Pragmatic Semiconductor Limited Public Funding

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The Digital Economy will ultimately see billions (potentially trillions) of cameras and sensors- so-called 'edge' devices- deployed to record images for security and collect data about: people's health; industrial processes; weather; pollution; traffic levels, amongst many others. Processing this data into information to provide useful insights will require ever-increasing amounts of computing power or network bandwidth to connect edge devices to data processing centres. New computing architectures are thus needed for edge devices to enable the digital economy to deliver its potential improvements to human health and wellbeing, the environment and the economy. Mignon, a Newcastle University spin out, are commercialising such an architecture, called a Tsetlin Machine. This is a machine learning approach driven by propositional logic and characterised by low complexity. Compared to conventional machine learning, it uses up to 10,000 times less power, with 1,000 times less latency. Mignon have demonstrated this using SRAM chips fabricated at 65nm node, trained to recognise characters (MNIST database). Alongside this, Pragmatic has developed a revolutionary semiconductor technology based on metal-oxide thin film transistors (TFTs) to create Flexible Integrated Circuits (FlexICs) fabricated on flexible substrates (e.g., polyimide). This approach cuts production times from months to days, typically at a fraction of the cost of Silicon ICs, and with 1,000 times lower environmental footprint than conventional Silicon fabs. In this project, Mignon will develop tools to automate hardware design, incorporating their Tsetlin Machine. This will automatically design hardware, based on end users with health, environmental or industrial manufacturing datasets. End users will be able to specify if they require processor speed or low power consumption. The project will first demonstrate training and inference capability using in-memory architecture, fabricated at 28nm node as an embedded silicon application, trained using the CIFAR-10 image classification dataset, at Newcastle University. We will then demonstrate that the tool can design TM inference hardware trained by a dataset of ECG samples and recognise atrial fibrillation events, as a representative example. The hardware will be fabricated as a FlexIC to serve as a useful demonstrator to engage end users and customers across economic sectors.

Flexible Electronics has been one of the fastest developing technologies in recent decades. The traditional path is electronic components such as silicon chips (e.g., microcontrollers) integrated onto flexible substrates called “hybrid integration” or “flexible hybrid electronics” in integrated smart systems. We believe that this approach is not a viable long-term solution for future high-volume, low-cost and conformable integrated smart systems. Our vision is an integrated smart system that is built with only flexible electronic components including analogue circuitry, digital logic and memories. We call such a system a “Natively Flexible Integrated Smart System” or NFISS. NFISSes will enable new products in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods and healthcare wearables that have not been possible before because conventional silicon chips are too costly, too bulky and not conformable. The project will develop a flexible microcontroller unit (FlexMCU), which is the key component missing to enable NFISSes. The FlexMCU must be a low-power chip integrating a variety of functionality to address the functional requirements of the applications in FMCG and healthcare wearables. A novel hybrid complementary low-power thin-film transistor technology (100x per-transistor power reduction) will be developed to fabricate the FlexMCU in a sustainable flexible chip fab with 100-1000x less environmental footprint. The FlexMCU design is tailored to a specific domain composed of an open-source RISC-V based processor with built-in security features, an analogue frontend, on-chip memory and other peripherals. Then, the FlexMCU will be assembled using novel assembly and bonding methods onto a flexible film, which is, in turn, integrated onto a flexible substrate along with other flexible electronic components to build the first proof-of-concept NFISS thatwill be validated on two healthcare wearable applications.

Semiwise, led by their CEO Prof. Asen Asenov, together with the National Microelectronics Institute (NMI) and Pragmatic Semiconductors are proposing an innovative training facility which will propel the UK to the forefront of semiconductor education. The facility will be a virtual reality semiconductor fab, equipped with the latest key equipment in semiconductor manufacture. The fab will be like a computer game for semiconductor professionals. Each piece of equipment will be paired with extensive training materials which have been compiled and constructed by Prof. Asenov throughout his long and successful career as an academic at the University of Glasgow. The VR fab will enable its users to experience working in a fab, a privilege reserved only for a few people in the world, and give them vital knowledge in semiconductor manufacturing and process operation. The VR fab will be able to simulate actual manufacture through the use of world-leading process simulation tools and open up semiconductor manufacturing knowledge to the UK and its institutions. This method of education is similar to the way pilots are prepared and trained to fly expensive jets. Due to the large cost of training in a physical fab, this virtual reality model will act as a simulator for future semiconductor experts. In order to reduce the high cost of building an equipment simulator we will use well-established process and device TCAD simulation tools, which can fully simulate the operation of individual pieces of equipment and the complete manufacturing process. To this end will integrate the world-leading Synopsys TCAD into the VR environment to allow users as close to reality experience as possible. This facility will serve as a training ground for all of the UK and help boost the UK's position in the semiconductor world. Additionally, such an intuitive training facility can help spark interest in the semiconductor field and inspire future generations of engineers and scientists to pursue a career in semiconductors. Our partners NMI and Pragmatic as well as the members of the Industry Advisory Board will ensure that the developments meet the industry standards and expectations. Therefore, the VR fab will provide a competitive advantage to UK semiconductor manufacturers. This will enable the industry to fill the widening skills gap in the workforce and satisfy its recruitment needs in the future.

Semiconductor technology has become an essential component of modern life. From smartphones to supercomputers, from electric vehicles to medical devices, semiconductors are the building blocks of the modern world. However, the semiconductor industry is dominated by a few large corporations, making it difficult for universities, spin-outs and start-ups to gain access to semiconductor fabrication processes. This project aims to address this issue by developing an open foundry based on OpenLane for flexible semiconductors and launching a multi-project wafer shuttle programme for universities and start-ups.

