Cambridge-based plastic electronics firm PragmatIC has delivered a prototype greeting card to Hallmark subsidiary Tigerprint.
On a plastic substrate, the card's electronics are formed by imprint lithography - pressing sub-micron features with a physical mould - rather than printing.
The firm's imprinted sub-micron intellectual property for producing logic from a single layer of semiconductor (see diagram below) was invented by Professor Aimin Song at the University of Manchester.
It was acquired by PragmatIC last year from start-up Nano ePrint, which was attempting to make imprinted structured asics and is now working on 'zero-threshold' diodes for thermoelectric energy harvesting.
To the logic, PragmatIC has added higher current imprinted transistors for driving loads.
"The starting point are the planar devices of Nano ePrint. These have to be small for the field effect to work," PragmatIC CEO Scott White told Electronics Weekly. "They are very good for low power, but are not scalable for high current so we have broadened the technology with more traditional self-aligned devices."
No details of the self-aligned transistors were available because patenting is not complete.
Both logic and self-aligned transistors are defined at the same time with a single imprint step, then multiple processing steps follow to form the high current devices over the imprint, said White, who was also CEO at Nano ePrint.
The greetings card includes imprinted electronics on a small substrate, a printed battery and conventional surface-mount LEDs. "OLEDs on flex are not quite mature enough," said White.
These items are bonded to a card-size substrate, connected together with printed conductive ink interconnect, and built into the card.
"The card prototypes demonstrate create a flashing animation without materially increasing the thickness of the card, and without the complicated assembly required for greeting cards employing conventional electronics," said PragmatIC.
The £300,000 card project was supported by grant funding from The Northern Way, an initiative between the three northern UK Regional Development Agencies: Yorkshire Forward, Northwest Regional Development Agency and One NorthEast.
Separately, a tie-up between PragmatIC and Netherlands research lab Holst Centre has been established to develop imprinted electronics.
Holst Centre has expertise in amorphous oxide semiconductor devices, plus fabrication equipment.
"PragmatIC's device structures and high resolution imprint process naturally complement Holst Centre's existing expertise in materials and printed logic circuits," said Holst programme manger Gerwin Gelinck.
2011年7月4日星期一
2011年5月5日星期四
On the block
Ford's St. Thomas assembly plant has gone up for sale for $22.75 million, and already there's "solid interest" in largest piece of commercial real estate to ever hit the area's market.
Commercial realtor C.B. Richard Ellis has had calls from manufacturers in sectors ranging from the automotive to green energy, kicking the tires on a possible sale, Randy Fisher, a broker with the realtor, said Wednesday.
"We are already encouraged. I would say there is solid interest," he said. "We are a global company and we put that message out, and there has been interest at various levels. I think there is opportunity here."
The sprawling, 44-year-old plant will close in September and take up to nine months to decommission, so it'll be available to a new owner in the summer of 2012, Fisher said.
"That is our job - to find an owner that brings jobs back to this area," he said.
It's likely the plant - since it is so large - will be bought by an investor and carved up for several users, essentially turning it into an industrial park, added Peter Whatmore, vice-president with C.B. Richard Ellis.
"It has been an important part of our business climate for (43 years) and has been a significant contributor to our local economy. This is a sad story," said Whatmore.
"It will be a significant challenge, but we have sold several of these across North America," he said.
"It will be tough, but we have a strong platform. We are optimistic," Whatmore said.
A vacant, 1.2-million-square-foot automotive plant in Windsor is attracting "substantial interest," he noted.
"We will get this done, but I'm just not sure what it will look like at the end of the day," said Whatmore.
While the looming sale had been common knowledge for months, seeing it listed has hit home for the plant's remaining 1,200 workers, said Scott Smith, chairperson of the Canadian Auto Workers union, Local 1520.
Still, a sale would offer hope a new owner might need workers - and the union would let an interested buyer know an experienced workforce is available, said Smith.
