On announcement of the news, Stuart Evans, Plastic Logic’s CEO commented, “The potential of this technology is enormous. Imagine sensors that tell you when your food has perished or pill bottles that stop you taking the wrong medicine.

Plastic Logic is leading a large work-package on Manufacturing and Processing, and making significant contributions to other PolyApply work packages. We are delighted to be involved in this consortium which will shorten time-to-market for this technology.”


About PolyApply – Click here to search for polyapply.org

Vision of PolyApply
‘Things that Think’ and communication between people and objects in their environment critically depends on contactless communication technologies. Although many RF communication devices and protocols already exist, in their present form they cannot be used to allow communication with everyday objects on a large scale. The cost of the silicon technology employed to realize it is the fundamental stumbling block. Even the most optimistic projections project this cost to be at least one order of magnitude higher than the cost of a technology that has been proven to be truly ubiquitous, such as a barcode. Therefore, we envision a new generation of devices to enable ambient intelligence at the right cost, in order to be truly applicable everywhere and anywhere.

Aim of PolyApply
PolyApply aims to lay the foundations of a scalable and ubiquitously applicable communication technology. The boundary condition is the cost of the micro system, combining basic RF communication with sensor functions. The key to achieving a fundamentally different cost structure than what the evolution of existing technologies (e.g. CMOS) can achieve, is to resolutely move to a disruptive new manufacturing technology: going from batch processing to in-line manufacturing technology. The semiconductor system envisaged for this end is based on polymers. Scalability refers to PolyApply’s plan to develop generic technologies with a meaningful impact in the mid- to long term, rather than propose a solution for a certain generation of RF communication devices useful at one point in time. In other words, the developed technologies will lead to an extendable family of products, ranging from "simple" RF tags at ultra-low cost to RF communication devices with complex capability, such as integrated re-writable memory, sensory inputs, display, etc…

About Plastic Logic

Plastic Logic was founded in 2000 to develop and exploit new technology and processes that combine the power of electronics with the pervasiveness of printing. The company has a growing portfolio of patents based on inkjet printing of active electronic circuits using advanced plastic materials. The company’s technology has the potential to radically change the economics of key segments of the semiconductor industry. Capital costs will be significantly lower than for silicon by eliminating conventional photolithography, vacuum processing and high temperatures. The technology will greatly simplify manufacturing large area electronics and flexible substrates.

Plastic Logic is a spinout from the University of Cambridge and is privately held. With over 30 employees, it is headquartered in state-of-the-art clean room, labs and office on the Cambridge Science Park – the UK’s premier high tech hotbed.

Click here to view more current news articles