Thinfilm had developed printable memories based on polymer materials as early as 1994; first as part of Opticom ASA and then as an independent company. For the first ten years, the focus was on hybrid memory devices with polymer-based memory and silicon-based control circuitry, as developed jointly with Intel. From 2006, Thinfilm has concentrated its efforts on printed electronics. Thinfilm successfully demonstrated roll-to-roll printed organic memory in 2009 and was awarded the Technical Development Manufacturing Award the same year. Thinfilm's printed memory technology was licensed to Xerox in December 2014 and marketed as of June 2016 as Xerox Printed Memory. In January 2014, Thinfilm acquired the flexible electronics technology, including steel substrate, barrier materials, and encapsulation IP, of Kovio and opened a major R&D office in San Jose, California. In February 2015, Thinfilm demonstrated a connected NFC "smart bottle" at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This announcement coincided with the launch of NFC OpenSense technology, Thinfilm's patented printed NFC 'electronic seal' tag feature that allowed a smartphone to determine whether a bottle was factory sealed or previously opened. In January 2020, Thinfilm announced an updated strategy focused on the design, development, and production of solid-state lithium battery products. The SSLB products are to be manufactured in Thinfilm's San Jose, California manufacturing facility.
Technology
Thinfilm's solid-state lithium battery technology is used to manufacture rechargeable microbattery products. The company states that the products use a solid electrolyte material that is fundamentally safer than liquid and gel polymer electrolytes used in common rechargeable batteries. Thinfilm's use of stainless steel substrates, rather than silicon or ceramic substrates, gives the company a unique ability to substantially scale production capacity using high-volume roll-based manufacturing methods. The resulting battery products are designed to extend battery life, increase device lifetime, and improve design flexibility. The company believes that the resulting battery products will be particularly useful in market segments including wearable electronics and connected sensors.
Awards
Thinfilm has won a number of awards for innovation and technical development since first demonstrating roll-to-roll printing of electronics in 2009. In 2012, Thinfilm was awarded both the IDTechEx Product Development Award and the FlexTech Alliance Innovation Award for its Addressable Memory technology built in association with PARC. Also in late 2012, Thinfilm was named as a runner-up in the Wall Street Journal Technology's Innovation Award. In October 2012, Thinfilm won the 2012 World Technology Award for Visionary Contribution to Materials Science and Technology in the development of printed smart tags for the Internet of Things. In November 2018, Thinfilm's stainless-steel substrate roll-to-roll factory in San Jose, California won the IDTechEx Technical Development Manufacturing Award.
