FLEX CFA

CFA OPENS JANUARY 8, 2024

SEMI—The FlexTech Group and FLEX 2024 Executive Committee invite you to submit:

• An abstract for an oral presentation
• An abstract for the student poster competition

ADDITIVE INNOVATION: ENABLING THE FUTURE OF ELECTRONICS

FLEX is the annual premier industry event focused on flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), hybrid electronics, printed electronics, and advanced packaging innovations. The annual FLEX Conference speakers will highlight the latest technical breakthroughs, unique electronics applications, and business strategies giving insight into the future of next generation integration in this beyond-Moore's law era. 

INDUSTRY

The theme of FLEX 2024 is “Additive Innovation: Enabling the Future of Electronics“. At the FLEX annual event, speakers will highlight the latest technical breakthroughs, unique electronics applications, and business strategies giving insight into the future of next generation integration in this beyond-Moore’s law era. Flexible hybrid electronics present unique heterogeneous integration capabilities with unprecedented continuity with us and the world we live in. This softer side of electronics represents high performance integrated devices that are curved and variable in form factor. Electronics that augment our daily activities and interact with our surroundings like no personal computing device ever has, are emerging in new and varied application spaces. This Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) go-to event is the center of technical and informative demonstration of flexible hybrid and printed electronics products, equipment, processes and materials and the applications they enable. We are inviting speakers from across the electronics supply chain to present FHE innovation and the impact it is having on the future of electronic products.

EVENT

As the premier technical and networking conference for industry stakeholders, FLEX brings together 500+ executives, product managers, business development professionals, and engineering directors from the flexible, hybrid and printed electronics value chain, and attracts leading industry analysts and media. The event attracts 350 companies, universities, R&D labs, and government agencies from around the world. This year’s conference will take place Tuesday-Thursday, July 9-11 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, California integrated into the long-standing semiconductor technology conference, SEMICON WEST.

ABSTRACTS

Subject Matter Experts are welcome to submit abstracts describing their work, results and the associated business strategy on the targeted topics outlined. We are offering the opportunity to present 30-minute presentations with considerable technical depth. Marketing presentations are not acceptable for this opportunity.

POSTERS

Students from leading research universities are also welcomed to submit posters describing their work and results on the same target topics. Prizes will be awarded to the top three student posters as judged by a panel of industry and academic experts. The author/co-author must be available to present during the Student Poster designated presentation times during the conference.

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TOPIC AREAS

We are seeking abstracts addressing business strategy and technical matters in the areas of technology for flexible, hybrid and printed electronics breakthroughs and innovations in, but not limited to, the following key topics:

Applications 

A broad range of application topics are covered with the goal of aligning FHE development with market needs. Application areas include Consumer Electronics (such as smart home devices, robotics), Smart Infrastructure (buildings, surfaces, solar, energy storage), Smart Mobility (such as automotive, aerospace, marine), Connectivity (including RF, microwave, antennae, phased arrays, 5G, IoT), Medical (Health, Wellness, monitoring), Sensors and System Integration, as well as Displays and Display Integration. In addition to submissions for FHE technical development, end user companies who have unmet requirements for FHE will also be of interest.

• Smart MedTech: Medical, Health, and Wellness, Health Monitoring, Wearables, Electronics Skin Patches 
• Electronic Textiles Integrated System/Smart Textile 
• Smart Mobility: Aerospace, Automotive, Marine, in mold electronics  
• FHE Devices to Enable Smart Manufacturing
  • FHE Enabling Industry 4.0
  • Monitoring/Sensing  
• Displays including AR/VR displays, MicroLED, and bendable/foldable displays 
• Consumer Electronics (IoT, wearables, Printed Pressure Sensors, Asset Monitoring…)  
• Communication Arrays & Associated Electronics 
• Soft Robotics 
• Electronics for Extreme Environmental Conditions 
• Applications Specific Reliability Criteria 
   

Integration & Advanced Packaging 

Printed hybrid electronics approaches yield to enable device packaging and system level packaging for greater performance and lower cost and environmental robustness, and better fit for system integration to the asset shape.

