Wireless Power Charger Makes Efficient Flooring

A
s workspaces and living rooms become
increasingly populated witli more and
more battery-consutniiig electronic de-
vices, it has occurred to some researchers
that there may be a better way to supply power.
How about on an as-needed basis? And let's build
the power supplies into the environment, making
[hem less intrusive.
This is the idea behind smart power transmis-
sion sheets, which selectively feed power to the
electronic devices placed on them. Takayasu
Sakurai, professor of the Center for Collaborative
Research at the University of Tokyo, and Takao
Somcya, associate professor of the university's
Quantum Phase Electronics Center, demon-
strated rhese power transmission sheets, made
of printed plastic MEMS .switches and organic
tield-effect transistors (FETs), at the recent
International Electron Devices Meeting (lEDM). 1. In a ubiquitous eiectronics setting, the power transmission system feeds power
The concept represents a step toward ubiqui- from the floor to the electronic systems (vacuum, robot) or from the tabletop to the
tous electronics, where multiple electronic sys- laptop computer, when the objects are placed on the power transmission array.
(Source: University ol Tokyo)
tems, scattered over desks, floors and walls, can
be directly powered (Fig. 1). The wireless trans- occurs selectively when an object is sensed, net power-coupling
mission systetn may directly drive electronic objects and/or efficiency is 62.3%. Power levels as high as 29.3 W have been
charge a rechargeable battery in the objects without requiring a transferred in this fashion.
connector, thereby simplifying recharging procedures. The system integrates the position sensing and power trans-
Printing technologies were used to manufacture the wireless mission sheets. In the position-sensing sheet, the organic FET
power transmission sheet on a plascic film. The I-mm-thick active matrix was fabricated on a polyimide film. InkJet print-
sheet (Fig. 2} contains a 2-D array of 8 x 8 cells containing ing was used to pattern silver gate electrodes and polyimide
position sensing and power transmission units. The effective gate dielectric layers. A pentacene channel layer and gold
power transmission area is 21 x 21 cm'. The flexible sheet source/drain electrodes were deposited in vacuum. Channel
weighs 50 g. length and width were 13 \xm and 48 mm, respectively. The
Electromagnetic coupling using an organic active transistor position-sensing coil array was manufactured by screen print-
matrix senses the position of an object. Power is fed to it in- ing, and uses a resonance frequency of 2.95 MHz. Copper
ductively by an array of copper coils driven by a printed plastic lines with a space and width (S/W) of 100 jim were wrapped
MEMS-switching matrix. Because the power transmission only 38 times to form the coils with a 10 mm inner diameter (ID).
The inductance and resistance are 20 pH and 1 7 Ii.
The power transmission sheet contains a power transmis-
sion coil array over a MEMS-switching matrix. The copper
coils (10 mm ID, 300 |im S/W) were turned 13 rimes to give
an inductance of 3 |JH and resistance of 1 O. The MEMS-
switching matrix, hirmed by inkjet and screen printing, used a
25-pm-i:hick polyimide membrane to form the electrodes for
power transmission and electrostatic attraction. SI
- Laura Peters

2. The large-area wireless power transmission sheet ts peeled back

and shows only parts of each of the underlying three sheets. The
peeled layer is the power transmission coil sheet, with the MEMS-
switching sheet (brown), position-sensing coil sheet (octagonal coils)
and organic FET sheet (active matrix tile pattern) underneath. The
device assembly, comprised of a transmission system driven by an
8 x 8 MEMS-switching matrix and a positioning sensing system driven
by an 8 X 8 organic FET active matrix, has a transmission area of
21 X 21 cm'. (Source: University of Tokyo)

www.semiconductor.nei February 2007 • SEMICONDUCTOR International I 17