The retail industry has undergone numerous technological innovations in recent years, including segmented electronic shelf labels (ESL) using electronic paper displays (EPD) beginning to replace traditional paper price labels, which are time-consuming/expensive to update and often prone to error (around 5-10%) and customer dissatisfaction. Paper price labels produce nearly 120,000 tonnes of waste annually, contributing to a significant increase in CO2 footprint. ESLs, conversely, are improving both price and inventory management, in-store information and the shopping experience. The challenge is combining low-cost electronics in a low-cost EPD, with a small, durable and low-power form factor. Most EPD-based displays in ESL applications use high-value graphical displays, but those solutions are high-cost and therefore lower volumes. Other ESLs based on segmented LCD technology are cheaper, but are too expensive to allow widespread adoption, have a poor viewing angle, are non-bistable (losing the image when power is removed), and use fragile glass panel displays. The segmented ESL market is by far the biggest potential in volume, targeting to replace the paper-based price labels, but the current segment ESL solutions' price points are too high to allow the switch from paper to segmented price labels. FlexESL is based on a novel EPD incorporating flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs). The Lynxemi EPD display (XEPD) is well suited for segmented display applications, it is both low cost and bistable. The display is controlled using PragmatIC's flexible integrated circuit "FlexIC". The main USPs include: * Low-cost EPD solution due to integration of Lynexmi's (XEPD) lower cost than existing EPD solutions, and PragmatIC's lower cost than traditional electronics ICs technologies. * Low power budget due to XEPD bistability. Ease of use and adoption, due to generic I2C protocol. * 180o viewing angle. * Lower cost wireless connectivity using PragmatIC's FlexIC and related wireless technologies. Our target market is the low-cost segmented ESL market, which is estimated to be $1Bn in 2022, reaching $5Bn in 2032\. To successfully achieve this, the project consortium features the relevant expertise, being led by PragmatIC (SME), the world-leader for FlexIC production, and Lynxemi (SME) an IoT industrial hardware developer. Both comprise an eco-system from analog design and component fabrication (PragmatIC) to integration/sales (Lynxemi).

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An uncomfortable truth is that electronics is globally one of the most polluting industries. Semiconductors ("chip manufacturing") is overtaking automakers with the world's largest chip producer TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation) now producing more CO2 than GM (General Motors), and Intel rapidly approaching this crossover threshold. Manufacturing contributes far more to CO2 than use, for an Apple iPhone this is almost 80% of its total carbon footprint, \>50% of which is due to the integrated circuit (IC or "chip"). PragmatIC is building a new high-volume manufacturing facility at an investment of \>£40Mn and scheduled to come online end of 2022\. Once complete this will be the UK's first 300mm semiconductor fab. INSPIRE presents an opportunity to develop and demonstrate new methodologies which can be a flagship project within the semiconductor industry and support a move to net zero manufacturing process both within the UK and internationally. PragmatIC aims to scale manufacturing globally through local installation and operation of manufacturing-lines sited next to demand. Many of these approaches can be transferred into the mainstream semiconductor and electronics manufacturing sectors. INSPIRE (Integrated Sustainable Production through Innovative Resource Efficiency) focuses on decarbonisation, improved resource efficiency and improved productivity (all intrinsically linked). Distributed sensors (both existing and additional) across PragmatIC's manufacturing system generate data which will be used as follows: \* "Smart" influent water control including rainwater capture and storage linked to weather forecast \* Optimising influent water quality to meet "good enough" quality through tuneable water treatment \* Effluent recovery through onsite treatment and return \* Replacement of organic solvents with aqueous/gaseous alternatives to reduce VOC content \* Optimisation of high-quality nitrogen quality and usage requirements \* Development of machine-learning approaches to manufacturing optimisation The INSPIRE project fits with themes of smart connected factories, connected and versatile supply chains and adaptable, flexible manufacturing operations and skills. The project aims to reduce carbon emissions of PragmatIC's production process by over 6,000,000 kg CO2 per year, through reductions in offsite transportation in waste, minimisation of tap-water and, where possible, elimination of VOCs from waste-streams. Partners: PragmatIC (Lead), DevTank, Hydrocell & Suez Water Technologies and Solutions.

PragmatIC-Semiconductor has developed a unique technology platform for ultra-low-cost flexible electronics that could connect trillions of objects. The technology makes it viable to add RFID to low-value high-volume product packaging, to identify and trace objects throughout the whole lifecycle. **Our vision** for project TRACE (Technology-enabled Reusable Assets for a Circular Economy), is to apply ultra-low-cost RFID technology to trace reusable food-grade plastic packaging, encouraging reuse and enabling highly-scalable infrastructure. This large-scale solution has the potential to make packaging re-use the norm - consumers would no longer see the plastic as something to use once and destroy but as a valuable asset to re-use many times. TRACE addresses the challenges that currently prevent large-scale re-use: * Understanding consumer perception and how best to encourage adoption * Developing robust and optimised re-usable packaging designs * Enabling item-level traceability throughout the packaging lifecycle * Ensuring packaging remains safe and fit for purpose * Developing and demonstrating an end-to-end model for collection, sorting and washing infrastructure * Quantifying the overall environmental impact of moving from single-use to re-usable packaging The core technology innovation is the use of PragmatIC's ultra-low-cost RFID tags to enable a packaging re-use model. These tags provide machine-readable unique codes that allow automated identification and tracking of individual items throughout multiple re-use cycles. Rich data generated can support consumer adoption and infrastructure implementation for optimal environmental impact. For example; the movement of assets within the system, number of cycles, packaging provenance and legislative reporting. This project will tackle several significant technical challenges including: * Establish **minimum viable packaging** for food-grade re-use * **Embed tags** within the plastic to ensure durability throughout the packaging life-cycle * Demonstrate an **automated sorting**-**system** at TRL7\. The project will assess the **net** **environmental impact** of the entire solution and demonstrate the system in end-to-end **trials**, including assessment of client satisfaction throughout the supply-chain, analysis of consumer response, and assessment of costs and benefits. Although reusable packaging is our initial target, many components within the project can be extended to improve recovery and upcycling of single-use packaging. TRACE is led by PragmatIC-Semiconductor. Partners includes Ken Mills Engineering (leading manufacturer of MRF systems), RECOUP, Topolytics (experts in waste-mapping), and Sheffield University's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC-Cymru) and the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.

