World's First Completely Transparent IC

An anonymous reader writes "DeviceForge is reporting that researchers at Oregon State University claim to have created the worlds first 'completely transparent' ICs (integrated circuit) from inorganic compounds. From the article: 'The technology can enable extremely inexpensive electronics for use in "throw away" devices, and is expected to be used in automobile windshields, cell phones, TVs, games, and toys, among other applications, OSU said. OSU also believes that the technology might result in more efficient solar cells or improvements and LCD displays (liquid crystal displays), it said.'"

Comments

Whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't see that coming.

Obligatory slashdot meme post

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing to see here, please move along

Eye IC

[x2A]

tiny little display in my contact lenses would be cool! Could be powered by tears...

Utility?

[cataclyst]

What are the possible... oh, I C...

wahey!

[Turn-X Alphonse]

What world are these people living in!? Mobile phones and a TV is not "throw away", a good TV will last 10-20 years if not more. Why would anyone in their right mind pay the price of a TV and considerit disaposable?

Re:wahey!

[x2A]

...because there's so much crap on tv these days, it's difficult to not throw it away! ;-)

Re:wahey!

[Red Flayer]

"a good TV will last 10-20 years if not more"

We should be so lucky. A company that produces TVs that last that long isn't maximizing its profits. My Sharp TV was bought the day of the Challenger explosion, and is on its last legs. I would have been happy if it had lasted 10 years, and would have bought another Sharp, most likely. Anecdotal, sure -- but Sharp lost a sale by making a good TV.

Consumer electronics are engineered to last only a couple/few years past the warranty period -- keep the customer just satisfied enough, while ensuring they are still buying those TVs.

Re: whether people consider them disposable -- well, lots of people are happy to pay $30 a month for their TV. After they've paid it off, they're quite happy to upgrade to a bigger, newer TV for $30 a month. And chances are, they'll need to within a year or two.

Re:wahey!

[scdeimos]

You've never worked in a repair/servicing industry, have you?

Mobile phones and TV's are extremely throw-away nowadays. Have you ever tried to have one repaired? Particularly with "name brand" TV's like Somy (typo intended) the cost of spare parts is so high (read: whole boards/modules, not single components) that it is generally cheaper to throw the product away and replace it with a cheaper up-to-date version. Common thought seems to be that spare parts prices are artificially inflated to improve new sales turnover.

Funny as it seems, the cheaper TV's coming from Chinese manufacturers are much more repairable because (a) schematic diagrams are more available *and* cheaper, and (b) they use less proprietary components which are easier to obtain.

Re:wahey!

[kebes]

Well the idea with disposable electronics/devices is that the manufacturing is cheaper and the end devices cost so little that they are disposable. The 'dream' of those working on these devices is that they become so cheap that they replace things like billboards and flyers and so forth. Basically you can hand out "disposable paper-thin TVs" on the street as advertising. Many consumers like the idea of being able to easily replace their devices. (TV doesn't quite fit the new decor of your living room? Just throw it out and buy a new one...) I think it's pretty obvious that there will be a consumer demand for cheaper, disposable devices.

What worries me much more is the obvious environmental impact. Society has made some progress over the last decade to be more "environmentally friendly" yet new directions like this one just push us ever further towards a fully "disposable society."

See through ..

[karvind]

Very cool indeed. I have worked on glass substrates for TFT related applications in my grad studies. I tell you one thing, it is very hard to tell which side is up and which side is down. Many times in the beginning I had put the wafer upside down just to find out it didn't deposit certain thing or etch on the right side. Finally I managed to put a visible mark which would only read correct from one side and got around. Now if you make transparent ICs, how do you go about aligning one layer to another in lithography (common step in IC fabrication). I hope they don't make transparent ICs on transparent substrates - that would be quite a fun.

Transparent?

[Red Flayer]

They looked translucent to me (of course, I have no idea how the slides were prepared in the pics, and whether they indicate the working product).

