12/24/2014

Technology Development for Ultrafast Printing of Metal Nanowire Electrodes

Professor Tae-Woo Lee's research team published in Advanced Materials



Professor Tae-Woo Lee’s research team has developed technology for the high speed printing of microminiature and high integrated device electrodes that will work smoothly and efficiently in portable electronic devices. The research team, which consists of professor Tae-Woo Lee and doctoral student Yeongjun Lee of the Materials Science & Engineering department at POSTECH, published their findings in the Advanced Materials journal. 

Photolithography and electron-beam lithography are methods that are used to manufacture nanosized electrodes. These methods require a complex process and high process cost. Furthermore, previous research about metal electrodes and wiring were limited to metal electrodes higher than invisible 1 micrometer width.

The research team succeeded in printing copper nanofibers with a width of several hundred nanometers by using electrohydrodynamic nanowire printing, and it has a similar electrical characteristic with general metals. It also succeeded in making a device using copper nanofiber electrodes of organic transistors, proving that the technology can be applied to the electrodes of future electronic devices.

"This technology reduces lead time and cost remarkably compared with existing manufacturing methods of nano-electrodes and simplifies its method of construction. We will move up the commercialization of high integrated electronic devices using metal nano-electrodes,” said Professor Lee. “In particular, this technology will be used as a source technology to realize wearable computers, fiber electronic devices, and flexible displays which are expected to grow to 50 trillion won by 2020".

This research can be used for various transparent electronic devices and high integrated circuits like displays, memories, solar batteries, touch screen panels. In particular, if this technology is combined with other domestic technologies related with optoelectronic device and printing nanoelectronics which have global competitiveness, the technology is expected to contribute to the great development of soft electronics in South Korea.   

Furthermore, this technology can be used to repair metal wiring defects effectively which occurs in manufacturing electronic devices like display panels, so the technology is expected to improve the yield in existing electronic industries. 

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

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