Based in Sedgefield in the North East of England, PETEC is a national prototyping institute for the development and commercialisation of printed electronics. Customers of the centre will be able to test design concepts and novel materials for a variety of semiconductor products including Thin Film Transistors (TFT) for flexible displays including E-paper, Organic Photovoltaic cells (OPVs) and Solid State Lighting (SSL) applications.

2. What services does PETEC offer?

The facility will develop innovative technologies that enable electronics to be printed directly onto thin plastic sheets.

PETEC will provide industrial and academic customers/clients with the facilities to carry out pioneering development and pre-manufacturing work in the field of plastic electronics.

The Centre will offer a full range of product development services including:

product design and prototyping
process development
fabrication
validation and low volume prototyping capabilities.
application and technology roadmapping
product design and prototyping
technology benchmarking and market intelligence

3. Where is PETEC based?

PETEC is based at NETPark, Sedgefield, County Durham, North East England.

It is situated near open countryside, 13 miles from the nearest airport, Durham Tees Valley (MME) and 14 miles from the nearest main line station, Darlington

4. What size will the Centre be?

The PETEC Centre, in a 1.1 hectare prime plot at NETPark, will cover 3,000 square metres providing state-of-the-art cleanroom and laboratory space, housing an impressive range of equipment supported by an experienced team of scientists and technologists

5. When will the facilities and services be ready to use?

The building work will be completed by July 2008, with the majority of the equipment being installed and commissioned in the following 2 to 3 months. Some of the roll to roll processing equipment (inline lithography, laser ablation tool, and flexo printer) will be arriving later in 2008 or early in 2009.

The Centre will be equipped with state of the art class 100 and 1000 clean rooms, formulation and synthesis laboratories, offices and seminar rooms.

It is expected that full prototyping capability (product and process) will be available by Q3 2008.

6. How many staff will PETEC employ?

Initially there will be the recruitment of a 12-strong staff to operate the facility in support of customer projects.

Further staff will be recruited in line with growing customer needs

7. What are the background of the people working within PETEC?

PETEC comprises experts from industry with detailed knowledge and practical experience of organic materials and TFT backplane technology. For example, the 3 most senior development engineers and scientists have 45 papers and 100 patents between them in the area of OTFT.

8. Can you provide details of the equipment that will be installed in the PETEC centre?

The latest list of the equipment to be installed at PETEC can be found through this link. Over time, further information will be provided detailing the specification of the equipment and the expected in-service date.

9. Why should I use PETEC?

PETEC is a competent and professional industry-led centre committed to developing the best processes for the proofing and pilot manufacture of novel plastic electronic devices. We have the experience, knowledge, and appropriate infrastructure to help you achieve your development targets. Please get in touch via PETEC’s contact details below and we will be pleased to deal with your enquiry.

10. How is PETEC funded?

One NorthEast and County Durham Economic Partnership are jointly investing £6.2M which includes ca. £5m from North Way. A further £3.8M of capital investment is sourced from European Regional Development Funds (ERDF)

The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) is contributing £2.1M for the first platform of equipment installation in the Centre.

11. I would like to use some of the process equipment in PETEC, how do I get access and how much will it cost?

If you have a question about using some of PETEC’s facilities then please submit an enquiry via this website and a member of the technical or commercial team will respond to discuss your needs further. The facilities at PETEC are charged at commercial rates which are calculated based upon customer requirements and targets, associated collaborative work packages to deliver these targets, taking into account the type of processes used in each project.

12. What assistance will be provided to use the equipment?

For most projects, the full expertise of the Centre can be sourced. As a minimum, a process technician will operate the equipment and, where possible, the customer will be able to observe the fabrication and test process. For longer projects, there will be the opportunity for the customer to be trained to use the equipment.

13. How can I be sure that my results remain confidential?

All PETEC employees understand the need for confidentiality and a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) can be set up if required. We will also discuss and agree with the customer the extent to which project details can be shared within the PETEC team. PETEC is equipped with specialist informatics software that enables all results within a project to remain accessible only by the customer and nominated PETEC employees. Once a project is completed, a customer can choose to archive the data within the software such that only they can access it.

