KOVIO, INC.

www.kovio.com

Kovio develops silicon-based printable thin-film transistor (TFT) electronic circuits.

Status

Privately Held

The Market

Electronics – Ultra-low–cost, disposable electronic devices such as radio frequency identification (RF-ID) tags, near-field communication (NFC) labels and electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags.

The Problem

Traditional semiconductor manufacturing techniques are too expensive to produce RF-ID tags at the costs required to support widespread introduction of the technology in everyday goods.

Kovio’s Solution

Unlike traditional semiconductor manufacturing techniques, most of Kovio’s production steps can be performed in ambient environment and are additive in nature (as opposed to the clean-room extractive CMOS processing). These qualities enable the company to mass-produce fully functional electronic devices at a fraction of the cost incurred by the traditional semiconductor companies. These costs are in-line with those believed to be required for mass adoption of “disposable intelligence” technology into everyday goods.

Nanotechnology Factor

The printable TFT circuits developed by Kovio are enabled by high-performance silicon, dopant, metal, and insulator inks that are the electronic equivalents of color inks in graphics printing. By combining these proprietary functional inks with printing technologies, Kovio manufactures low-power, high-performance semiconductor devices and integrated circuits over thin, flexible, lightweight, and large area substrates, at a fraction of the cost of conventional silicon technology and with a reduced environmental impact.