"We all knew the company was going to sell, but when you see it like that, there is a finality to it," he said. "The mood here is not good at all. It's becoming a reality as it gets closer."
About three years ago Ford of Canada also sold about 700 acres of land it owned - from the Ford plant south toward St. Thomas - for about $6.5 million to Bob McCaig, a St. Thomas businessperson who sold the Green Lane landfill to the City of Toronto for $220 million, said commercial realtor Dennis Broome, who chairs the St. Thomas economic development agency.
"I'm sure people will look at (the Ford plant)," Broome said of the plant. "It's close to Hwy. 401. It's a great deal."
It's "the end of an era" for the Ford plant, for many years the area's largest private employer.
"When you see a 'For Sale' sign go up, it is the end. It will not be saved," Broome said.
But there are many good signs in the St. Thomas economy, he added.
The Sterling Truck plant, home to 2,000 workers, was sold to Masco and it consolidated three different companies there, said Broome.
Two other plants near Sterling, where the former truck maker prepared its trucks and where it stacked them after, have been sold to different industries.
The Schulman Inc. plant was also sold to a Toronto plastic injection mould business that's now refurbishing the site.
"There are good things happening here," said Broome.
Commercial realtor C.B. Richard Ellis has had calls from manufacturers in sectors ranging from the automotive to green energy, kicking the tires on a possible sale, Randy Fisher, a broker with the realtor, said Wednesday.
"We are already encouraged. I would say there is solid interest," he said. "We are a global company and we put that message out, and there has been interest at various levels. I think there is opportunity here."
The sprawling, 44-year-old plant will close in September and take up to nine months to decommission, so it'll be available to a new owner in the summer of 2012, Fisher said.
"That is our job - to find an owner that brings jobs back to this area," he said.
It's likely the plant - since it is so large - will be bought by an investor and carved up for several users, essentially turning it into an industrial park, added Peter Whatmore, vice-president with C.B. Richard Ellis.
"It has been an important part of our business climate for (43 years) and has been a significant contributor to our local economy. This is a sad story," said Whatmore.
"It will be a significant challenge, but we have sold several of these across North America," he said.
"It will be tough, but we have a strong platform. We are optimistic," Whatmore said.
A vacant, 1.2-million-square-foot automotive plant in Windsor is attracting "substantial interest," he noted.
"We will get this done, but I'm just not sure what it will look like at the end of the day," said Whatmore.
While the looming sale had been common knowledge for months, seeing it listed has hit home for the plant's remaining 1,200 workers, said Scott Smith, chairperson of the Canadian Auto Workers union, Local 1520.
Still, a sale would offer hope a new owner might need workers - and the union would let an interested buyer know an experienced workforce is available, said Smith.
"We all knew the company was going to sell, but when you see it like that, there is a finality to it," he said. "The mood here is not good at all. It's becoming a reality as it gets closer."
About three years ago Ford of Canada also sold about 700 acres of land it owned - from the Ford plant south toward St. Thomas - for about $6.5 million to Bob McCaig, a St. Thomas businessperson who sold the Green Lane landfill to the City of Toronto for $220 million, said commercial realtor Dennis Broome, who chairs the St. Thomas economic development agency.
"I'm sure people will look at (the Ford plant)," Broome said of the plant. "It's close to Hwy. 401. It's a great deal."
It's "the end of an era" for the Ford plant, for many years the area's largest private employer.
"When you see a 'For Sale' sign go up, it is the end. It will not be saved," Broome said.
But there are many good signs in the St. Thomas economy, he added.
The Sterling Truck plant, home to 2,000 workers, was sold to Masco and it consolidated three different companies there, said Broome.
Two other plants near Sterling, where the former truck maker prepared its trucks and where it stacked them after, have been sold to different industries.
The Schulman Inc. plant was also sold to a Toronto plastic injection mould business that's now refurbishing the site.
"There are good things happening here," said Broome.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)