Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
With market opportunities continuing to drive electronic products to smaller size, significant research efforts continue to shrink semiconductor devices in accordance with Moore's Law. However, a new set of market opportunities is emerging for which the significant driver is not semiconductor complexity, but rather lower product cost arising from the novel integration of technologies making use of organic and flexible substrates. These new technologies present opportunities for research into new materials and fabrication processes. These new research opportunities extend from embedding passive devices, microfluidics, and polymeric optical waveguides in printed wiring boards, to organic transistors. This paper will discuss these new technologies and present some of the market forces driving these efforts.