High-Resolution Gravure Printing of Electronics—Materials, Processes and Devices

Gravure printing is an attractive technique for realizing printed electronic systems. Gravure printing delivers high resolution down to the single micrometer regime with excellent pattern fidelity and high throughput, with printing speeds of meters/second. To achieve such high-resolution, it is necessary to study, understand, and optimize the component processes involved in gravure printing. This involves appropriate selection of inks, physics-driven design of patterns to be printed, and optimization of the printing and integration processes to enable the realization of high-performance printed devices. Here, we review the physics and gravure printing, and demonstrate how control of the process conditions allows for realization of high-resolution gravure printed devices with critical feature sizes in the single micrometer range. We discuss the optimization of printable materials for these applications, including choice of active materials and ink formulation to deliver the requisite rheological characteristics. Finally, we show that, by using appropriately designed stuctures, it is possible to realize a range of gravure printed devices and systems, including transistors and other transparent electronic components for use in applications such as flexible displays and other large area electronic / optoelectronic systems.