OT Novel Material From Lucent's Bell Labs May Lead to Low-Cost, High-performance
Plastic Circuits
Business & High Tech Editors
MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2000--A novel
material developed at Lucent Technologies' (NYSE: LU) Bell Labs may
prove to be the key ingredient for economically making
plastic-transistor circuits. Such circuits could be used in flexible
displays, more durable smart cards and other low-cost electronics
applications. The manufacturing process would be similar to
ink-on-paper printing, which is much less costly than silicon-chip
fabrication.
"Within the last year, there have been major advances in plastic
electronics, and these research results may allow us to make
sophisticated plastic circuits with printing techniques," said Bell
Labs' Howard Katz, who reports the research results in the March 30
issue of the British journal Nature.
Like today's high-performance silicon chips, the plastic circuits
would contain two types of transistors -- n-type and p-type. While
researchers have previously made materials for p-type plastic
transistors that were stable and soluble at room temperature -- two
key features for low-cost print manufacturing -- suitable materials
for making n-type plastic transistors have been elusive until now.
"Developing an n-type plastic transistor that's easy to
manufacture was considered a Holy Grail," Katz said. "It's difficult
enough to get electrons to move through organic materials, but it's
even rarer for n-type organic semiconductors to be functional under
everyday conditions."
The Bell Labs material, known as F15, is both stable and soluble
at room temperature, which means that - like ink - it can be dissolved
in a solvent and then used to print electronic features on a plastic
sheet. After the solvent evaporates, the F15 remains and is extremely
stable.
"The whole process is very similar to printing a newspaper," Katz
said.
Because previous materials for n-type plastic transistors were
insoluble and unstable, the process for making those transistors
required a high-temperature vacuum environment with multiple steps,
which is costly and time intensive.
The Bell Labs research involved creating an organic semiconductor
with fluorinated regions that give it Teflon-like properties. "Just as
non-stick frying pans don't rust because water and air can't penetrate
the Teflon surface, the fluorinated parts of F15 perform a similar
function, which leads to stability," Katz said.
The same Telfon-like part of the semiconductor material also
allows it to dissolve easily. "Because the fluorinated segments
commingle with the solvent, F15 is soluble," Katz said. Then, after
the solvent evaporates, the fluorinated segments return to their role
as a protective barrier.
Plastic circuits that have both n-type and p-type transistors
would be useful in certain high-volume applications. Besides roll-up
display screens and smart cards, other potential uses include luggage
tags that help airport personnel locate lost suitcases, or tags on
groceries that verify whether they were transported under the right
conditions to the supermarket.
Other Bell Labs researchers involved in the project were Andrew
Lovinger, Christian Kloc, Ananth Dodabalapur, Jerainne Johnson, Theo
Siegrist, Wenjie Li, and Yen-Yi Lin.
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA,
designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for
next-generation communications networks for service providers and
enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs,
Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as optical and wireless
networks; Internet infrastructure; communications software;
communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based
enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and
professional network design and consulting services. For more
information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at
lucent.com.
--30--mjr/ny*
CONTACT: Steve Eisenberg
908/582-7474 (office)
seisenberg@lucent.com
or
Michael Jacobs
908-582-5330 (office)
mejacobs@lucent.com
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