Semiconductors

6G Communications is coming to your smartphone around 2030, according to Samsung and others, but it can only succeed if it deploys smart surfaces everywhere. Essential to this is printed electronics.

Conductive inks are a long-established technology, however, technology rarely stands still, and there is extensive innovation within the conductive ink space. Particle-free inks are an especially promising example with multiple advantages and applications.

The aerogel market is forecast to exceed $700m within the next decade. This may appear modest for a unique material family that has been known for nearly a century, but after long periods of stagnation and several market failings this would represent a significant growth from the market status in 2020. This article will look at what will be driving this growth.

Printed/flexible sensors offer multiple benefits relative to their more established rigid counterparts, including lower weight, flexibility/conformality, and potentially lower manufacturing costs since printing facilitates high-throughput continuous production methods. In this article IDTechEx identifies top five innovative printed/flexible sensor technologies along with their associated applications.

Like the Beatles in the 60s, Tesla has arguably achieved the feat of being simultaneously the best and most popular at what they do. As the IDTechEx report "Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea & Air 2021-2041" discusses, Tesla enters a new market and quickly becomes the top-selling electric vehicle maker. In this article, we focus on Tesla's innovations in the field of power electronics and some of the new materials opportunities being created.

Given the exciting properties, graphene has always been linked as a revolutionary material for the electronics industry. CVD graphene is cited as the ideal solution in providing a perfect single layer produced in a low cost continuous R2R process, but the manufacturing and commercial reality have proved very different. After a long period of research, and with players regularly exiting and entering the field, we are only now starting to see this technology mature and the dawn of the commercial reality.

Thursday 18 February 2021 - Emerging 3rd and 4th generation emissive materials for OLED displays; A technological transition that increases the efficiency of organic photovoltaics; Functional inks for lighting; and Low temperature component attachment materials.

Printing solar panels like newsprint using organic semiconductors is the longstanding aspiration, given the obvious benefits of renewable energy and the potential for low-cost, large-area, energy-efficient production.

IDTechEx currently have a number of printed electronics related webinars, including 2020 end of year highlights, available to watch on-demand today. These include presentations on printed sensors, micro-LED displays and electronics reshaped.

Not a single country or industry has been unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact will be felt for years to come. Despite this, there have still been some notable industrial activity and commercial progression within materials science. IDTechEx provides a round-up and highlights some of these key developments.