Transistors on paper become a reality

Check it, nerds. A team over at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa has reportedly figured out a way to use paper (yes, paper) as an interstrate component of a Field Effect Transistor (FET). In testing, the group "fabricated the devices on both sides of the paper sheet," thus causing the paper to act as the "electric insulator and as the substrate" simultaneously. Remarkably, results showed that performance actually rivaled that of best-in-class oxide thin film transistors, giving revived hope for the realm of disposable devices like paper displays, labels, intelligent packaging, tracking tags, etc. The findings are scheduled to be published this September, after which we're sure any firms interested in taking this stuff commercial will be putting their best foot forward.

[Via Scientific Blogging]

[Eric B. @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:45PM]

This is awesome.....if I only knew what it meant.

[blarvh @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:02PM]

So much for E-ink displays being the newspapers of tomorrow. From now on the newspapers of tomorrow will be made from paper!

[ybd @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:56PM]

Highest ranked indeed.

[Tyler Ransom @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:44PM]

Paper Mario now has new meaning.

[Mr.Tech @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:01AM]

Yeah... but wouldn't it be bad if they installed a cam, mic, and a wifi transmitter in your toilet paper? That would change the whole meaning of spying =D

[neofolklore @ Jul 23rd 2008 8:23AM]

I thought transistors were already smaller than paper, but a few i dunno X hundred nanometers

[Oliver @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:05PM]

and here i was thinking paper was going to be replaced by the tablet pc...

[HUNG @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:08PM]

irony ehh?

[Josh L @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:12PM]

Queue the "PAPER IS TREE MURDER!!!1!" idiots in 3... 2...

[JMMGoalster @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:34PM]

...1

PAPER IS TREE MURDER!!!1!

...hey you asked for it, not me

[Mr.Hiller @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:36PM]

Not like it grows on trees...... Hey, wait a minute

[SugarDaddy @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:22PM]

Well, not that extreme, but shouldn't we be getting away from MORE disposable items?

[Danakin @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:13PM]

who was that analyst who predicted that physical paper would be "obsolete" in 10 years?...

[chefgon_ign @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:47PM]

That has been predicted by some person or another pretty much every year for the past 40 years.

[Rocketboy @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:19PM]

I'm not sure... I must have wrote it down somewhere...

[Chad @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:13PM]

Of course now you have to be sure to engineer your product to never reach 451° F

[Bryan Thornsberry @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:15PM]

the fact you know paper burns at 451* is awesome. about the only thing i really remember from my inks and substrates class

[chris @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:37PM]

ray bradbury reference. nice

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:45PM]

Or maybe he just read Fahrenheit 451.

[Wwhat @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:03PM]

With read you mean he saw the movie listed in some tv-guide I'm assuming.

[Wwhat @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:04PM]

(I know it's a book, before you start, I'm just not sure assuming someone read a book when there's a movie is a wise assumption).

[Chad @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:19PM]

I don't read many books but Fahrenheit 451 was required reading in HS and I'm glad. I've never actually seen the movie. What's funny is this post led me to look it up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451
and it looks like they are working on a new movie as we speak! Who would a thought political correctness was that big a problem in 1947?

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:25PM]

Never seen the movie, but I had to read the book in 9th grade. It's a bit prophetic isn't it? People walking around with earbuds, people not reading books, watching TV all day, etc.

[Najakwa @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:14PM]

It would be nice to just buy a book of working FETs in an electronics surplus store.

[MadMike @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:14PM]

So, beer bottle labels that can cool your beer? No? Then WTF good is it?

Oh no, its gonna be a beer bottle label that scans your fingerprints and automatically text messages your wife that your drinking.

[Kevin @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:55PM]

If they could get the transistor networks up to the complexity of microprocessors, I could see all kinds of potential for this technology.

The one thing that comes to mind would be tamper-evident labels for food and medication packaging.

Or the self-destructing mission briefings from Mission Impossible.

[CarrerCrytharis @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:10PM]

Transistors on paper sounds like a good idea on paper...

[james @ Jul 22nd 2008 5:37PM]

Did no one else notice the reference to 'disposable electronics' ? I mean really is that what we need? More trash? Wasn't there an article recently that we are running out of elements that we use for electronic? Shouldn't we be more green, isn't that the trend now to be green and socially responsible in order to sell more products and make more profit and further destroy the planet in a insidious and sneakier manner? This seems like a step in the wrong direction.

And to further satisfy the above post
...PAPER IS TREE MURDER ...

[Wwhat @ Jul 22nd 2008 6:31PM]

Electronics are constantly improved making older versions obsolete, so to have them be biodegradable or burnable for energy rather than on a big toxic heap is an improvement.
And in managed forests they plant a new tree for every chopped one.

[Mile @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:34PM]

Just imagine the paper airplanes of the future! Ima start building the first ever paper airport to get ready!

[dukemang @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:23PM]

Soldier of the future will carry sheets of this to quickly fold into aerial spy plane.

[edward @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:40PM]

I bet the RepRap guys would LOVE a look at this stuff!

[Brien @ Jul 22nd 2008 2:00PM]

this is hot.

[andres @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:46PM]

just make sure it doesnt get past 451 degrees fahrenheit

[BigD145 @ Jul 22nd 2008 1:57PM]

Disposable tech is worthless. Why else would you throw it away?

[Mark @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:19PM]

So will this rival RFID? Or will it enhance RFID?

[Wwhat @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:05PM]

I will make RFID burnable, so that's a plus.

[chchiuch @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:14PM]

I think it can be great use for technology

http://www.colxe.com

[Rafael Illan @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:06AM]

This is great news, and about "the paper is tree murder" the good thing about paper is that is Recyclable. just imagine a chip fmade from the carton that has your Venti mocha. i see pontential here

[Cantwell @ Jul 23rd 2008 9:52AM]

The environmental concerns are misplaced.

1) If all electronic substrate material were biodegradable, like paper, the e-waste problem would be dramatically easier to solve.

2) Using paper and disposing of it in a landfill takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (via the tree) and locks it underground where it can no longer act as a dangerous climate changing greenhouse gas.

3) Trees intended for pulp and paper production are grown on tree farms near the mill that they feed. So relax. Paper is no more tree murder than oatmeal is "grain murder". This is a step in the right direction, disposable or otherwise.

On the other hand, conteporary recyclers would likely not enjoy the contamination of their mills with lead, cadmium, lithium, and other fun elements used to make transistors, so the landfill would still be the best place for biodegradable e-waste. (Unless it was an organic FET, in which case, who cares).