Ink-jets dots form transistors spots.If microcircuits could be printed with ink instead of being sculpted sculpt v. sculpt·ed, sculpt·ing, sculpts v.tr. 1. To sculpture (an object). 2. To shape, mold, or fashion especially with artistry or precision: into silicon, electronic smarts could adorn almost everything. When electronically tagged, even grocery items could, without being scanned, transmit To send data over a communications line. See transfer. prices to cash registers. How about using ink-jet printers to do the job? Loaded with electrically active ink, printers can already make light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for display screens. But typical ink-jet dots, 20-50 micrometers ([micro]m) wide, have been considered too big and runny run·ny adj. run·ni·er, run·ni·est Inclined to run or flow: runny icing; a runny nose. runny Adjective [-nier, -niest for dense microcircuitry. Not anymore. In the Dec. 15 SCIENCE, Henning Sirringhaus of the University of Cambridge in England and his team report new ways of printing better-defined dots that don't smear smear (smer) a specimen for microscopic study prepared by spreading the material across the slide. Pap smear , Papanicolaou smear see under test. together. The result? The first ink-jet-printed transistor circuits, with dot rows spaced only 5 [micro]m apart. |
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