The field of printed electronics is clearly evolving, and it is interesting to hear the perspective of people who have long been involved in the field. From time to time, Printed Electronics Now will interview leaders in the field, and present their viewpoints.

This week, we spoke with Dr. Andreas Schaller, CEO of Andreas Schaller Technology Consulting, a Wiesau, Germany-based firm that is supporting the technology leaders active in PE by identification of application-driven products in the fields of ambient assisted living, E-health, smart home and ambient intelligence. Dr. Schaller first joined Motorola in 1995, where he was an R&D senior engineer, managing the Motorola Labs research area “Short Range RF Communications” in Europe. Dr. Schaller received his masters of science degree in manufacturing engineering from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, and holds several patents.

Printed Electronics Now: What is your background in the field of PE?

Dr Schaller: My background is in manufacturing process and materials for high volume electronics manufacturing. Starting at University, I worked on developing surface mount technology (SMT) processes including printing and dispensing solder paste on printed wiring boards (PWB). During the last decade I participated in several R&D projects focusing on the manufacturing (cost, quality, system integration) of future printed electronics products.

Printed Electronics Now: How has the printed electronics industry changed since you first joined the field at Motorola?

Dr Schaller: From the beginning “printed electronics” has been closely linked with “organic electronics”. Organic electronics is driven by the implementation of “organic” materials to coat large areas e.g. OLED and OPV. These coating processes can or cannot be done by traditional printing. For the packaging and the electronics industry screen or inkjet printing are established processes; however, both had to work on how to introduce printing technologies like gravure to produce innovative electronic devices. Meanwhile several printed electronic components have been introduced to the market: printed batteries, printed displays, printed sensors, printed antennas, printed circuitry, printed memories and printed transistors.

Printed Electronics Now: What are the key advancements that have allowed for these changes to occur?

Dr Schaller: During the past years printed electronics process knowledge has been extended and shared through company collaborations. In addition, most fully printed components are mixtures of different printing processes and of organic/inorganic materials.

Printed Electronics Now: What are the technical hurdles that need to be overcome to move PE forward?

Dr Schaller: On the one hand, the printed electronics components have to be integrated into established or new products and systems. Being able to produce this kind of Integrated Smart Systems will be the next challenge. On the other side, we have to work on the accuracy of some printed components to enable new products and applications.

Printed Electronics Now: Where do you see the field of printed electronics heading in both the near term and, say, 10 years from now?

Dr. Schaller: In the near term, the variety of printed electronics processes and materials will be further increasing by targeting several different smaller markets. As for SMT, which got mature with the introduction of the mobile phone, some of the PE processes will disappear when the technology enters mass markets. We will also see PE technology being introduced to decrease manufacturing costs of established products in the market. In the long term it will be important that PE extends its image from a “low cost” technology to an “enabling” technology for e.g. end users: 3D TV screens, low energy lighting, home point of care diagnosis or intelligent human-machine interfaces.