Press Release

Printed electronics bringing new products to market for Belair

In the years leading up to its commercial-use of printed electronics, Belair Microelectronics found many of the initial prophecies about printed electronics replacing the printed circuit board industry to be exaggerated. Instead, what it found was a technology capable of enabling an entire new line of products that was not before possible.

Belair Mircroelectronics began experimenting with printed electronics in the late 1990s, printing prototype RFID antennae using a simple, suspended-silver ink. Initial results were impressive but by that time, competitive manufacturing of the product in Europe was already in mass production.

Belair has a 30-year history in rigid and flex PCB fabrication, for advanced military applications, and wanted to integrate printed silver technology, as a means of lowering costs associated with hazardous material disposal.

We looked at printed electronics as a way to possibly reinvent the printed circuit fabrication process, said Geoffrey Smith, director of business development for Belair. We quickly found out that the technology wasn't quite there for that.

The findings didn't turn Belair off printed electronics, but it did surprise them. Today, a large component of Belair's core business is developing prototype microelectronic-assemblies and manufacturing products embedded with those assemblies. It was in this segment of its business that Belair found a number of opportunities for printed electronics. In some cases, printed electronics unstumped ideas that were languishing.

The current view of printed electronics is an exciting new technology that is sophisticated and complex. However, to John Gregory, Belair's Chief Technical Officer, the reality is that printed electronics will make electronic circuits and interconnects simpler and more accessible. He readily admits that many of the new products Belair are developing are not that sophisticated. They have no qualms in calling these applications low-tech.

To some degree, for us it is all about accessibility - bringing electronics to applications that previously no-one would ever think of' said Gregory. The average person might look at our products and think how in the world did they do that? But an electronics designer with any degree of aptitude would hardly be impressed with the layouts.