Printed Smart Sensing Surfaces: technology, design and applications

Printed organic TFT technology on foil is developing in terms of performance, yield and reliability. Integrating printed electronics with printed sensors by foil lamination is a powerful and commercially attractive way to create sensing surfaces that are flexible and smart, i.e. that incorporate signal frontend and processing functionalities. The complete system can include Si ICs to perform the most complex functions, while reducing the interconnections between Si and printed platforms, thus minimizing Si area and final cost. The integration between Si and printed electronics, however, is challenging due to the large mismatch in operating voltage between the two technologies.