Heraeus and ITRI announce ground breaking improvements in touch screen production

 

Together with the Taiwanese Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), German-based Heraeus has developed a stable process for the mass production of its Clevios-coated films. These films are currently mainly used in touch panels and touch sensors of different electronic devices. With the new process, the technology corporation can now fulfil the future requirements of manufacturers regarding the next generation of touch screen functionality.

The joint research work of Heraeus and ITRI enabled the upscaling of the manufacturing process from lab size to mass production. For this, the companies EOC/Nan Ya Plastics Corporation and Eternal Materials Co. supplied the basic films, while Heraeus provided its conductive polymer Clevios PEDOT – which enables the many functions. The result was a fully functional, bendable 7in touch panel that can be produced on an industrial scale.

Thanks to the Clevios-coated films, manufacturers are now able to produce touch screens with better functionalities. They can be bendable, arched, or three dimensional, for example, and can also be used in wearables. The 7in touch panels are still capable of executing multi-touch functions with five touch points. During silver line printing, the low temperature silver paste LT Silver P was used, which has been optimised for Clevios touch sensors.

“We have developed a clear strategic plan that enables manufacturers to integrate Clevios technology quickly into their production processes, says Dr Ralf Droste, head of the business line display & semiconductors at Heraeus. “In this way, they are able to offer the next generation of foldable touch devices, where Clevios outperforms the performance and functionality of all transparent printed circuit boards.”