I'm also curious as to

I'm curious as to how much heat these suckers will generate -- the obvious 'transparent' uses would, I imagine, need them to be encased in glass or protective transparent cases. The windshield mentioned, for example -- how quickly would heat build to the point of damaging the IC?

My second question is why these ICs would be any better than opaque ICs for throwaway use? Are they cheaper to manufacture, even scaled to billions of chips? Aren't normal ICs pretty maskable with film coverings?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are applications where this could be very useful, but I'm not sure that even if development is completed, there would ever be enough demand to make these useful for anything other than niche applications.

Then again, 512k should be enough memory for anyone, and there will never be a market for more than five computers in the US.

Re:ARG!!

[Dachannien]

One day, you'll find yourself punching your PIN number into a touch-sensitive LCD display at your local ATM machine.

Espionage Applications

[Anonymous Coward]

My first thought on reading this is that there might be significant espionage applications for this kind of thing.

Re:ARG!!

[Aranth Brainfire]

Still doesn't match a disc case I got for Christmas ages ago... "Compact CD Disc Case"

Pictures Attached

[StikyPad]

 

 

This isnt the first by a long shot.

[nurb432]

Sharp did this a while ago with a Z80 core.

http://www.z80.info/sharp/z80_glas.htm

Summary

[MANYplaces84]

Nothing to see here please move along...

Skeptical

[JBEdgeworth]

I, for one, am skeptical about OSU's research with regards to the IC's utility in the field of conventional electron-beam lithography. To engrave features onto the IC at a sub-micrometre level, how would the substrate of the IC, with its importunate properties of inelasticity, respond to the photomasks at 193nm? What would become of the mass production of these compounds? I'm not saying the article is wholly without merit, but I remain a little skeptical about the IC's practical uses in production.

Re:Terminology

[Kennric]

No, it's transparent. The circuitry itself is transparent - a lot of research has gone into developing semiconductors with the correct band structure to pass most of the visible spectrum but still act as semiconductors. Translucency generally refers to materials that disperse light, rendering images blurry or unrecognisable, while transparent materials maintain the integrity of the transmitted image, even if dimmed or colored. (Your semantics may vary.)

These circuits are indeed made from transparent (over a wide range of the visible spectrum) semiconductors, and they are indeed printed on glass. I am not involved with the research, but I know Dr. Wager, whose team developed the circuits, and I know a few of the physicists who developed the actual materials used. Very neat stuff.

Re:ARG!!

[Mahou]

if it is a noun then don't use it as a qualifying adjective (what kind of display? an lcd display!) just use it as a noun, LCD. it is what it is. and it is a kind of display. so you're completely wrong.
PIN is the word for the number, no need to remind people that it's a number. there's no such thing as a PIN hieroglyph, PIN doodle, or PIN secret handshake
ATM is the word for the machine, no need to remind people it's a machine. there's no such thing as a ATM dog, ATM grocer, or ATM baseball bat
NIC is a type of card, etc.

just because a bunch of people say it doesn't mean it's right.

No it WOULD be good.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

Yes, exactly what we need: a solar cell that actually absorbs *none* of the light that hits it.

That's not the point.

The semiconductor would absorb photons at or above the bandgap (NOT being transparent at that frequency) and pass those at lower frequencies without attenuation. Thus a stack of junctions at progressively lower bandgaps can get better use of the light - since the energy above the bandgap in the layer where the photon is absorbed is lost.

Making a completely transparent (to light below the bandgap) solar cell allows the light propagating to lower layers do do so efficiently. It also allows the CELLS to be stacked, substrate and all, if the materials are incompatable and can't all be layered on one substrate.

So it COULD be a VERY useful improvement in solar cell technology.

(Another thing that would make it useful is if it is CHEAP to manufacture. Solar is getting better but is still not cost-competitive with grid power except in remote locations and small devices such as roadsigns.)

yeah, right

[pintomp3]

i'll believe it when i see it..

You insensitive clod!

[Chris Pimlott]

While the rest of us were mourning, you went out and bought a new TV? For shame!