The vision for SecQuAL is a secure, quality assured, digitally enabled food ecosystem that will reduce waste, improve decision-making and provide consumers with confidence in the food they purchase and consume. The next best thing since sliced bread! SecQuAL's key objective is to overhaul the food supply chain from farm to fork. SecQuAL addresses current bottlenecks and inefficient paper practices, enables remote regulatory oversight and compliance, provides quality assurance throughout all supply chain links, and enables smart decisions to be made to reduce food waste, reduce carbon emissions as a result of unnecessary transport, and increase consumer confidence in the food purchased and consumed. SecQuAL is innovative because it brings technology to the fore to modernise a complete food ecosystem. It will increase the number of digital technology companies providing solutions for manufacturing industries by bringing together an excellent consortium with partners spanning the full food ecosystem introducing digital technologies to modernise current practices. SecQuAL will simplify a complex industry.

Food and Drink (F&D) packaging manufacturers struggle to secure enough high-quality affordable recyclate to meet statutory targets for recycled content, and mass re-use schemes are not feasible with existing technologies. Manufacturers who fail to reduce environmental impact face major financial penalties and delisting by buyers. The current F&D packaging supply-chain is well connected and tracked from feedstock to retailer outlets due to the need for food safety and stock control. However, beyond the retailer, the packaging supply-chain through the consumer, waste collection, recovery and recycling is very limited. Many challenges exist in separating recyclable, non-recyclables, compostables, and contaminates in F&D waste streams. This SORT-IT feasibility-study would analyse and evaluate the feasibility of digitalisation and intelligent automation in the F&D packaging supply-chain for waste-management through tagging technology to facilitate the tracking and sorting of packaging waste. Our vision is that, following later industrial-research, SORT-IT would increase the environmental and economic sustainability of the F&D packaging manufacturing supply-chain, by enabling transition to a circular economy, dramatically increasing recycling rates for food-grade plastics, and enabling packaging re-use. Implementing tagging technology should enable: • Increased rate of recycling and output of high-quality feedstock (including food-grade plastic) from waste. • Re-use. • Brand-owners to track packaging and recycling rates for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) • Low-cost Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) linked to consumer accounts through reverse vending machines and identification at materials recovery facilities (MRFs). • Greater consumer engagement with brands through transparency of green credentials. • Reduction of plastics going to landfill or entering land or aquatic environments. The research would build on the unique technology for the manufacture of low-cost electronics in very high-volumes (billions p.a.) by PragmatIC and link with the growing technologies of collaborative automation, Industry 4.0 and machine learning to tag and track packaging with unique identifiers. The tags would provide individual items with unique identifiers readable by RFID and NFC equipment, including smartphones; information would be exchanged via internet-enabled systems to cloud storage to facilitate supply-chain tracking and consumer engagement. This feasibility-study would be led by PragmatIC working with Sheffield University's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC-Cymru) guided by an Industrial Advisory Board. PragmatIC is a high-growth innovation-driven SME, headquartered in Cambridge, with a billion-unit production facility in Sedgefield, County Durham.

Plastic packaging waste is a \>$80Bn global opportunity according to the World Economic Forum. Only 14% of plastic packaging reaches recycling plants and only 9% is actually being recycled, whilst 40% ends up in landfill. The UK's Clean Growth Strategy has a goal to reduce emissions from landfill and achieve zero avoidable waste by 2050\. One way to reduce emissions from landfill is to stop the avoidable waste from reaching it. This will be achieved by a combination of actions generally grouped into reduce (removing unnecessary packaging) and re-use (refillable schemes and recycling) categories. Progress on all these has seen a significant setback during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst there is rightly focus on reducing the amount of plastic that is consumed it is not practical to eliminate all plastic due to its many benefits including it being lightweight (with associated low transport costs and carbon footprint) and its robustness. It is, therefore, essential to increase recycling rates and quality so that the highest material value is retained for reuse. Most approaches to improving recycling have looked to make the sorting/identification systems smarter, for example using infra-red to identify types of plastics. Relatively little activity has been directed towards making the packaging smarter so that it is easier to identify, sort, separate, reprocess and reuse. Our project focuses on simplifying and increasing recycling of plastics by providing a machine readable unique digital identity onto each pack. This new capability provides a technology platform that can enable a wide-range of different innovations and applications. Deposit-return schemes are already well proven but based on old technology (1990s), relying on returning bottles back to grocery stores in exchange for a deposit slip, which is open to fraud. The legacy systems are only suitable for countries that already have well-developed processes, e.g. Scandinavia, Germany, The Netherlands (all of whom have \>95% recycling-rates). We see an opportunity to develop a modern consumer-focused system that uses smartphones to reward consumer behaviour and improve recycling outcomes. Within the project we will investigate the use of PragmatIC's ultra-low-cost RFID technology to drive improvements within recycling, specifically demonstrating potential use-cases for a digital recycling and reward scheme.

