1. A method of forming electrically active zinc oxide micro-features on a substrate, the method comprising:
forming a plurality of micro-features on a substrate by contact printing an ink formulation on the substrate using a shim, said ink formulation comprising a zinc oxide precursor; and
heat curing the micro-features at a suitable temperature to convert the zinc oxide precursor to zinc oxide.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the shim prior to heat curing.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying or removing the shim during or after heat curing.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the heat curing is performed at ambient pressure.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the heat curing is performed in a reducing atmosphere.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the heat curing comprises heating at a temperature from about 60\xb0 C. and about 300\xb0 C.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the heat curing comprises heating at a temperature from about 40\xb0 C. and about 350\xb0 C.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a plastic.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the zinc oxide precursor is a zinc compound.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the zinc compound is selected from the group of zinc nitrate, zinc acetate, zinc carbonate, zinc acetylacetonate, zinc (II) acrylate, zinc chloride, zinc bromide, zinc citrate, zinc tert-butoxide, zinc cyclohexanebutyrate, zinc diethyldithiocarbamate, zinc gluconate, and combinations thereof.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the ink formulation further comprises nano particulates dispersed in therein.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the nano particulates are selected from the group of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, indium oxide, indium tin oxide, gallium oxide, gallium tin oxide, and combinations thereof.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the ink formulation further comprises a dopant selected from the group of zinc arsenate, zinc borate, zinc molybdate, zinc phosphate, zinc phosphide, zinc selenate, zinc sulphate, zinc (II) p-toluenesulfonate, and combinations thereof.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the ink formulation further comprises a surfactant selected to control crystal growth morphology during curing.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of forming at least one feature having a size in at least one dimension in excess of 1 millimeter.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the plurality of micro-features comprises:
introducing a layer of the ink formulation onto the substrate; and
placing the shim in contact with the substrate wherein raised areas of the shim displace ink from areas not corresponding to the micro-features.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein introducing the layer of the ink formulation onto the substrate is performed by jetting, dip-coating, spin-coating, or doctor blade-coating.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the plurality of micro-features comprises:
introducing a layer of the ink formulation onto the shim, wherein the shim has recessed areas to define the micro-features; and
placing the shim in contact with the substrate so as to transfer ink from the recessed areas onto the substrate.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein introducing the layer of the ink formulation onto the shim is performed by jetting, dip-coating spin-coating, or doctor blade-coating.
20. A substrate having at least one electronic device formed thereon, the at least one electronic device prepared by the method of claim 1.
21. A system for forming electrically active micro-features on a substrate, the system comprising:
a shim having a plurality of recessed areas to define a plurality of micro-features;
a supply of ink, wherein the ink comprises:
a liquid vehicle, and
an oxide precursor;
means for contacting the shim to a substrate in the presence of the ink to form a plurality of micro-features on the substrate from the ink; and
means for heat curing the plurality of micro-features at a temperature between 60\xb0 C. and 300\xb0 C. to form an oxide.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the oxide precursor is a metal salt.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the metal of the metal salt is Al, Cu, Ti, Ni, Zn, or combinations thereof.
24. The system of claim 21, wherein the oxide precursor is an insulating oxide precursor.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the insulating oxide precursor is selected from the group consisting of silicon (IV) acetate, silicon iodine, hafnium acetylacetonate, hafnium ethoxide, hafnium dinitrate oxide, hafnium pentanedionate, and combinations thereof.
26. The system of claim 21, wherein the system further includes a reducing atmosphere surrounding the micro-features at least when the micro-features are heated.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An emergency call unit for a vehicle, said emergency call unit comprising:
a detection unit for detecting a trigger event;
a control unit for producing a locating signal that allows the vehicle to be located, in response to the detected event;
a receiving unit for receiving a search signal transmitted from a remote receiver; and
a transmission unit for transmitting the locating signal to the remote receiver in response to receiving the search signal;
wherein when a charge of the vehicle battery is less than a threshold the transmission unit waits for the receiving unit to receive the search signal before transmitting the locating signal.
2. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the transmission unit is a radio key for the vehicle or a vehicle transmitterreceiver.
3. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising a position-finding unit for finding a position for the vehicle;
wherein the locating signal is based on the position found.
4. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the emergency call unit is configured for transmitting the locating signal at regular intervals of time.
5. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the transmission unit is configured for transmitting the locating signal on the basis of a WLAN 802.11p standard, a WLAN 802.11 abgn standard, a WiMax standard, a Bluetooth standard or a cellular radio standard.
6. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein both an accident involving the vehicle and an electronic emergency call (Ecall) already sent by the vehicle are assessed by the emergency call unit as the trigger event.
7. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the emergency call unit is configured for receiving a search signal which is transmitted by the receiver;
wherein the search signal is assessed by the emergency call unit as the trigger event.
8. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 7,
wherein the search signal is assessed by the emergency call unit as the trigger event only if an accident involving the vehicle or the sending of an electronic emergency call has been detected beforehand.
9. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the emergency call unit is configured for parallel transmission of the locating signal on a plurality of transmission paths.
10. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the control unit forwards the locating signal and further data to the transmission unit for transmission.
11. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 10,
wherein the further data comprise a vehicle-specific rescue guideline.
12. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the transmission unit is configured for transmitting the locating signal and further information to adjacent vehicles.
13. The emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1,
wherein a report signal which is received by the emergency call unit and which relates to a reported theft of the vehicle is assessed by the emergency call unit as a trigger event.
14. A vehicle having an emergency call unit as claimed in claim 1.
15. A method for the repeated transmission of a locating signal by a transmission unit in a vehicle to a remote receiver on an emergency worker, said method comprising the steps of:
detecting a trigger event;
triggering production and transmission of a locating signal in response to the trigger event, the locating signal allowing the vehicle to be located;
producing the locating signal;
receiving a search signal transmitted from a remote receiver;
transmitting the locating signal to the remote receiver in response to receiving the search signal; and
when a charge of the vehicle battery is less than a threshold, waiting to receive the search signal, before transmitting the locating signal.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium which stores a program element which, when executed by a processor of an emergency call unit in a vehicle, instructs the processor to perform the following steps:
detect a trigger event;
trigger production and transmission of a locating signal in response to the trigger event, the locating signal allowing the vehicle to be located;
produce the locating signal;
receiving a search signal transmitted from a remote receiver;
transmitting the locating signal to the remote receiver; and
when a charge of the vehicle battery is less than a threshold, waiting to receive the search signal, before transmitting the locating signal.