ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Printed silicon electronics

Imagine building a Lego tower. You take individual Lego bricks and stack them piece by piece, making something tall and fun. Similarly, printed silicon electronics are like building a tower of Lego bricks, but instead of using plastic bricks, we use tiny, flat computer chips made out of a special kind of material called silicon.

Now, let's imagine we have a very thin sheet of paper. We can print images and words on it using a printer. Similarly, we can print tiny computer chips on a thin sheet of silicon using a special printer that prints circuits, called a 3D printer. This process of printing circuits on silicon is called additive manufacturing.

After printing the circuits on the silicon, we still need to give them power and a way to communicate with other devices. For example, when you use a remote control to change TV channels, the remote sends a signal to the TV using infrared light. Similarly, we add tiny wires to the printed circuits that connect to power sources and communication devices, like sensors or antennae, so they can exchange information with other devices.

Finally, once everything is connected, we have a functional electronic device created out of printed silicon electronics! These devices can be used in a wide range of things like sensors, solar cells, and even wearable technology like smartwatches.

Overall, printed silicon electronics use a printer to create tiny computer chips on a thin sheet of silicon, and connect them with wires to form functional electronic devices.