Topics include:

• Heterogeneous Integration enabling Applications 
• Hybrid Electronics enabling Advanced Packaging 
  • Packaging 2D, 2.5D or 3D
    • Hybrid Printing Processes 
    • Additive processing with fine lines multi-layer printing 
    • Wafer Level Fan Out 
    • Panel Level Fan Out  
    • High-density interconnect and fine-pitch L/S 
    • Direct Write Interconnects
  • Sensor (temperature, Impact, Gas, …), Antenna with High Frequency, mm wave integration 
  • Complex Substrates Technology
     

Processing & Manufacturing 

Flexible Hybrid Electronics system integration is essential to maintain the pace of progress with higher performance and reliability, lower latency, smaller size, lighter weight, and lower power requirements and the demonstration of manufacturability of the processes and devices. 

We are seeking presentations that focus on:

• Testing and Characterization 
• Demonstrable Failure & Lifetime Reliability, Simulation & Modeling 
• Transfer to Manufacturing; Smart Manufacturing to Build FHE Devices    
• Equipment & Metrology 
• Roll-to-Roll & Web Processing 
• Printing, 3D Printing, AME Additively Manufactured Electronics, Additive Processing 
• Curing 
• Artificial intelligence (AI) to improve process development and manufacturing (improve process control, yield, and reducing product lifecycle development…)   
• Standards 
• Integrated Manufacturing 
• Advanced patterning technologies for FHE
• Component attachment, pick in place
• Encapsulation
   

Materials & Components 

We are seeking presentations that focus on:

• Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) materials, including conductors, semiconductors & insulators, providing a wider range of properties to meet the demand for lower cost, reduced power & higher performance devices, modules & packages.
• In scope technologies are:
  • Next-generation printed conductors, semiconductors & dielectric materials. 
  • Development of metamaterials for use in FHE applications, inclusive RF antennas, shielding & optics 
  • Materials reliability testing for FHE 
  • Barrier Materials (stability)
  • Substrates & Substrate Treatments; including base materials and multilayer buildups
  • Functional Inks 
  • Electronic Fibers & Fabrics 
  • Novel functional materials (perovskites, quantum dots, 2D materials, etc.) for flexible PV, sensing, and related optoelectronic devices applications, and novel display materials & processing for next-generation flexible display devices
  • Extreme High-Temperature Materials and Components for Hybrid Electronics
  • Electronic Materials Designed for Environmental Sustainability  
     

Power & Batteries

We are seeking presentations that focus on:

• Power Generation for FHE, IoT, MEMS & Sensors   
• Energy Harvesting & Storage  
• Batteries & Flexible batteries (wearable, low-power devices, …) 
• Solar Panels/Photovoltaic Technology
• Packaging and Thermal Management in FHE 
• Environmental Sustainability: Recycling and Environmental Impact Mitigation of Energy Storage Devices   
• Power Packaging/Integration (including hybrid integration) 
   

PRESENTATION & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 

Presentations must include practical recommendations for addressing commercialization issues or applications providing innovative technological or market solutions driven by a use-case along with its integration challenges and system-level architecture decisions. Presentations should also cover how each challenge was addressed and overcome. Include the main message you wish to convey, your recommendations for the supply chain and how your presentation or poster will advance the technology of Flexible Hybrid Electronics, Printed Electronics, or Flexible Electronics and/or manufacturing methods. Also include what do you think we as an industry should be working on and what are you working on to demonstrate sustainability. Include any suggestions that SEMI – The FlexTech Group can do to achieve progress on your issues or recommendations. Abstracts and presentations should address why the technology presented matters and to whom.

• Abstracts should clearly outline a path forward and articulate a call to action. 
• Include your business strategy
• Commercial or marketing presentations will not be accepted. 
• Speakers will receive discounted admission to FLEX 2024. No other compensation will be provided. 
• Speakers will be required to sign a Speaker Agreement, provide a biography and photo.
• All final presentations will be made available to conference attendees. 
   

BENEFITS OF PRESENTING

• Be recognized as a leader in our exciting and market-disrupting field of electronics.
• Selected presenters receive—
  • Acknowledgment on conference marketing materials, where appropriate
  • FLEX proceedings
  • Discounted FLEX registration
     

QUESTIONS?

Michelle Fabiano, IOM 
Sr. Manager, Programs & Events, SEMI 
[email protected] 

About FlexTech—A SEMI Strategic Technology Community 

SEMI FlexTech is devoted to fostering the growth of the entire flexible, hybrid, and printed electronics supply chain from R&D, design, manufacturing, and commercialization through funding for R&D, networking and business development opportunities, and education. Find out more at www.flextech.org / www.semi.org or contact [email protected].