Representatives of international consortia presented an interim status of their European projects at the TOLAE workshop in Dresden. The Fraunhofer IWS had invited partners from Germany, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Spain to Dresden. Dr. Udo Klotzbach, project coordinator of ALABO ("Advanced Laser Ablation on Barrier films for Organic and Large Area Electronic Devices") and head of the business unit “Microtechnology” at Fraunhofer IWS, explains: „We will combine the activities in Europe in the field of TOLAE. How far have research and development progressed and which added value do they bring within the EU? Also in the future, it will continue to be important to generate networks and projects in order to support research and the European economic landscape”. During the workshop, topics such as coating, encapsulation, electronics and laser material processing were presented as well as new product concepts such as light tiles, printed sensors and thermoelectric generators. Within the ALABO project, IWS scientists together with further partners are researching future flexible and organic solar cells, which can be produced cost-efficiently using the roll-to-roll process.
Flexible solar films for a diversified range of applications
In the future it should be possible to apply thin flexible solar foils in various fields. Possible areas of application include, for example, the automotive industry or architecture. Dr. Klotzbach specifies: “It is conceivable to equip car roofs, bonnets or building facades with organic solar modules in order to support the development of electric mobility and passive houses. The advantages of organic photovoltaics are their flexibility, low mass, inexpensive production in roll-to-roll technology and the minimal material usage compared to conventional rigid silicon-based photovoltaic modules.
The ten project partners
The European research projects listed below are funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 research program.
- ALABO – Advanced Laser Ablation on Barrier films for Organic and large area electronic devices
https://www.alabo.eu
- HAPPINESS – Haptic Printed and Patterned Interfaces for Sensitive Surface
https://www.happiness-project.eu
- LOMID – Large cost-effective OLED microdisplays and their applications
http://www.lomid.eu
- LORIX – Large Organic Robust Imager for X-Ray Sensing
https://lorix-project.eu
- LUMENTILE – Luminous Electronic Tile
https://www.lumentile-project.eu
- OPTINTEGRAL – Advertisement displays manufactured by hybrid in-mould integration
https://optintegral.eu
- PI-SCALE – Bringing flexible organic electronics to pilot innovation scale
http://pi-scale.eu
- ROLL-OUT – High-performance, Flexible, Autonomous Systems manufactured with Unique, Industrial Roll-to-roll equipments
http://www.roll-out-2020.eu
- TRANSFLEXTEG – Large area transparent thin film thermoelectric devices for smart window and flexible applications
http://www.transflexteg.eu
- SMARTEES – Smart Emerging Electronics Servicing DIH
http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/211064_de.html
About Horizont 2020
Horizon 2020 is the largest research and innovation program in the history of the European Union. It will provide funds of nearly EUR 80 billion over a seven-year period (2014 to 2020) in addition to the private participations that this investment will entail. The program promises countless breakthroughs, discoveries and world innovations by inviting you to bring great ideas from the lab to market.
About TOLAE
TOLAE stands for "Thin, Organic and Large Area Electronics". Components from this area offer high potential for the development of novel smart products. The basis is their small thickness, low mass and flexible shape as well as the possibility of extremely inexpensive production of sensors, batteries or lighting elements, for example. TOLAE solutions can be used in a variety of market sectors. The European Commission supports this development by raising TOLAE as a topic within horizon 2020. The projects aim to map R&D activities along the value chain and at the same time not to lose sight of recycling aspects.
About ALABO
ALABO stands for "Advanced Laser Ablation on Barrier Films for Organic and Large Area Electronic Devices". The overall goal of this project is the development of organic electronic components on flexible barrier films. In order to increase the service life and cost-effectiveness of thin, large-area electronic components, Fraunhofer IWS Dresden as well as six other project partners from industry and research are developing processes for the production of flexible organic solar cells. These processes include, for example, coatings, laser scribing or encapsulation, but also technologies for quality assurance. These technologies comprise in particular the determination of the water vapor barrier layers’ performance. In this way, the project partners try to achieve a significant reduction in material consumption. An important key to the success of the ALABO project is the close integration of the consortium. It consists of three industrial partners and four research institutes coming from four European countries.
Come and visit us at the 10th International Laser and Joining Symposium at the Congress Center Dresden on February 27 to 28, 2018. Further information is available at www.lasersymposium.de.
Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS
