those perennially "almost there" technologies..."; they are here NOW! Samsung already introduced a 8Gb version of RDRAM with TSV's. You can expect more product announcements in 2013.
Graphene, on the other hand is REALLY the 3-D chips are one of those perennially "almost there" technologies! As to its heat spreading capabilities, there are circuit board technologies available today that use carbon composites for better thermal management (Stablecore for example).
MP Divakar
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docdivakar
1/2/2013 1:00 PM EST
Sorry... guilty of cut & paste... the second para should read:
Graphene, on the other hand is REALLY one of those perennially "almost there" technologies! As to its heat spreading...
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