Inkjet technology could soon be used to print circuit boards, says Arjan Gelderblom, relations manager for R&D at the Oc'e Innovation Applications Centre (IAC).
Gelderblom outlines other areas that are being explored for inkjet technology, such as jetting metal drops for producing small 3D products, or using conductive polymers to produce flexible electronics.
The IAC also lists solar cells, bio-sensors, opto-electronics and radio frequency identification as on its itinerary.
Other, more aesthetic, uses are being considered, such as printing patterned panels for enhancing the appearance of buildings.
Eelco Schillings, manager of the research department at the IAC, explains that next to thermal inkjet, Oc'e is looking at piezo inkjet. "It is a digital and not an analogue technology," he says, "which means that every single nozzle for jetting material can be individually controlled so that, if necessary, different nozzles could be used to apply different types of material simultaneously."
This technology allows each nozzle to be individually monitored, making it possible to identify which nozzle has an error.
The IAC was set up in 2006 to explore the possibilities of inkjet technology. The IAC is located in the High Tech Campus at Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and was created to find alternate applications for inkjet, outside of the graphics sphere.
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