Launched in 2015, NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute, is dedicated to developing US manufacturing of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE). To date, NextFlex has awarded $45 million in contracts to projects from companies, universities and research organizations looking to advance FHE technology.
 
“We’ve seen incredible interest from industry, academia and government leaders for bringing FHE to the mainstream, with $45 million in funding as proof of this united commitment,” Dr. Malcolm Thompson, executive director of NextFlex, said in issuing the awards.
 
In May 2016, NextFlex issued Project Call 2.0, its second round of awards. The group recently announced the final five projects that were selected. NextFlex anticipates that Project Call 3.0 will begin shortly, with the goal of advancing manufacturing processes and continuing to develop new technologies.
 
The target for Project Call 2.0 was to combine IoT and wireless communications with industries through developing materials, equipment and manufacturing processes.
 
Jason Marsh, director of technology at NextFlex, said that Project Call 2.0 was focused in large part on establishing capability in critical gap areas for flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing.
 
“Unlike Project Call 1.0, we now have the benefit of developed manufacturing roadmaps, plus we have significant input from member companies, subject matter experts and other stakeholders who understand industry needs with more granularity,” Marsh added. “As a result, these projects will develop manufacturing methods, equipment and software needed for FHE advancement and align to the NextFlex mission, which is to advance manufacturing capability with an eye toward commercialization.”
 
Marsh added that software tools and equipment will be available for member use at the NextFlex Technology Hub in San Jose, CA, and at strategic regional locations around the country.
 
The latest round of contracts offers a wide variety of projects, and Marsh offered insights into each of these projects.
 
• SI2 Technologies with NextFlex member partners Raytheon and University of Massachusetts – Lowell: FHE X-Band antenna arrays for next generation deployable antennas.
 
“SI2 Technologies is partnered with Raytheon and the University of Massachusetts Lowell in their effort to develop printed X band antenna structures on conformable surfaces,” Marsh reported. “One application is to inexpensively replace the large rotating dishes you often see on airport control towers with a printed phased array that would save millions of dollars.
 
“The implication of this for long-term reliability and cost improvements, whether folded or roll-able, and weight reduction, will have significant implications in orbital hardware as well as in warfighter applications,” he added. “These manufacturing methods will be applicable to a multitude of antennae designs, so using novel manufacturing methods and materials to get the improvements we seek, and in improved form factors, is a breakthrough, since when it comes to RF, it is difficult to cut corners on the physics.”
 
• Georgia Institute of Technology with NextFlex member partners DuPont and Binghamton University: Development of test methods and standards to assess reliability of FHE systems.
 
“Georgia Institute of Technology, in partnership with Binghamton University and DuPont, is modeling and characterizing reliability of flexible hybrid electronics and developing a variety of test methods in this area,” said Marsh.
 
• Lockheed Martin with NextFlex member partners Binghamton University, General Electric Company, Optomec, Intrinsiq Materials and University of Maryland: Conformal printing of conductor and dielectric materials on complex 3D surfaces.
 
“The Lockheed Martin-led project includes collaboration from Binghamton University, GE, Intrinsiq Materials, Optomec and the University of Maryland,” Marsh said. “It expands our FHE mission to find ways to place electronics directly onto structural surfaces. The project will develop a tool that can add electronic structures directly onto curved surfaces, resulting in the ability to functionalize a mechanical structure without the need for a lamination step.”
 
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise with NextFlex member partners NextFlex member partners Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University and University of California, Santa Barbara: FHE process design kit.
 
“HPE, alongside Georgia Tech, Stanford University and the University of California at Santa Barbara, is developing an initial concept for a Process Design Kit (PDK) that characterizes manufacturing techniques for heterogenous integration design tools,” Marsh noted. “This is a critical step necessary for providing a palette of FHE manufacturing methods to system designers using industry-standard EDA tools.”
 
• Meyer Burger with NextFlex member partners DuPont, Eastman Chemical Co. and Intrinsiq Materials: Microfab multi-processing R&D and pilot system for FHE applications.
 
“Meyer Burger, in partnership with DuPont, Eastman Chemical and Intrinsiq Materials, is developing a cluster tool that will have two printing stations, a PE CVD chamber and on-board metrology that will enable multilayer, multi material additive depositions for complex structures,” Marsh reported. “Such a tool may be an ideal platform to build the type of X Band Antennas that the SI2 Technology project will develop.”
 
In addition, Marsh noted that some of the earlier projects are progressing well.
 
“The earlier projects are off and running, and we’ve had several useful learnings, such as bonding thin ICs to stretchable Thermal Plastic Urethane (TPU) membranes for wearables,” Marsh said. “UMass Lowell has made some developments in the manufacture of tunable substrate materials that can be used in RF systems, and a project with Purdue and Integra Life Sciences developed a smart bandage that can measure oxygen levels and generate oxygen to optimize the speed of wound healing.”
 
Now that NextFlex has completed Project Call 2.0, the organization will look at the next step in developing new manufacturing capabilities, including printing, for flexible hybrid electronics.
 
“Project Call 3.0 is expected to launch in late May,” Marsh reported. “While we identified equipment gaps and are working to fill those with Project Call 2.0 projects, Project Call 3.0 will focus on using those tools, and others, to address critical manufacturing process gaps.
 
“We anticipate call topics in the areas of printing and characterization of passive components, and improved multi-layer manufacturing methods,” Marsh added. “In addition, we will look for multi-use platforms to be developed. Application areas may span structural health, worker safety or medical arenas that will create platforms that can be used by NextFlex members for rapid development in the future. Finally, Project Call 3.0 will develop a Technology Product Demonstrator (TPD) for soft and wearable robotics, to illustrate human capability augmentation.”