Fresh Electronics News

The price of electronics has been reflecting the work necessary to make them, since they were invented. Silicon-based transistors broke many barriers when they have been invented several decades ago, making the transition from lamps to a whole new universe of possibilities.

Now, scientists are studying technologies that could change even the once all-mighty silicon transistors, by making them from organic materials. Physicists from Umeå University, Sweden, have invented electronic circuits that can be made from a chemical solution. “This makes it possible to paint thin films of electronic materials on flexible surfaces like paper or plastic,” explains Ludvig Edman.

They have painted a thin film with the solution called fullerene, and then patterned it with a specific structure. Until now, carrying out this sort of patterning has been problematic, because the method they used destroyed the electronic properties of the organic material.

The method, as a principle, is not new: it is being used in printing circuit boards in electronic parts factories, worldwide. It consists of exposing the fullerene thin film to a laser light. The parts that have to remain printed on the surface, are hit by the laser, and those that have to be cleaned out, not. After the laser exposure, the non-imprinted parts are being cleaned  by rinsing the film in a developer solution..

“We have now developed a method that enables us to create patterns in an efficient and gentle way.  With the patterned organic material as a base, we have managed to produce well-functioning transistors,” says Edman.

This production process could also create cheaper solar cells and displays, and give energy a whole new meaning in terms of profitability, which ultimately represents the decision to buy green technology or not.