Summary:
This report analyzes and quantifies the huge potential of "plastic electronics." NanoMarkets believes that over the next few years plastic electronics—using conductive polymers or organic molecules on a plastic substrate—will enable entirely new types of products that would not be economically viable using any other technology. Such products will include:
- Roll-up displays for mobile communications
- Flexible solar panels for buildings, cell phones and portable medical equipment
- Intelligent packaging and RFIDs
- Sensor arrays that can be "printed" on buildings
- Low-cost non-volatile computer memories and optical interconnects
In this report we examine in detail all the applications for which plastic electronics is suited:
- We discuss adoption time frames and provide eight-year forecasts for plastic logic technology in seven different product categories (processors/logic, memory, interconnects, thermal management, sensors, displays, and solar panels)
- For each of these product categories, we have broken out the kinds of applications in which they will be used -- everything from telecom infrastructure equipment to iPod-type devices.
This report begins with a thorough analysis of plastic electronics technology. We discuss in detail what the intrinsic advantages of plastic electronics are, what the current limitations are and how they will be resolved. We also take a look at what materials are and will be used for plastic electronics and how plastic electronics is being boosted by other developments in nanoelectronics.
We then continue with a discussion of emerging manufacturing approaches for plastic electronics. The dream of plastic electronics advocates is that it will enable circuitry to be printed in much the same way that books and newspapers are printed, radically lowering manufacturing costs compared to CMOS. But of the many different ways now being considered for making plastic electronic devices, which look most likely to succeed?
Finally, we examine how the plastic electronics industry is evolving and answer questions such as:
- Which major electronics and materials firms are investing in this area?
- What are the leading start-ups?
- Which OEMs are leading the pack in actually using plastic electronics in their products?
- How are new production methods lowering barriers to entry in this business?
- How far can firms succeed as IP-only businesses in plastic electronics?
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Chapter One: Introduction
- 1.1 Background to this Report
- 1.2 Objectives of this Report
- 1.3 Scope of this Report
- 1.4 Methodology of this Report
- 1.5 Plan of this Report
Chapter Two: Technology Assessment of Plastic Electronics
- 2.1 Overview of Plastic Electronics Technology
- 2.2 Advantages and Impact of Plastic Electronics
- 2.2.1 Low Cost
- 2.2.2 Thermal and Power Consumption Characteristics
- 2.2.3 Potential for 3-D Electronics
- 2.2.4 Flexibility and Ability to Cover Large Areas
- 2.2.5 Ease/"Democratization" of Manufacturing Process
- 2.3 Issues to be Resolved in Plastic Electronics
- 2.4 Materials for Plastic Electronics
- 2.4.1 Organic Molecules and Polymers
- 2.4.2 Plastic Electronics and Quantum Dots
- 2.4.3 Plastic Electronics, Nanotubes and Nanowires
Chapter Three: Assessment of Plastic Electronics Manufacturing Options
- 3.1 Introduction
- 3.2 Vapor Deposition and Self-Assembly
- 3.3 Spin-Coating
- 3.4 Inkjet Analog
- 3.5 Nanoimprint Lithography
- 3.6 Other Approaches
Chapter Four: New Products, Addressable Markets and Eight-Year Market Forecasts
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 Plastic Electronics in the Semiconductor Industry
- 4.2.1 Packaging and Shielding
- 4.2.2 Interconnects
- 4.2.3 Thermal Management
- 4.2.4 Polymer Memory
- 4.2.5 Plastic Logic
- 4.3 Displays, Arrays and Panels
- 4.3.1 Flexible displays and Electronic Paper
- 4.3.2 Solar Panels
- 4.3.3 Sensors and Sensor Arrays
- 4.3.4 OLEDs and Flexible Lighting Products
- 4.4 Other Applications for Plastic Electronics
- 4.4.1 RFIDs
- 4.4.2 Toys and Other Disposables
- 4.5 Market Forecasts
- 4.5.1 Forecasting Philosophy
Eight-Year Market Forecasts of:
- Processors/Logic
- Memory
- Interconnects
- Sensors
- Displays
- Flexible Solar Panels
Companies In Report:
- 3M
- AMD
- Cambridge Display Technology
- Covion
- Delta Optoelectronics
- Dow Chemical
- Dow Corning
- DuPont
- Eastman Kodak
- E Ink
- Ferrania
- Fujitsu
- General Electric
- Gyricon
- H.C. Starck
- Hewlett-Packard
- Hitachi
- IBM
- Infineon
- Intel
- Konarka
- Lucent
- MicroEmissive Displays
- Mitsubishi
- Molecular Imprints
- Motorola
- Nanonex
- Nanosys
- Obducat
- OSRAM
- Philips
- Pioneer
- Plastic Logic
- Polymer Vision
- Samsung
- Seiko Epson
- Sanyo
- Siemens
- Sony
- Sumitomo
- TDK
- Teijin Films
- Toshiba
- Universal Display Corporation
- Yazaki
- Xerox
