Roll-to-roll manufacturing of thin film electronics

The development and current status of roll-to-roll manufacturing processes and equipment relevant to the fabrication of patterned, active electronic devices such as thin film transistors (TFTs) is reviewed, along with a survey of the knowledge of processing for thin film electronics on flexible (especially polymer) substrates. It is concluded that while there are a number of unknowns and engineering challenges, there is no fundamental obstacle to the implementation of such processes, which will have profound value in production cost and product characteristics. The first amorphous silicon TFT made with roll-to-roll processing is reported.