SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc., a leading provider of commercial and industrial ink jet products, announced that it has repeatedly used its revolutionary ink jet technology to print silver fluid with features of less than 20 microns. With the proven capability to precision print 1 picoliter-size drops of organic and inorganic materials on a large variety of substrates, the company is continuing to pave the way for an entirely new way of developing and manufacturing electronic books, printed polymer backplanes, printed sensors, complete RFID tags, and other flexible electronics.
"We are using three Dimatix Materials Printers in our lab for developing foundational devices for displays, sensors, and microfluidics," said Dr. Ghassan Jabbour, professor of materials science and engineering and director of flexible and organic electronics development laboratories at Arizona State University, and distinguished professor, Academy of Finland. "With 10 pL drops, we can print multilayered patterns of gels, metals, conductive polymers, and light-emitting organic materials. The 1 pL technology has the potential to increase the definition of our patterns to make more compact devices and better performing circuits. The technology may also enable new combinatorial chemistries and the development of printed devices that were not previously possible."
"Printable electronics will lead to the creation of a variety of new products—like printed sensors, RFID tags, and flexible displays," said Lawrence Gasman, principal analyst of NanoMarkets, LC. "This announcement from FUJIFILM Dimatix is a great step forward in making ink jet technology more useful in electronics, especially for creating cost-effective prototypes and precision sensors. The ability to create higher resolutions using smaller drop sizes and line widths could also have implications for developing higher resolution displays for a variety of applications."
"Without retooling our fab, FUJIFILM Dimatix has leveraged our unique MEMS manufacturing capabilities to create a new generation of ultra-miniature ink jet structures that reduce fluid drop sizes tenfold," said Andreas Bibl, chief technology officer of FUJIFILM Dimatix. "Our aim is to bring about significant cost, quality, and ecological improvements in R&D, fluid development, and manufacturing processes in the electronics industry. This new capability is yet another example of advancements we will be applying to our current and next-generation DMP systems."
The Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP) is the world's first complete, low-cost system for high-precision jetting of all kinds of functional fluids on any type of surface, including plastic, glass, metal sheets, silicon, membranes, gels, thin films, and paper. By directly printing on their own substrates, customers can rapidly develop prototypes and keep process technology in-house. The printer's small size and low price make it convenient, easy to use, and cost-effective to own. Featuring single-use cartridges that customers can fill with their own fluid materials, the system minimizes waste of expensive materials.
With over 100 DMP systems shipped, FUJIFILM Dimatix is continuing its more than 20 year tradition of designing and manufacturing the industry's most reliable and robust ink jet printing solutions.
About FUJIFILM Dimatix
FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., is driving a revolution in micro-production technology that will deliver a new generation of applications in imaging, electronics, and the biosciences. The company is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance ink jet printheads and components used in a broad range of industrial, nonimpact imaging applications through its Spectra Printing Division. Its Materials Deposition Division is evolving ink jetting technology into a production process that lowers the cost, time, and environmental impact of producing electronic circuits and functions for RFID tags, flat-panel displays, circuit boards, and other electronic and bioscience applications. FUJIFILM Dimatix is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, and its Spectra division is located in Lebanon, NH. The company has sales and services offices worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site.