Hebrew University researchers develop printed circuits on paper

Citation

(2001), "Hebrew University researchers develop printed circuits on paper", Circuit World, Vol. 27 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2001.21727dab.021

Hebrew University researchers develop printed circuits on paper

Hebrew University researchers develop printed circuits on paper

Cheap and disposable cellular telephones, transistor radios, smart cards, key cards, and even light-blinking t-shirts are among the possible uses of a new Israeli invention in the field of nanotechnology that prints electrical circuits on specially treated sheets of paper.

The process was developed by Dr Andrew Shipway – in the Hebrew University Institute of Chemistry laboratory of Professor Itamar Willner – with help from graduate student Gal Sharabi. The 29-year-old Shipway, who recently received a Hebrew University (HU) Kaye Prize for innovations and inventions at the university's 64th Board of Governors meeting, said his process is far quicker and less costly than other electrical circuit-printing methods now in use. Shipway, who was born in the UK, earned his doctorate at the age of 25 at the University of Birmingham and came to Israel in 1997 to pursue post-doctoral research at HU. In his process an electrical circuit is designed on a computer and printed out on special paper impregnated with a palladium metal catalyst. The print-out can be made even by using an ordinary photocopying machine. The paper is then placed in a special chemical solution, and copper is deposited only on those areas that are designated for the circuit (areas not covered by ink), thus creating a paper-thin electrical printed circuit. The entire process from computer screen to usable circuit can be accomplished in less than ten minutes – a significant improvement over current techniques, Shipway maintained. The method can be expanded to produce multilayer circuits or applied for use with other metals such as silver. It can also be adapted for printing on plastics, ceramics and clothes. The process – whose patent has been registered through the HU's Yissum Research Development Company – could be successfully applied in research institutes, schools, homes and electrical workshops.

The Kaye Prizes, established by British pharmaceutical industrialist Isaac Kaye, have been awarded annually since 1994. They are aimed at encouraging university faculty and staff to develop innovative methods and inventions with good commercial potential which will benefit the university and society.