News Article
University of Texas Orders Aixtron Black Magic Tool for Wearable Electronics
The system will be used to create high quality carbon nanotubes and graphene thin films for a project on electronic textiles. These are fabrics that enable computing, digital components and electronics to be embedded in them.
Aixtron SE has installed and commissioned a 4-inch Black Magic Plasma Enhanced CVD (PECVD) system at the University of Texas at Austin.
The local Aixtron support team set up the tool after it was delivered at the end of 2010 at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Microelectronics Research Centre.
Deji Akinwande and Rod Ruoff from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are working on several projects to exploit the material in flexible electronics. “We needed a dedicated CVD deposition system to reliably, easily and routinely produce high quality carbon nanotubes and graphene thin films for our government funded project on wearable electronics. I am confident that Aixtron has the best equipment solution in terms of technology, scalability and flexibility for producing these thin films,” Deji Akinwande commented.
Carbon nanotubes and graphene are increasingly being applied to flexible electronics. These films possess unique electrical and electronic properties which enable them to be used as electrodes, sensing materials as well as high mobility devices. They can be made extremely thin with a high degree of transparency, and maintain their properties whilst being flexed.
Established in 1983, the Microelectronics Research Centre is equipped with state of the art semiconductor fabrication equipment housed in 12,000 square feet of Class 100 and Class 1000 cleanroom space, with 15,000 square feet of characterization laboratories. The Centre has 15 faculty and 120 graduate students, and is recognised as one of the leading centres of excellence for graphene research.
Electronic textiles are fabrics that enable computing, digital components and electronics to be embedded in them. This involves mounting classical electronic devices such as conducting wires, ICs, LEDs and conventional batteries into garments. The electronic function can also be created directly on the textile fibres. These functions can either be passive such as pure wires, conducting textile fibres, or more advanced functions such as transistors, diodes and solar cells. E-textiles have the ability to sense, act, store, emit, and move.