Plastic packaging waste is a \>$80Bn global opportunity according to the World Economic Forum. Only 14% of plastic packaging reaches recycling plants and only 9% is actually being recycled, whilst 40% ends up in landfill. The UK's Clean Growth Strategy has a goal to reduce emissions from landfill and achieve zero avoidable waste by 2050\. One way to reduce emissions from landfill is to stop the avoidable waste from reaching it. This will be achieved by a combination of actions generally grouped into reduce (removing unnecessary packaging) and re-use (refillable schemes and recycling) categories. Progress on all these has seen a significant setback during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst there is rightly focus on reducing the amount of plastic that is consumed it is not practical to eliminate all plastic due to its many benefits including it being lightweight (with associated low transport costs and carbon footprint) and its robustness. It is, therefore, essential to increase recycling rates and quality so that the highest material value is retained for reuse. Most approaches to improving recycling have looked to make the sorting/identification systems smarter, for example using infra-red to identify types of plastics. Relatively little activity has been directed towards making the packaging smarter so that it is easier to identify, sort, separate, reprocess and reuse. Our project focuses on simplifying and increasing recycling of plastics by providing a machine readable unique digital identity onto each pack. This new capability provides a technology platform that can enable a wide-range of different innovations and applications. An emerging approach is to incentivise consumers to recycle plastics using so-called reverse-vending machines (RVMs). Each plastic bottle has a deposit which can be redeemed by consumers when they return their plastic bottles into one of the RVMs, and then exchanged against future purchases. Within Europe these have been rolled-out widely across Germany where now only 3% of plastic bottles are not returned. Although these are already proving successful, some limitations of current RVMs are: - line-of-sight to detection - low throughput - lack of unique identity limits information and is open to fraud - integrated separation/sorting is difficult and expensive Within the project we will investigate the use of PragmatIC's ultra low-cost RFID technology to drive improvements within recycling, specifically demonstrating potential use-cases for deposit-return schemes such as reverse-vending machines.

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The proliferation of smart objects required to truly harness the full capability of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is enabled by the form-factor and cost-structure of flexible oxide electronics. In this sector, state-of-the-art is based on established unipolar n-type transistors (NMOS). It addresses many emergent application spaces e.g. short-range (cm) proximity radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, but its high static power consumption precludes very low power applications and complex circuit designs. A complementary (CMOS) logic capability greatly expands the accessible market for low cost flexible electronics, where static power consumption is negligible. CMOS would augment current product functionality and generate brand new applications through increased read-ranges, introduction of additional security circuitry and sensing capabilities, supporting a wide-range of low power complex designs. Examples of applications that can be addressed include waste management (e.g. low-cost identification to improve recycling productivity) and anti-counterfeit labels which protect against low-grade or harmful ingredients. New applications will also emerge as part of the IoT and increased connectivity. These include healthcare monitors, connecting wearables with disposable/low-cost sensors and distributed sensor networks (e.g. building control/monitoring; security/detection of poisons, pollutants, etc.). IoT will play key roles in smarter cities, increased industrial productivity, resilient transport and more sustainable energy consumption. The social benefits of the technology will include improved quality of life, healthy living and increased employment. Introduction of CMOS flexible electronics necessitates p-type transistors (PMOS) alongside the existing NMOS technology. This can only be achieved through innovation and development of p-type thin film transistor (TFT) materials and associated manufacturing processes, which are comparatively immature. EPIC is a collaborative research and development project between the University of Liverpool, Pegasus Chemicals, and PragmatIC to develop p-type metal oxides with optimised properties suitable for future integration into a CMOS Flexible Integrated Circuit (FlexIC) architecture. Scale up and manufacturability of the optimised p-type material will be demonstrated on a 200mm FlexIC pilot line.

"PragmatIC is a world leader in the field of low-cost flexible electronics, with a core focus on RFID tags to enable item level tagging for stock control, anti-counterfeiting and direct digital engagement purposes, primarily in the field of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) where silicon solutions are cost prohibitive. PragmatIC current product family includes the PR1100 ConnectIC series which are designed for HF RFID proximity identification applications in which one or more custom readers are incorporated into the closed RFID system. These products are based on a novel thin film transistor technology, utilising ultra-thin metal oxide films of only a few tens of nanometres as the key functional layers, manufactured with a proprietary billion unit and fully automated production system (FlexLogIC) for flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs) based in Sedgefield. One of the main challenges with this innovative technology is monitoring the electrical properties of the extremely thin semiconducting layer in situ at the various stages of the manufacturing process. MASCOT develops a metrology capability suitable for industrial implementation, culminating in an in-line tool for thin film measurement with the right sensitivity, throughput, cost and ease of integration to PragmatIC's FlexLogIC manufacturing platform. With such a tool, process monitoring metrics for the semiconductor film can be further optimised, enabling early detection of variations within the films to allow corrective action to be implemented early in the manufacturing process, which maintains throughput and minimises scrap. This directly correlates to improvement in PragmatIC's manufacturing yield and associated reduction in the overall FlexIC cost point, a crucial metric for mass technology implementation in the low-cost FMCG markets."

The recent boom in wearable and Internet of Things technology, such as smart sensors, fitness watches, has not yet reached its full potential due to one component restricting further development: the battery source. As a result, devices often have bulky batteries, must be plugged in frequently or use workarounds such as spare batteries, fast charging or smart software. State-of-the-art flexible batteries, such as lithium-ion, vacuum-deposited lithium, or zinc batteries each have their advantages and disadvantages. Lithium-ion batteries are cheap to produce, but relatively thick and do not have high power suitable for some wearable or smart packaging applications. Lithium batteries can be very thin, but are more expensive, and have even less energy capacity than lithium-ion. Zinc batteries are very cheap, have a higher energy capacity than lithium-ion, but are only suitable for low power. These constraints all limit the flexibility and form-factor (shape) of batteries for devices. Furthermore, lithium-ion, lithium and zinc batteries utilise carbon collectors and electrodes which, although contributing to the batteries' light weight, limits their electrical conductivity. Replacing the carbon parts with metal would increase the conductivity (and hence power) but crucially increases corrosion that results from the chemical reactions within the battery. This limits the battery power and life time. The **FLEXIBAT** project will develop a novel single-use battery for electronic wearables and Internet of Things devices, based on zinc-carbon chemistry and metal collectors. The focus of the development is on a special corrosion protective layer for the metal collectors and electrodes using graphene, which will enable a thinner, more flexible and a higher energy battery. We will ultimately develop a technology demonstrator prototype of the full battery system and test it in a controlled environment. To successfully achieve this, the project consortium features the relevant expertise for making the battery, including battery manufacture, materials development, graphene coating, and flexible integrated circuit development and manufacture.

To develop a process design kit, melding emerging flexible transistor technology with industry standard EDA tooling. To deliver a validated cell library and secure engine design using the process design kit and to transfer and embed this highly innovative design capability.

Including radio-frequency (RFID) capability within everyday objects opens-up a wealth of market opportunities, from the ability to interact directly with the consumer, to scan-free retail and accurate stock management. Ultimately this is the platform on which the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is based, however, the cost point of the incumbent silicon solution prevents this becoming a reality for all but the highest end consumer goods. Flexible electronics, with its substantially lower circuit and system costs, is ideally suited to expand the range of applications that can be addressed by RFID. In this project PragmatIC, a pioneer in the design, development and manufacture of non-silicon flexible integrated circuits on plastic substrates (FlexICs), aims to achieve a step-change in the front-end performance of the RFID circuitry (operating at 900MHz) and reduce the overall power consumption of the flexible circuit. This is expected to open-up a multi-$Bn opportunity over the coming years, in particular linking with the UK's digital manufacturing strategy, based on the sub-cent system costs that can be achieved.

The main motivation for this project is to open new market opportunities in radio frequency identification (RFID), the Internet of Things (IoT) and other flexible electronics applications, through the development of low-cost flexible p-type transistors (PMOS) to complement existing amorphous oxide n-type (NMOS) capability. NMOS based logic is sufficient for initial RFID applications in flexible electronics but complementary logic (CMOS), formed from combining n-type and p-type devices in single logic elements, is both lower power and faster than either NMOS or PMOS alone. As the overall power budget is often constrained (e.g. in mobile phones) then improved power consumption provides opportunities in increasing circuit complexity or areas requiring very low power. To date, commercially viable inorganic PMOS materials have not been identified. The project focuses on a targeted evaluation of the parameter space of novel P-type metal oxide based semiconductors, using high throughput thin film techniques proven for rapid identification and screening of the processing and composition space of functional thin film materials . Through this there will be demonstration of thin film transistor performance capable of implementation in a cost-effective flexible CMOS technology. This will be supported by SPICE modelling and circuit simulation to demonstrate expected circuit performance.

Future flexible electronic devices will be highly integrated, diversified, and interact with the ambient environment by performing intelligent activities such as fingerprint, vein and odour recognition. These devices will require a flexible high-performance, energy-efficient processor, and it is becoming clear that flexible microcontrollers, which are still in research labs, will not meet the computational demands of future smart applications. Hence, there is an immediate need for a flexible high-performance energy-efficient processing engine to deliver these devices. We propose “plastic Neural Networks (NNs)” as the digital processing engine to accelerate the development of flexible integrated smart systems. The NNs are customised for a specific application, capable of operating in extremely parallel fashion to achieve high performance, and consume low power. The project is the first proposal to pioneer digital hardware NNs as de-facto processing engine of the printed electronics world. It will demonstrate this disruptive concept with a prototype consisting of flexible e-nose sensor array coupled with a plastic NN that can be worn under the armpit to recognise the malodour composition.

Flexible ICs (FlexICs) introduce intelligence and interactivity in form-factors that don’t currently exist in the marketplace. Existing applications targeted by PragmatIC include electronics in packaging, high-frequency RFID and near-field communications (NFC), and temperature sensors. Each of these sectors represents a multi-billion dollar global opportunity, with FlexICs accounting for 30-40% of the value. The enhanced functionality enabled by the project enables even larger market opportunities to be addressed. The objective of this project is to produce an amorphous oxide NMOS circuit on a flexible substrate incorporating a 1-byte (8 bit) Write-Once-Read-Many non-volatile memory based on Phase Change Materials (PCM). PCM have been successfully implemented in recordable CD and DVD technologies, and this project will adapt the technology for flexible electronics. Applications include traceability of pharmaceuticals through intelligent packaging, smart logistics and product authentication (to protect against counterfeit goods). The project further supports regional development of electronics manufacturing in North-East England, building on many decades of activity in this field.

To transfer academic knowledge of degradation mechanisms in amorphous oxide TFTs into scalable test methods for monitoring and improving device robustness within PragmatiC's production process

Flexible electronics is a key enabler for embedded systems to deliver the Internet-of-Things, where sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects are connected to the Internet. Objects which can both sense their environment and communicate, provide important new data which can be used to respond, e.g. to protect temperature-sensitive goods, report a fault, track goods through supply-chain. One of the key enabling factors for the IoT is the convergence of emerging electronics (flexible, low-cost and simple) with conventional electronics (complex, rigid and expensive). In order to maximise the opportunity for flexible ICs, it is necessary to develop CMOS circuits, which use both n-type and p-type semiconductors. This project will investigate the feasibility of integrating a p-type oxide material into an existing NMOS process, in order to produce CMOS circuits and the viability of manufacturing scale-up.roject Summary

The project will open-up a business opportunity based on a new circuit design concept (FastNCMOS) and integrated production process for flexible integrated circuits (ICs) to enable low-cost, fully compliant near-field communication (NFC) tags. There is a growing ecosystem and infrastructure for NFC including new applications, business models and products. NFC allows consumers to intuitively communicate with everyday items such as product packaging. Food labels could be updated remotely to change with demand/usagedates, bottles could sense when they are empty and need to be replaced/refilled, or pharma packaging could indicate when it is time for the next dose of medication or prevent overdose (e.g. insulin). All of these uses and more represent a first step towards the “internet-of-things” (IoT). Existing approaches use silicon-based solutions which have the benefit of mature technology and integration processes. A printed electronics (PE) approach offers a much lower cost potential and more attractive (flexible, ultra-thin) form factor. Key advantages of PragmatIC’s technology is that it is flexible and can be produced exceptionally cheaply in huge quantities. However, to meet all NFC specifications is a significant challenge to current flexible IC technologies due to the complexity but, more critically, the need for highfrequency (speed) performance. FastNCMOS will demonstrate a new circuit design concept which overcomes limitations of current NMOS technology without requiring any improvement in materials performance or reduction in critical feature-size. This will allow the tags to be read with any NFC-enabled smartphone without any change to firmware/software or a dedicated “app”, and is a critical requirement to maximise the commercial exploitation of flexible IC tags.

This project addresses a growing need for integrated printed electronics (PE) to provide innovative and value-adding features on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) to sectors such as medical, automotive and consumer goods. The PE market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx), including electronic smart packaging devices (projected to grow from £0.02B in 2012 to £1B/35B units in 2022). Printed logic circuits, predicted to be the largest sector (38%, IDTechEx), will introduce intelligence and interactivity in form-factors that don’t currently exist in the marketplace. This project builds on previous PoC project PACES which successfully demonstrated a novel comparator circuit design based on PragmatIC’s thin-film semiconductor technology. Comparator circuits built from printed electronic (PE) components are key requirements to interface flexible analogue sensors with PE digital logic, enabling large-scale, flexible smart sensing systems to be realized. These are a necessary building block for wider applications where conventional Si approaches cannot be applied due to cost or form-factor. The most promising of these emerging markets are the near-term, wireless sensing network (WSN) and the longer-term emerging vision, the Internet of Things (IoT). These technological developments will allow everyday objects to transmit data that can be processed through the Internet and reacted upon accordingly. Examples include smart tags that can monitor temperature or humidity on food or pharmaceuticals packaging. PE devices have to date been applied to digital applications, but there is now a requirement for thin-film analogue circuitry to interface digital electronics with sensors. Several product demonstrators will be produced to validate the systems, and these will be investigated for temperature and lifetime stability.

Printed electronics built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. Conventional electronics on PCBs is rigid, difficult to distribute within products and over-engineered, resulting in high cost for these applications. Replacing the PCB with flexible (printed) electronics overcomes these constraints to enable many new ultrathin form-factor products. Novel manufacturing processes are required to meet the extremely high-volumes of these applications and integrate the components. Existing integration solutions such as pick-and-place do not cost-effectively scale to the very-high volumes required by consumer packaging and security products (ultimately >1trn units pa). Autoflex+ follows-on from Autoflex (101538) which completed on 31st March 2015. Within Autoflex the consortium (PragmatIC, Optek, CPI and Henkel) developed a process suitable for integration of flexible and PE components. Autoflex+ will develop this further to establish a pilot manufacturing system for automated integration and assembly of products based on PE components.

To develop a detailed understanding of metal oxide semiconductors and their interfaces within transistors, and accelerate opportunities in security, branding, novelty products and identification protection.

This project addresses the use of printed electronics (PE) manufacturing to produce battery-free RF-powered systems, exploiting existing and widespread Near Field Communication (NFC) infrastructure. The project will develop processes to optimise the RF system performance, including antenna-tuning, and exploit PE processes (printed conductive circuity, low-cost integration) scalable to low-cost, high-volume applications in consumer packaging, document and brand security, in addition to wireless sensor networks for defence, healthcare and medical devices. The project will advance the state-of-the-art by developing technologies for high volume manufacturing of self-tuned energy-harvesting power units (modules), which fits the requirements of flexible, disposable and wearable applications. The project brings together a strong consortium with varied and complementary expertise in printing of conductive structures (WCPC, CPIIS), logic circuitry (PragmatIC), test (PragmatIC, CPIIS, CU) and integration (PragmatIC, CPIIS).

The aim of this project is to exploit recent advances in printed electronics components and demonstrate the feasibility of integrating flexible driver circuitry with a flexible display on plastic. This project addresses three key technical innovations: printed logic circuitry to drive display modules (reducing interconnect complexity), flex-to-flex interconnections to enable robust hybrid systems integration and development of low-voltage plastic displays (<5V). The project outcomes will initially address the toys&games and consumer packaging sectors, with long-term opportunites for wearable electronics, healthcare, automotive and defence/military. The project also supports development of components/systems suitable for wireless sensor networks (WSN) and the Internet-of-Things (IoT).

This project addresses a growing need for integrated printed electronics (PE) to provide innovative and value-adding features on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) to sectors such as medical, automotive and consumer goods. The PE market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx), including electronic smart packaging devices (projected to grow from £0.02B in 2012 to £1B/35B units in 2022). Printed logic circuits, predicted to be the largest sector (38%, IDTechEx), will introduce intelligence and interactivity in form-factors that don’t currently exist in the marketplace. This project seeks to develop a comparator circuit based on PragmatIC’s existing printed transistor technology. Validating a comparator circuit built from printed electronic (PE) components is a key enabler for interfacing flexible analogue sensors with PE digital logic, enabling large-scale, flexible smart sensing systems to be realized. These are a necessary building block for wider applications where conventional Si approaches cannot be applied due to cost or form-factor. The most promising of these emerging markets are the near-term, wireless sensing network (WSN) and the longer-term emerging vision, the Internet of Things (IoT). These technological developments will allow everyday objects to transmit data that can be processed through the Internet and reacted upon accordingly. Examples include smart tags that can monitor temperature or humidity on food or pharmaceuticals packaging. PE devices have to date been applied to digital applications, but there is now a requirement for thin-film analogue circuitry to interface digital electronics with sensors. Analogue circuits have relatively narrow device tolerance and PragmatIC will employ robust circuit design to overcome this technical challenge for printed logic. A functional demonstrator will be produced to validate the circuit, and will be investigated for temperature and lifetime stability.

