SouthWest NanoTechnologies (SWeNT) has received a two-year grant with a funding amount of $500,000 from Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST).
This grant is to enhance the production of SWeNT’s semiconducting inks applying single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) technology. These inks can be used for printing thin film transistors (TFTs). SWeNT will collaborate with Panasonic Boston Laboratory (PBL) of Panasonic R&D Company, America to formulate and test TFT devices and provide guarantee for its performance.
TFT backplanes have the ability to control pixels in almost all flat-panel displays. Most of the TFTs manufactured today employ semiconductor materials made of polycrystalline silicon (p-Si) which involve expensive fabrication processes such as lithographic methods and vacuum deposition. It was found that the printing method is a cost-saving manufacturing method. Although several printable semiconductor materials are been availed, their usage is minimal because they need high temperature processing techniques and do not have the ability to satisfy the performance needs of TFT.
Dr. Xinbing Liu, Panasonic Boston Laboratory director stated that carbon nanotubes have natural properties that renders it a novel material for printing of cost-effective TFTs with high performance. SWCNT technology used by SWeNT utilizes those properties to enable marked advancement in the displays industry.
Dave Arthur, CEO of SWeNT stated that SWeNT will utilize its present NIST-TIP grant program to manufacture semiconductors based on SWCNTs which will be transformed into printable inks employing its V2V ink technology. The inks produced by the company will ensure commercial availability and competence with other printing technologies.
Source: www.swentnano.com