FastNCMOS

The project will open-up a business opportunity based on a new circuit design concept
(FastNCMOS) and integrated production process for flexible integrated circuits (ICs) to
enable low-cost, fully compliant near-field communication (NFC) tags. There is a growing
ecosystem and infrastructure for NFC including new applications, business models and
products. NFC allows consumers to intuitively communicate with everyday items such as
product packaging. Food labels could be updated remotely to change with demand/usagedates,
bottles could sense when they are empty and need to be replaced/refilled, or pharma
packaging could indicate when it is time for the next dose of medication or prevent overdose
(e.g. insulin). All of these uses and more represent a first step towards the “internet-of-things”
(IoT). Existing approaches use silicon-based solutions which have the benefit of mature
technology and integration processes. A printed electronics (PE) approach offers a much
lower cost potential and more attractive (flexible, ultra-thin) form factor. Key advantages of
PragmatIC’s technology is that it is flexible and can be produced exceptionally cheaply in
huge quantities. However, to meet all NFC specifications is a significant challenge to current
flexible IC technologies due to the complexity but, more critically, the need for highfrequency
(speed) performance. FastNCMOS will demonstrate a new circuit design concept
which overcomes limitations of current NMOS technology without requiring any
improvement in materials performance or reduction in critical feature-size. This will allow the
tags to be read with any NFC-enabled smartphone without any change to firmware/software or
a dedicated “app”, and is a critical requirement to maximise the commercial exploitation of
flexible IC tags.