14. I would like to develop a prototype plastic electronic device but would require technical advice to solve some of the application requirements and fabrication issues?

PETEC is well equipped to solve some of the most challenging product and process issues in plastic electronics, including OTFT, due to its tailored equipment sets and extensive expertise in plastic product design and process technology. Projects can be set up to achieve a customer’s desired outcome using routes developed by PETEC staff in consultation with the customer.

15. The choice of materials in organic electronics is very important, how do I obtain the most suitable materials for my application?

For printed electronic applications PETEC is already building relationships with suppliers of leading materials in order to develop processes suitable for these novel chemistries. Where appropriate, PETEC will be able to make processing recommendations for the benefit of equipment manufacturers and materials suppliers.

16. I would like to use an alternative item of process equipment compared to that shown on your list, how could you make this available?

In general, relevant equipment sets will be purchased according to the requirements of industry & academia who are likely to become regular users of the PETEC centre. Clearly, equipment that has many potential uses across different technology platforms will be favored over equipment for individual specialist work. We are always willing to discuss how individual customer’s requirements could potentially be met and how investment may be secured to enable a specific technology of interest to a customer. For example, it is possible for PETEC to co-own or host equipment on behalf of a customer. Enquiries about equipment can be made via the enquiries page.

17. I have developed a new material for plastic electronics, can you help me to evaluate its potential in an organic electronic device?

Yes, PETEC staff have considerable experience in materials evaluation and can demonstrate the potential of customers' materials using a number of different process conditions and device geometries.

18. Plastic electronics covers a wide range of potential devices, are you going to provide services that cover all of these, or are you aiming to specialize in only a few areas?

During the first 2 to 3 years of PETEC’s operation we are focusing on developing processes for OTFT backplanes for display applications. Our market analysis indicates that this is an area which is developing rapidly towards commercialization but still there exist some technological hurdles which PETEC is well placed to help overcome. Other areas of plastic electronics will also be catered for in the Centre, where appropriate, during this initial phase. The PETEC team are able to achieve this due to the versatility of our process equipment. In the medium term we see the areas of Organic Photovoltaics, Solid State Lighting and Sensors becoming more significant and therefore PETEC intends to participate in these areas and concequently the PETEC development portfolio will become more balanced.

19. What is the Intellectual Property Ownership model for PETEC?

PETEC recognizes the need for flexibility in developing IP models and will work to help achieve suitable IP solutions and associated legal agreements for the mutual benefit of both the customer and PETEC.

20. How much is the plastic electronics industry worth?

It is reported from various sources that this industry will be a multibillion value industry.

For example, recent research undertaken by industry experts estimates that the plastic electronics industry will be worth $30 billion by 2015 and $250 billion by 2025.

21. What are the potential applications/products of plastic electronics?

Plastic electronics technology will form the basis of a new generation of thin, robust and lightweight devices for flexible displays, novel lighting, photovoltaic, sensor, and memory applications.

Examples of these include OTFT driver circuits for displays, printed electronics for consumer products, flexible printed solar cells, solid state lighting and some specialist applications including smart packaging, real-time newspapers, intelligent signage, point-of-care medical diagnostic products, novel drug delivery devices, smart sportswear, fashion clothes and accessories

22. Who manages PETEC?

CPI (The Centre for Process Innovation)

23. What is CPI?

The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), established by One NorthEast as a UK wide resource to stimulate and drive innovation within the Process Industry. Working with global industry partners and leading research universities CPI is committed to delivering world-class, groundbreaking applied research and development especially in the hi-tech electronics and bioitechnology sectors.

24. What will PETEC bring to the region?

PETEC will put the North East region at the forefront of this growing and innovative plastic electronics technology.

The Centre, one of only a handful of its kind in the world, will establish the North East of the UK as a global leader in the application of printed electronics research, making specialised facilities and expertise available to companies seeking to develop new products, processes, and services for use in a wide range of markets.

How to find out more information?

To discuss any aspect of PETEC and the unique range of services we offer please contact us at: enquiries@ukpetec.com or call us on +44 (191) 280 4782

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