Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) inaugurated a new flexible electronics pilot lab on Thursday, adding Taiwan to the ranks of just a handful of nations worldwide delving into such research.
The lab, which already boasts a few developments, will focus on developing soft or flexible materials to be used in electronic devices, as well as manufacturing methods and products, ITRI said in a statement.
So far, it has developed a new photolithography technique and three ink-jet and screen printing processes.
The opening of the lab highlights the growing interest in flexible electronics, from flexible digital screens that can be wrapped around a wrist or used in clothing, to flexible solar cells, which are used to power satellites. Flexible solar cells are lighter than their rigid counterparts, and can be rolled up before launch and unrolled once a satellite is in orbit.
The U.S., Japan and several European nations are already devoting time and money to flexible electronics research and development, and Taiwan hopes its new lab will attract interest as well as collaboration.
ITRI, a publicly funded research center, and the Taiwanese government, plan to invest NT$300 million (US$9.1 million) in the lab initially. The lab will focus on production process development for flexible electronic circuits, flexible solar cells, flexible reactors and flexible displays, ITRI said.
ITRI plans to invite companies in Taiwan and from around the world for joint development projects at the lab.
Ad Choices