Trends in Emerging Manufacturing Methods for Flexible Hybrid Electronics

A substantial challenge in commercializing large area and/or flexible electronics is developing reliable, cost-effective, and high throughput manufacturing methods. To date, much focus has been devoted to roll-to-roll (R2R) printing, but it's increasingly recognized that many applications of large area and flexible electronics will require both printed and placed functionality. This emerging approach is known as Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE). It represents a compromise that combines the attributes of printed electronics, including flexibility, lightweight, and compatibility with continuous and even digital manufacturing methods, with the superior functionality of conventional placed components. FHE can be concisely expressed with the phrase print what you can, place what you can. We will outline a 10-year market forecast for FHE, demonstrating that wearable technology is the most promising market in the short to medium term due to its compatibility with higher value products and high-mix low-volume manufacturing. However, in the longer term, the greatest market for FHE will likely come from smart packaging. However, for FHE to be employed in low-cost and/or large area electronics that will facilitate high volume applications such as smart packaging and functional RFID, innovation in manufacturing approaches is required, especially with regard to component placement. Here, we will review the emerging manufacturing techniques for large area electronics, emphasizing their technological and commercial readiness levels, advantages/disadvantages, the applications to which they are best suited, and forecasts for adoption. These emerging technologies include various methods of direct component transfer that can replace pick-and-place, laser induced forward transfer (LIFT), field-aligned anisotropic conductive adhesives/films, and patterning via laser ablation. In summary, we will illustrate the potential for FHE across a wide range of applications, and outline what we believe to be the trends in emerging manufacturing methods required to facilitate its widespread adoption.