Flexible Thin Film Batteries - A Global Technology
Flexible thin-film batteries are ideally suited for a variety of applications where small
power sources are needed. They can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, as
required by the customer. By using the available space within a device, the battery can
provide the required power while occupying otherwise wasted space and adding negligible
mass.
The thin-paper battery is suitable for applications requiring low-voltage power (1.5V -
3.0V) where traditional button cell batteries are problematic to use. Such thin-film
batteries or power paper will work exactly like traditional batteries, but will be nearly as
thin as a piece of paper. A power-paper cell can generate 1.5 volts of electricity, which is
approximately the same output as that of a watch or calculator battery. A power-paper cell
will be 0.5 millimeters thick, and several cells can be used in combination to provide more
power.
Thin-film batteries have solid lithium cores rather than liquid cores, so they are less
vulnerable to overheating and catching fire. They lose virtually no power over time, and
can be recharged thousands of times before they need to be replaced.
The thin-film industry is developing miniaturized versions of this technology. A thin-film
battery can be smaller than a postage stamp and twice its thickness, can be manufactured
in various shapes, and can be attached directly to a computer chip.
Power-paper batteries are printed directly onto thin substrates such as paper, so they are
far more flexible than any other batteries. As a consequence of their ultrathin profile, low
thermal mass, and their ability to operate in harsh environments, thin-film batteries are
uniquely suited as power sources for wireless semiconductors processing diagnostic wafers,
wireless imbedded sensors, active radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, non-volatile
memory backup and implantable medical devices. The batteries are rechargeable, which
means their size need be no larger than required to satisfy the energy requirements on a
single cycle, thus reducing cost and weight, which in itself may give birth to new
applications. The thin-paper battery is suitable for applications requiring low-voltage
power (1.5V - 3.0V) where traditional button-cell batteries are problematic to use.
Small-scale power systems will enhance innumerable new and existing wireless devices.
Uses will run the gamut, augmenting cell phones, laptop computers, communicating
cameras and new applications. Thin-film batteries — seamlessly integrated into the
objects they power — will mirror other integrated circuits on the miniaturization curve, as
power itself becomes a component subject to Moore’s Law. Vertical and lateral buildouts in
the industry will swell, flooding the marketplace with myriad useful new gadgets and
peripherals. The result: all these advancements will provide the breakthroughs needed to
put power wherever we want it, in whatever form factor we can imagine. Power will be
lightweight, fully mobile, inexpensive and easily pervasive.
STUDY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES
The thin-film battery power systems differ from regular rechargeable micro-batteries used
in notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones that are available in prismatic, cylindrical and
button forms. Commercially, low-profile micro-battery buttons have thicknesses ranging
from 0.9 mm to 2.1 mm, as against flexible thin-film batteries of thicknesses below 0.6 mm.
Thin-film cells can be stored for decades yet retain almost all their charge, developers say,
and they deliver powerful bursts of energy when finally needed. In many applications, they
also can be actively used for decades, since they can be charged and discharged tens of
thousands of times. To date, small-scale power supplies have been the missing link in the
information revolution, a significant obstacle to the ubiquitous computing “aware
environments,” and smart machines that have been heralded as the next big wave of
silicon intelligence.
Within the decade, however, all this will change. As the microdevice market grows, new
innovations will redefine the personal uses of power. The individual will be free from
household and workplace power grids, relying --when desired -- on personal (and
personalized) mobile power systems. Connectivity, communication and knowledge
management will be forever changed.
Therefore, this study focuses on thin-film batteries (thicknesses below 0.6 mm) that can be
used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microrobots and microsensors, and can
also be printed on integrated circuits (ICs) like any other electronic components.
Production will be low-cost and high-volume. These batteries can be manufactured in any
size, shape, voltage, or power capacity needed. Thin-film batteries (TFB) are positioned to
become the next generation of lithium batteries for portable electronic applications. Major
applications include smart cards and smart tags, single-use health and medical devices, and
multimedia enhancements for entertainment items, novelties and packaging.
The iRAP study focuses on thin-film batteries and products, providing market data about
the size and growth of the thin-film battery applications segments and new developments,
including a detailed patent analysis, company profiles and industry trends. Another goal of
this report is to provide a detailed and comprehensive multi-client study of the market in
North America, Europe, Japan, China, India, Korea and the rest of the world (ROW) for
thin-film batteries and potential future business opportunities.
The objectives include thorough coverage of the underlying economic issues driving the
thin-film battery business as well as assessments of new, advanced thin-film batteries that
companies are developing. Also covered are legislative pressures for more safety and
environmental protection, as well as users’ expectations for economical thin-film batteries.
Another important objective is to provide realistic market data and forecasts for thin-film
batteries. This study provides the most thorough and up-to-date assessment that can be
found anywhere on the subject. It also provides extensive quantification of the many
important facets of market developments in thin-film batteries in the world. This in turn
contributes to the determination of what kinds of strategic response companies may adopt
in order to compete in this dynamic market.
SCOPE AND FORMAT
The market data contained in this report quantify opportunities for thin-film batteries. In
addition to product types, the report also covers many issues concerning the merits and
future prospects of the thin-film batteries business, including corporate strategies,
information technologies and the means for providing these highly advanced products and
service offerings. It also covers in detail the economic and technological issues regarded by
many as critical to the industry’s current state of change. The report provides a review of
the thin-film batteries industry and its structure, as well as the many companies involved
in providing these products. The competitive positions of the main players in the thin-film
batteries markets and the strategic options they face are also discussed, along with such
competitive factors as marketing, distribution and operations.
TO WHOM THE STUDY CATERS
The study will benefit existing manufacturers of handheld electronic consumer products
who seek to expand revenues and market opportunities by growing into the new
technology of thin-film batteries, which are now positioned to become a preferred solution
for many types of energy-storage and power-delivery applications such as RFID tags,
SmartCards, medical implantables, wireless chips, sensors and wireless communication
devices.
This study provides a technical overview of the thin-film batteries most appropriate for
RFID tags, SmartCards, medical implantables, wireless chips, sensors, etc., looking at
major technology developments and existing barriers. Audiences for this study include
marketing executives, business-unit managers and other decisionmakers in thin-film
batteries companies themselves, as well as in companies peripheral to this business.
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