Printed electronics (PE) built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. The printed electronics market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx), addressing areas such as electronic smart packaging devices which is projected to grow from £0.02B (2012) to £1B (2022, 35B units). PPL has developed printed logic (circuits built from active devices such as transistors and diodes) corresponding to the printed equivalent of a silicon chip for broad applicability in consumer packaging, security (identification and brand protection) and novelty applications. Conventional electronics on PCBs is rigid, difficult to distribute within products and over-engineered, resulting in high cost for these applications. Replacing the PCB with flexible (printed) electronics could overcome these constraints and enable many new ultrathin form-factor products. However, novel highly-automated manufacturing processes are required to meet the extremely high-volumes of these applications and integrate the components. To date existing integration solutions such as pick-and-place, already widely used in PCB electronics, have been adapted to printed electronics. However these processes do not currently cost-effectively scale to the very-high volumes required by consumer packaging and security products (ultimately >1trn units pa). This development-of-prototype project builds on a previous proofof- concept project which investigated transfer of printed logic from its original substrate onto a target surface. This transfer approach substantially broadens the range of applications which can be addressed by PPL’s printed logic and other printed electronics components, in addition to providing lower-cost and improved form-factor for already addressable applications.

Printed electronics built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. The printed electronics market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx). Conventional electronics on PCBs is rigid, difficult to distribute within products and over-engineered, resulting in high cost for these applications. Flexible (printed) electronics can overcome these constraints and enable many new ultrathin form-factor products. Highly-automated manufacturing processes are required to meet the extremely high-volumes of these applications and integrate the thin-film components which will provide the required power, display/lighting, logic and other printed circuitry. Existing integration solutions such as pick-and-place (already widely used in electronics) do not cost-effectively scale to the very-high volumes required by consumer packaging and security products (ultimately >1trn units pa). This project will develop the automated manufacturing processes and system design based on laser-processing and low-temperature conductive attach. The project will open-up these high-value applications, in addition to providing lower-cost and improved form-factor for already addressable applications.

Printed electronics built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. The printed electronics market is estimated to be $16B today, growing to $77B by 2023 (IDTechEx). Conventional electronics on PCBs is rigid, difficult to distribute within products and over-engineered, resulting in high cost for these applications. Replacing the PCB with flexible (printed) electronics could overcome these constraints and enable many new ultrathin form-factor products. PragmatIC has pioneered the development of printed logic, corresponding to the printed equivalent of a silicon chip, based on a unipolar NMOS technology which has now been transferred into pilot-production. Whilst NMOS was the early technology of choice for the design of Si chips, it was the advent of the more power-efficient CMOS (complementary logic) which allowed the ongoing evolution of ever-more complex functions. CMOS is a goal for printed logic since it would allow many existing circuit designs to be directly implemented. However, unlike Si, printed CMOS requires different and complementary bulk semiconductor materials, presenting significant process yield, performance and associated cost challenges for commercialisation. PragmatIC has developed a device concept which provides many of the benefits of CMOS using a single semiconductor material. Once proven this can be directly implemented within PragmatIC’s existing manufacturing processes. The project will explore the new concept, in particular the development of device models and investigate the limitations of the approach. Once established, the design platform would be applicable to areas such as flexible display circuits (row/column drivers, multiplexers), rfid and toys/games. Device models and circuit designs will be exploited through licensing.

Printed electronics built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. The printed electronics market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx). Conventional electronics on PCBs is rigid, difficult to distribute within products and over-engineered, resulting in high cost for these applications. Flexible (printed) electronics can overcome these constraints and enable many new ultrathin form-factor products. Highly-automated manufacturing processes are required to meet the extremely high-volumes of these applications and integrate the thin-film components which will provide the required power, display/lighting, logic and other printed circuitry. Existing integration solutions such as pick-and-place (already widely used in electronics) do not cost-effectively scale to the very-high volumes required by consumer packaging and security products (ultimately >1trn units pa). This project will develop the automated manufacturing processes and system design based on laser-processing and low-temperature conductive attach. The project will open-up these high-value applications, in addition to providing lower-cost and improved form-factor for already addressable applications.

Printed electronics analogues for many of the familiar electronic building-blocks (memory, logic, power, displays, etc.) are now available as discrete components. Although printed electronics offers the future possibility to fabricate multiple components on a single substrate this is not yet technically feasible and, in many cases, will not be economically feasible. Component fabrication-cost is optimised for manufacture as discrete devices with different sensitivities to substrate, material utilisation and processes. Similar to conventional electronics, integrated printed electronics components needs to be assembled using discrete components to establish early applications. This project will exploit the integration/assembly capabilities developed at CPI to integrate display and logic components onto a flexible printed interconnect substrate. Further the project will develop a novel process for connecting conventional rigid PCB to flexible printed circuitry.

Printed/thin-film electronics built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. The printed electronics market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx). PragmatIC has developed printed logic (circuits built from active devices such as transistors and diodes) corresponding to the printed equivalent of a silicon chip for broad applicability in consumer packaging, security (identification and brand protection) and novelty applications. Conventional electronics on PCBs is rigid, difficult to distribute within products and over-engineered, resulting in high cost for these applications. In conjunction with other thin-film components (displays, printed batteries) printed logic can overcome these constraints and enable many new ultrathin form-factor products. Integration methods to connect these thin-film components which provide power, display/lighting, logic and circuitry are required to provide functional products to end-users. To date existing integration solutions such as pick-and-place, already widely used in electronics, have been adapted to printed electronics. This proof-of-concept project will explore alternative integration techniques widely used within the printing community, for thermal transfer of printed logic from its original substrate onto a target surface. This will broaden the range of applications which can be addressed by PPL’s printed logic and other printed electronics components, in addition to providing lower-cost and improved form-factor for already addressable applications.

