PARC, Thinfilm unveil first printed, flexible CMOS computer circuit

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Researchers at PARC and Thinfilm Electronics have finally managed to print — as in, using a printer that is similar to the one attached to your computer — a computer circuit consisting of transistors and memory. Dubbed Thinfilm Addressable Memory, the new device marries Thinfilm’s printed memory technology and PARC’s printed transistors to create an honest-to-Moore CMOS circuit.
How? Using organic, ferroelectric polymer ink. The exact process isn’t detailed, but judging by the image, it basically looks like a horizontal, rolled-out-flat computer circuit. In other words, instead of stacking multiple layers of semiconductor to make a transistor, they are laid out next to each other, with different inks forming the various features required to make a memory cell or transistor. It’s no where near as space-efficient, and the number and size of components is obviously limited to the resolution of the printer… but by Thor, it actually works!
Now unfortunately there’s no word of how much data the Addressable Memory can actually store, but presumably it will be significantly more than Thinfilm’s currently-available, 20-bit printed memory circuit. It doesn’t have to be much more, though: 20 bits of dumb, printed memory is one thing — it’s an NFC/RFID tag, basically — but to be able to print transistor-transistor logic is another thing entirely.
There are two key advantages to printed CMOS circuits: They are physically flexible, and they’re incredibly cheap to produce in vast quantities. Think of the labels on any and all kinds of packaged goods — in the future, every single one of these could include a printed computer chip. A food label which updates its price throughout the day, pill bottles that can sense how empty they are (and perhaps send for help if they detect an imminent overdose), bicycle helmets that know when they’ve been in an accident, children’s toys that can react to input, or being swallowed. The potential applications of flexible, printed circuits are nearly endless.
Thinfilm’s Addressable Memory will hit the market in 2012, and as demand grows, the cost per circuit is expected to be just a few cents — more than cheap enough to be rolled into just about every consumer product under the sun.

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