Xerox Claims Printable Electronics Breakthrough 166
adeelarshad82 writes "Xerox announced a new silver ink that it's calling a breakthrough in printable electronics, a leading-edge concept that's generated a lot of discussion but few actual products to date. Why? Precisely because of the issues that Xerox claims to have addressed. In concept, printable electronics is just what it sounds like: using a printer, basically an inkjet, to print electronic circuits. If this can be done reliably, electronic devices can be printed for far less than current methods cost. One can also print the devices on a variety of new materials. The possibilities range from printing on flexible plastic, to paper and cardboard, to fabric."
Re:Oh I can't wait. (Score:4, Informative)
Electronics are going to be even more of a pain ... to service.
I was under the assumption that with today's 7 layer PCBs and bewildering array of surface mount components (and not just the resisters, the ICs too) that the days of servicing electronics was long gone.
My Canon G7 died slightly over a year after purchase in that it simply wouldn't power up any more. The cost of servicing exceeded the value of the camera.
The actual Xerox link (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Oh I can't wait. (Score:5, Informative)
It's not multilayer PCBs and SMD that makes electronics uneconomical to repair, it's the purchase price of a new article that does it. In the past, if your television failed, you got it repaired - because in 1979, a colour TV cost (in 2009 money) over £1000. Having a technician charge you £150 in today's money was worth it.
But when a digital camera costs £150, it's not worth spending £150 to get someone to fix it.
Surface mount components aren't all that difficult to rework with practise. Today, many electronics hobbyists work with SMD, personally I've made my own boards with 0.4mm pitch (that's 0.2mm between the pins) LQFPs, and 0603 chip capacitors/resistors etc (about 1/10th of the size of a grain of rice). Many hobbyists are working with leadless QFNs, and some masochists are using 0201 components (2/1000in by 1/1000th in). (For me 0603 is fine, it's small enough to be able to put where I need them, yet large enough I can assemble a board without a magnifying glass).
Printable PCBs would be the holy grail for homebrew PCBs. We've got close - some people have modified printers to print etch resist directly onto copper clad board, which you can then etch. The rest of us typcially use iron-on toner transfer (shiny paper through a laser printer, then ironed onto copper board with a clothes iron) or UV photo exposure methods.
Re:Oh I can't wait. (Score:3, Informative)
This i where our current (capatalist) system failes. (Not blaming capitalism per sé btw, but it has influenced our pricing and thinking). The reason repairs are not worth the trouble are basically because manufacturing does not take in account _all_ costs, both money-wise and 'virtual' - like environmental cost.
Any idea how much CO2 was used producing a digital camera? You'd be surprised. Or how much toxic waste was produced manufacturing those electronics? How much people died in mines (or have their life shortened) mining the minerals? Repairing to expensive: It's because you compare US/European wages to Chinese or Taiwanese wages. ''Disassemble to 100 components''-> that's obviously a case of bad design where maintenance/repair was not being taken into consideration.
The situation not only holds for electronics. Take cars for example, cars that are 'total loss' here in the west, because repairs outcost the value of a 2nd hand car.. This same car, once driven to Afrika (Marocco for example) can live another 10-15 years with ease. Simply because of the difference in price of labour vs materials. (Not that that is always best for environment...)
Repairs not being economically feasable is much more of a choice, than a necessaty. Guess the situation only will be turned once we either run out of resources either have to pay for all real cost including environmental and eliminating differences in hourly labor costs worldwide.
Re:Interesting (Score:3, Informative)
Replying to myself, I know, but this link [xerox.com] states Xerox already has printable semiconductors and dielectrics. This breakthrough was for printable conductors of the same quality, meaning that the entire circuit could be printed: conductors, transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, inductors. The only additional components that would be needed would be those that require specialized materials (LEDs, for example).
It's Already Been Available for Desktop Inkjets... (Score:3, Informative)
as water based ink and does not require sintering or secondary processing and works well on standard inkjet or copier paper:
http://www.methodedevelopment.com/whatsnew.aspx?newsitem=29 [methodedevelopment.com]
http://www.methodedevelopment.com/whatsnew.aspx?newsitem=30 [methodedevelopment.com]
Commercial inkjet systems for printing electronics on a wide range of materials has also been available for some time: http://www.onelabs.com/prntelec0000.htm [onelabs.com]
Multilayer conductive pcb traces including passive and active components are already being inkjet printed. The current geometries however for components are in the few micron range. A couple of decades behind current semiconductor processing but far ahead of current pcb fabrication techniques.