This proposal describes the third core project of the Graphene Flagship. It forms the fourth phase of the FET flagship and is characterized by a continued transition towards higher technology readiness levels, without jeopardizing our strong commitment to fundamental research. Compared to the second core project, this phase includes a substantial increase in the market-motivated technological spearhead projects, which account for about 30% of the overall budget. The broader fundamental and applied research themes are pursued by 15 work packages and supported by four work packages on innovation, industrialization, dissemination and management. The consortium that is involved in this project includes over 150 academic and industrial partners in over 20 European countries.

Graphene has many record properties. It is transparent like (or better than) plastic, but conducts heat and electricity better than any metal, it is an elastic thin film, behaves as an impermeable membrane, and it is chemically inert and stable. Thus it is ideal for the production of next generation transparent conductors. Thin and flexible graphene-based electronic components may be obtained and modularly integrated, and thin portable devices may be assembled and distributed. Graphene can withstand dramatic mechanical deformation, for instance it can be folded without breaking. Foldable devices can be imagined, together with a wealth of new form factors, with innovative concepts of integration and distribution. At present, the realisation of an electronic device (such as, e.g., a mobile phone) requires the assembly of a variety of components obtained by many technologies. Graphene, by including different properties within the same material, can offer the opportunity to build a comprehensive technological platform for the realisation of almost any device component, including transistors, batteries, optoelectronic components, photovoltaic cells, (photo)detectors, ultrafast lasers, bio- and physico-chemical sensors, etc. Such change in the paradigm of device manufacturing would revolutionise the global industry. UK will have the chance to re-acquire a prominent position within the global Information and Communication Technology industry, by exploiting the synergy of excellent researchers and manufacturers. We propose a programme of innovative and adventurous research, with an emphasis on applications, uniquely placed to translate this vision into reality. Our research consortium, led by engineers, brings together a diverse team with world-leading expertise in graphene, carbon electronics, antennas, wearable communications, batteries and supercapacitors. We have strong alignment with industry needs and engage as project partners potential users. We will complement and wish to engage with other components of the graphene global research and technology hub, and other relevant initiatives. The present and future links will allow UK to significantly leverage any investment in our consortium and will benefit UK plc. The programme consists of related activities built around the central challenge of flexible and energy efficient (opto)electronics, for which graphene is a unique enabling platform. This will be achieved through four main themes. T1: growth, transfer and printing; T2: energy; T3: connectivity; T4: detectors. The final aim is to develop "graphene-augmented" smart integrated devices on flexible/transparent substrates, with the necessary energy storage capability to work autonomously and wireless connected. Our vision is to take graphene from a state of raw potential to a point where it can revolutionise flexible, wearable and transparent (opto)electronics, with a manifold return for UK, in innovation and exploitation. Graphene has benefits both in terms of cost-advantage, and uniqueness of attributes and performance. It will enable cheap, energy autonomous and disposable devices and communication systems, integrated in transparent and flexible surfaces, with application to smart homes, industrial processes, environmental monitoring, personal healthcare and more. This will lead to ultimate device wearability, new user interfaces and novel interaction paradigms, with new opportunities in communication, gaming, media, social networking, sport and wellness. By enabling flexible (opto)electronics, graphene will allow the exploitation of the existing knowledge base and infrastructure of companies working on organic electronics (organic LEDs, conductive polymers, printable electronics), and a unique synergistic framework for collecting and underpinning many distributed technical competences.

HIPERLAM is an SME driven Research and Innovation Action (RIA) well-aligned to the Factories of the Future (FoF) Initiative with a strong emphasis upon demonstrating superior cost and speed performance in end-to-end processes featuring laser-based additive manufacturing in two key applications requiring high resolution printed conductive metallic lines, namely laser printed RFID antenna and laser printed Fingerprint sensors. Existing subtractive top-down process will be replaced by HIPERLAM’s additive process for both Applications. Process maps illustrate the existing multiple processing steps compared to HIPERLAM’s significantly fewer steps. Real-time diagnostics are included and Modelling investigations will be undertaken to support optimisation. The promise of HIPERLAM’s high resolution laser based additive manufacturing solutions is to transform the manufacturing processing speed by 10x for laser printed RFID antenna (Application 1) and 5x in the case of the lead-time for laser printed fingerprint sensor design (Application 2). Similarly, HIPERLAM promises to reduce costs by 20x and 50% respectively for Application 1 and Application 2. HIPERLAM features high resolution LIFT Printing and Laser Sintering utilising novel high viscous inks to achieve printed conductive metallic structures down to 10 µm resolution over large areas (10 to 1000 cm2) suitable for scale-up to full production. The targeted applications address global market needs and will support mainstream adoption of AM processes in EU industry by displacing existing processes with smart, flexible, digitally enabled manufacturing technology. HIPERLAM business cases promise significant revenue growth in both application spaces and in the potential for consortium partners to establish themselves in pre-eminent positions in high resolution, low cost, high throughput AM technology.

This project is the second in the series of EC-financed parts of the Graphene Flagship. The Graphene Flagship is a 10 year research and innovation endeavour with a total project cost of 1,000,000,000 euros, funded jointly by the European Commission and member states and associated countries. The first part of the Flagship was a 30-month Collaborative Project, Coordination and Support Action (CP-CSA) under the 7th framework program (2013-2016), while this and the following parts are implemented as Core Projects under the Horizon 2020 framework. The mission of the Graphene Flagship is to take graphene and related layered materials from a state of raw potential to a point where they can revolutionise multiple industries. This will bring a new dimension to future technology – a faster, thinner, stronger, flexible, and broadband revolution. Our program will put Europe firmly at the heart of the process, with a manifold return on the EU investment, both in terms of technological innovation and economic growth. To realise this vision, we have brought together a larger European consortium with about 150 partners in 23 countries. The partners represent academia, research institutes and industries, which work closely together in 15 technical work packages and five supporting work packages covering the entire value chain from materials to components and systems. As time progresses, the centre of gravity of the Flagship moves towards applications, which is reflected in the increasing importance of the higher - system - levels of the value chain. In this first core project the main focus is on components and initial system level tasks. The first core project is divided into 4 divisions, which in turn comprise 3 to 5 work packages on related topics. A fifth, external division acts as a link to the parts of the Flagship that are funded by the member states and associated countries, or by other funding sources. This creates a collaborative framework for the entire Flagship.

This proposal describes the third stage of the EC-funded part of the Graphene Flagship. It builds upon the results achieved in the ramp-up phase (2013 - 2016) and the first core project (2016 - 2018), and covers the period April 2018 - March 2020. The progress of the flagship follows the general plans set out in the Framework Partnership Agreement, and the second core project represents an additional step towards higher technology and manufacturing readiness levels. The Flagship is built upon the concept of value chains, one of which is along the axis of materials-components-systems; the ramp-up phase placed substantial resources on the development of materials production technologies, the first core project moved to emphasise components, and the second core project will move further towards integrating components in larger systems. This evolution is manifested, e.g., in the introduction of six market-motivated spearhead projects during the Core 2 project.