SBIR Phase II: Innovations in Nanowire Manufacturing: Large Scale Synthesis of Inorganic Semiconducting Nanowires and Application to Printed Photosensors

这个小型企业创新研究二期项目旨在进一步开发无机半导体纳米线的大规模制造方法。这些纳米线将用于制造印刷光传感器，这是传统光传感设备的一种优越替代品。传统的纳米线合成方法非常昂贵，而且只能生产极少量的纳米线。提出的技术寻求一种经济有效的方法来大规模制造纳米线。如果不降低成本和增加产量，基于纳米线的商业产品仍然是不可行的。通过开发有效的印刷技术，该计划将显著降低生产印刷光传感器的成本。一个具体的演示目标是使用这些纳米线来制造具有类似于传统器件性能特征的印刷光敏器件。这个项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是为印刷和柔性电子产品提供创新和卓越的技术，而不是今天可用的技术。预计柔性电子技术将越来越多地应用于各种应用，包括能源（光伏、电池和照明）、消费设备（显示器、传感器、执行器）、医疗保健（传感器）、通信：射频识别（RFID）和国防（传感器、光伏、显示器）。柔性电子领域是一个快速增长的全球市场。必须开发合适的新技术来复制当前的固态器件；这些包括可打印的半导体、绝缘体和导体。该项目开发的制造技术将促进无机半导体纳米线用于具有柔性和透明特性的印刷光传感器。光学传感器市场是该计划开发的技术的重要最终用途应用。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project aims to further develop large-scale manufacturing methods for inorganic semiconductor nanowires. These nanowires will be used to make printed photosensors, a superior alternative to conventional light sensing devices. Traditional synthetic methods for nanowires are extremely expensive, and only produce extremely small quantities of nanowires. The proposed technology seeks to produce a cost-effective method to make nanowires at large scale. Without a reduction in cost, and an increase in production volumes, commercial products based on nanowires are still not viable. By developing effective printing techniques, this program will significantly drive down the cost to produce printed photosensors. A specific demonstration objective is to use these nanowires to make a printed photosensing device with performance characteristics similar to conventional devices.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to provide innovative and superior technologies for printed and flexible electronics compared to what is available today. Flexible electronics technology is expected to be increasingly applied in a variety of applications including energy (photovoltaics, batteries, and lighting), consumer devices (displays, sensors, actuators), healthcare (sensors), communication: radio frequency identification (RFID), and defense (sensors, photovoltaics, displays). The area of flexible electronics is a rapidly growing global market. Appropriate novel technologies must be developed to replicate current solid state devices; these include printable semiconductors, insulators, and conductors. The manufacturing technology being developed in this project will facilitate the use of inorganic semiconducting nanowires for printed photo sensors with both flexible and transparent characteristics. The optical sensors market is a significant end use application for the technology being developed in this program.