Public Funding for Ossila Ltd

Organic Electronic (OE) & nanotech devices have great potential to improve economic, environmental & social well being as they allow production of higher performance & potentially less expensive electronics on large-area flexible substrates. This creates new markets & opportunities that would be impossible using inorganic materials such as copper or silicon. Examples of first commercial OE products include displays with lower energy use, brighter colours & higher resolution for smart phones & TVs. OE is a high growth sector, expected to reach $40bn by 2020 (IDTechEx) with new applications including low energy lighting, solar panels, wearable electronics, pollution sensing & point-of-care diagnostics. However to reach the true value potential, large flexible substrates will need to be manufactured on a roll-to-roll basis but despite successful commercialisation of first products, many new OE device types are struggling to achieve widespread mass adoption. This is largely due to technical challenges in the transition from laboratory to mass fabrication (lab-2-fab). To improve success rates of business trying to produce OE devices & therefore associated benefits to the UK it is necessary to reduce or eliminate R&D-intensive activities from the manufacturing process while simultaneously increasing the speed & pace of the scientific discovery. In this project, Ossila will produce a concept system to demonstrate the feasibility of producing Laboratory-scale Flexible Organic Roll-2-roll compatible Manufacturing (LabFORM). Such automated fabrication equipment will not only speed up the pace of scientific discovery to kick-start innovation but also increase the technology readiness level of OE devices & help with their commercialisation. The project itself will also directly benefit the UK economy by producing high value capital equipment for export via Ossila’s network of customers in over 50 countries.

Organic Electronics (OE) enables the production of lighter, more robust & potentially less expensive electronics on large-area flexible substrates. This makes them a highly desirable alternative in many applications, as well as creating new opportunities that would be impossible using traditional inorganic conductors & semiconductors, such as copper or silicon. The market for OE is expected to reach $40bn by 2020, with applications including flexible displays, large area lighting, electronic RFID & intelligent textiles. Despite successful commercialisation of first products, OE is only just starting to achieve widespread mass adoption. In part this is due to technical challenges in product development, product lifetime & production quality control. Ossila’s platform of lab-on-a-chip (LOAC) products intend to overcome the metrology barriers for the OE global community to increase confidence in organic material performance, accelerate market entry & increase competitiveness with respect to other technologies. Through this 12-month study, Ossila will prove the concept that by using world-leading & novel interface materials, simple to use test-chips can be produced for quick & accurate nanomaterial characterisation. Adaptable chip design will enable simultaneous testing of multiple materials & architectures, significantly enhancing the speed & range of research undertaken. Effective integration of one or more chips within a novel low-cost system will be assessed, informing scalability whilst minimising complexity/cost. Optimal interface materials, test-chip transistor configuration, electromechanical connection & electronics/algorithm development will be determined. The LOAC system will be fully automated, enhancing accuracy & throughput whilst significantly reducing system & ancillary costs. Following techno economic validation, leading OE materials research institutes have confirmed their intent to trial subsequent demonstration plant from which sales are anticipated.