SBIR Phase I: Organic Field Effect Transistor Force Sensor for Touch Surfaces

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在开发一种力敏触摸表面技术，以克服目前可用技术的技术缺陷。该设计在新颖的配置中充分利用了有机印刷电子器件的薄外形、光学透射率和成本优势，从而允许使用可扩展的制造技术生产环境稳定的有源阵列触摸表面和显示器。该解决方案旨在实现低成本和高灵敏度的真正力敏触摸。它可以在任何物体上操作，包括指甲、手套和触控笔，同时不受阻碍当前电容技术的环境因素的影响，比如污垢和潮湿。如果开发成功，它将比领先技术消耗更少的能量，并且不需要使用玻璃等特殊材料作为触摸表面。该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力源于其与广泛应用的相关性，包括用于消费电子产品的力敏按钮，汽车控制以及用于固定和移动设备的力敏显示器。二十年前，触控技术主要应用于自动取款机和销售点系统。最近，这项技术转移到了其他电子行业的垂直领域，包括规模最大、增长最快的智能手机和平板电脑。消费者需求正在推动各个垂直领域应用程序的爆炸式增长。人们对低成本、低功耗、功能更丰富的触摸解决方案的需求越来越大。此外，新的用户体验好处，如力灵敏度不断被追求，但目前还没有可行的解决方案在市场上。这种技术将在所有这些市场中从现有技术中获得相当大的市场份额。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to develop a force sensitive touch surface technology that will overcome the technical shortcomings of currently available technologies. The design leverages the thin form factor, optical transmissivity, and cost advantages of organic printed electronics in a novel configuration to allow for environmentally stable, active-array touch surfaces and displays to be produced with scalable manufacturing techniques. The solution is intended to enable truly force sensitive touch that is low cost and highly sensitive. It will be operable with any object, including fingernails, gloves, and styluses, while not being susceptible to environmental factors that hinder current capacitive technologies, such as dirt and moisture. If successfully developed it will consume less power than leading technologies, and will not inherently require special materials such as glass to be used as the touch surface. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project results from its relevance to a wide array of applications, including force sensitive buttons for consumer electronics, automotive controls, and force sensitive displays for fixed and mobile devices. Two decades ago, touch technology was primarily found within ATMs and point-of-sale systems. More recently, the technology migrated to other electronic industry verticals, including one of the largest and certainly the fastest growing - smartphones and tablets. Consumer demand is driving an explosion of applications in every vertical. There is increasing demand for low cost, low power, more feature rich touch solutions. In addition, new user experience benefits such as force sensitivity are constantly being pursued, yet there is no viable solution yet on the market. Such a technology would be poised to capture significant market share from existing technologies in all of these markets.