Printer cartridge enables organic electronic R&D

By Margery Conner, Technical Editor -- 2/8/2007

Much of the excitement about organic semiconductors and circuits centers around their polymer materials and their advantages: flexibility, low power, low cost, and low environmental impact. However, just as important to the development of this new technology is the manufacturing technology. About a year ago, Fujifilm Dimatix introduced the DMP-2800 series materials printer with a user-fillable print-head cartridge printer that can dispense 10-pL drops. At $35,000, the printer is inexpensive enough to put the development of organic electronics within the reach of many universities and companies.

Dimatix based the print head on silicon-MEMS (microelectromechanical-system) technology. It uses a piezo effect to form an acoustic wave that forces fluid through the print-head nozzle, rather than relying on heat to “bubble” a drop from the print nozzle, as do thermal print heads. This feature provides a big advantage for organic technology, in which the fluid can’t withstand the temperature rise of thermal print heads.

The original cartridge’s 10-pL droplet size resulted in a 50- to 70-micron geometry, which, although thin, is still significantly larger than the desired line width of 10 microns. Dimatix has introduced a new print head and cartridge with a 1-pL drop size, resulting in 20-micron line widths, which are thin enough to create the circuits, transistors, and antennas to enable inexpensive, disposable, and flexible applications, such as displays, RFID tags, and on-chip bio labs. The 10-pL cartridge sells for $59, and the new 1-pL cartridge costs $99.

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