Printed Electronics on substrates such as plastic, paper or metal foils has for many years been viewed as the next big wave of electronics with the ability to distribute electronics and create functionality where required, to reduce weight, increase robustness or create transparent electronics, amongst the many anticipated benefits. The printed electronics market is estimated to be £1.5B today, growing to £30B by 2021 and £200B by 2027 (IDTechEx). During the past two years PragmatIC has developed printed logic technology, corresponding to the printed equivalent of a silicon chip, and has now successfully transferred this to pilotscale production at CPI’s National Printable Electronics Centre (Sedgefield). Radio-frequency ID (RFID) tags operating at high-frequency (13.56MHz) and ultra high-frequency (850- 950MHz) have been able to move into item-level tagging due to the broader availability of RF reading devices (including near-field communication in point-of-sale and smartphones) and reduced cost/tag. However, the cost of integration and the silicon chips currently used preclude widespread implementation of conventional RFID tags for electronic barcodes (i.e. tagging of all retail items), security labels and consumer products to further the develop the socalled “internet-of-things”. Printed RFID, based on PragmatIC’s proven technology platform, can provide stepwide reduction in the cost of RFID tags. This project will design, fabricate and demonstrate the electronic building-blocks required to implement printed RFID using PragmatIC’s pilot-production facility for printed logic in addition to driving commercial exploitation in intermediate application along the development path.

Increasingly there is global appetite for printed electronics built on plastic and other cheap substrates (paper/card) as they can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging and anti-counterfeit labels. The printed electronics market is estimated to be $2.2 billion today, growing to $45 billion by 2021 and $330 billion by 2027 (IDTechEx). Within this substantial and rapidly growing market, logic is predicted to become the largest individual sector at 38%. Printed Logic is the branch of printed electronics focused on circuits built from active semiconductor devices corresponding to the printed equivalent of a silicon chip. PragmatIC Printing Ltd (PPL) is pioneering the development of printed logic, for broad applicability in consumer packaging, security (identification and brand protection) and novelty applications. PPL has developed unique technology for producing ultra-thin and flexible electronic logic, scalable to very low cost using novel device architectures with a simplified fabrication process. PPL has a fundamental platform for technology licensing, underpinning a staged roadmap of increasingly sophisticated electronic capabilities. The benefits and viability of PPL’s approach have been demonstrated through a combination of lab-based proof-of-principle, device modelling, and experimental integration into prototype product concepts. This development-of-prototype project builds on previous TSB support to develop printed logic supply-chain and fundamentals of printed programmable logic, and supports PragmatIC’s plans to establish pilot production of its printed logic and will specifically address issues relating to production of imprinted programmable logic arrays.

The transistor is the basic building block for electronics and has been key to the success of microelectronics. Increasingly there is global appetite for electronics built on plastic and other low-cost substrates such as paper and card as they can enable new products in high volume markets such as consumer packaging, anti-counterfeit labels and toys and games. These markets require low-cost printed logic and PragmatIC are developing high-throughput processes based on UV embossing (feature sizes down to 100nm) which can meet the needs of these markets and allow a variety of new form-factors (flexible, ultra-thin) beyond traditional silicon. The achievable feature sizes remove a major limiting problem of conventional transistors on plastics which have been predominant to date. To operate efficiently these device designs typically require process control at the submicron (and, ultimately, down to nanometre) scale and, as such, are not readily transferred to printing-based production techniques which typically produce features from 10s micron to mm scale. To overcome this problem PragmatIC has developed intellectual property for self-aligned devices, where features are automatically registered in the circuit design/template, using metal-oxide semiconductors which have recently emerged as highly-promising materials for printed logic. However, a major constraint is the need to thermally anneal devices (often >300 °C), making them incompatible with many plastics. PragmatIC, in conjunction with experts at Nottingham Trent University, has shown that laser annealing can be used to select the desired properties of metal-oxide thin-films and enable processing on low-cost plastics. This project will apply the technique to metal-oxide logic devices and embossing-based fabrication, creating a technology platform based on self-aligned gate electronics for licensing, offering both scalability and sustainability.

Awaiting Public Summary

Develop printable semi-conductors capable of powering overt displays. Develop a process based on conventional or semi-conventional equipment. Make the components ultra low cost

The transistor is the basic building block for logic and has been key to the success of microelectronics from highly demanding aerospace applications to commoditised consumer electronics. Printed logic, analogous to the silicon integrated chip, is necessary for plastic electronics to realise its forecast huge potential. Today logic accounts for just £7M (0.5%) of the plastic electronics market and yet by 2028 is expected to achieve a similar share as today’s silicon logic (~33%, £65B, IDTechEx). Conventional transistor design and low-performance materials severely limit development of printed logic beyond simple arrays of identical transistors currently achievable. The objectives for this project are (i) to establish a manufacturing supply-chain for printed NMOS logic from fabrication of printed logic (nanoscale transistor and logi-gates) – Epigem/PragmatIC/Cambridge Integrated Knowledge Centre; materials (metal oxide semiconductor and complementary dielectrics) and deposition equipment – Cambridge University/PlasmaQuest; high-resolution multi-level printed circuitry – Epigem; singulation and packaging - Optek; functional test - Keithley; device modelling - Silvaco; (ii) proof-of-principle for printed PMOS logic for future integration in CMOS (low-power plastic electronics) - PPL/CIKC/CU/PQL. The project will employ a sheet-based process to provide printed logic component which itself will be commercially viable. However, each process developed will have a natural transition for future continuous processing to drive lower-cost production. Feasibility trials for continuous processing will be undertaken where possible within project constraints.