The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 11) — Semprius Inc., a start-up based in Chapel Hill, N.C., won a 2006 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for a process for making large-scale, high-performance electronic circuits that can be applied to any surface. The technology, developed by U. of I. Materials Science and Engineering Professor John Rogers, the company's president and co-founder, along with a team of researchers at Illinois [including Prof. Ralph Nuzzo & Etienne Menard], does this by using a two-step process: In the first, electronic devices are formed on semiconductor wafer using conventional techniques. Then an extremely thin layer that contains the complete transistor is lifted from the wafer and printed onto the desired material, which can include thin plastic sheets, fabric or rubber.
Among other things the process can be used to make large flexible displays, or rubber gloves with built-in sensors that could be used by surgeons. Semprius recently developed a prototype automated printing system for cellphone displays.
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