US: And now ... organic RFID tags

At the Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society in the United States, scientists at OrganicID announced that frequencies of 13.56MHz and above have been achieved using organic transistor based electronic circuits.

Not only is this a breakthrough for the organic electronics industry, but it is also a significant step in the development the world's first fully standardised, printable RFID tag. The tag is estimated to cost only pennies per unit and will create significant new opportunities in supply and demand chains.

Based in Colorado Springs, OrganicID is a developer of low-cost, printable RFID tags. The company says it aims to remove the barriers that keep companies from realising item-level RFID tagging in their supply chains. Two primary concerns are the cost of the tags and their ability to function properly in a demanding commercial environment.

One of the key components of an RFID tag is the front-end rectifier that must operate at 13.56 MHz, which is predicted by many industry experts to be the most desired frequency for item level tracking.

While it is clear that existing organic transistors support RFID operation at frequencies of 125 kHz, they fail to meet common supply chain requirements, thus making 13.56MHz necessary.

Through extensive research and testing, OrganicID has shown that by operating its proprietary organic transistors with patent-pending circuit designs, such operating frequencies can be achieved.

"Now for the first time, organic RFID tag components are shown to have performance characteristics that can meet the commercial requirements of the industry," says Klaus Dimmler, CEO of OrganicID.

"With this technology we can now begin to enhance the high-volume printing techniques to bring this to market."

In the past year, OrganicID has made several significant steps in bringing the 13.56 MHz tag to market. The company is now in the process of expanding its manufacturing efforts and will make more announcements on its progress this year.

Source