Organic transistors have received substantial attention in recent years due to their potential application in flexible displays, sensors, and RFID tags. The main attraction of organic materials stems from their potential printability; through the use of printing, it is expected that costs per unit area of circuitry may be dropped substantially, thus enabling the realization of low-cost smart tags and displays.

In this work, we will review our progress towards the development of fully-printed transistors for smart tagging applications. We will review our development of printable conductors based on nanoparticles, printable polymer dielectrics, and printable organic semiconductors, including both acene and thiophenes precursors. Through the use of careful engineering of solvents and choice of appropriate active materials, it has been possible to realize printed transistors with characteristics suitable for use in many display applications, and approaching the needs of some RFID tagging applications. Mobilities >0.1cm^2/Vs have been realized, with on-off ratios >10^4 and operating voltages below 10V. These performance levels are therefore approaching those of amorphous silicon on plastic, and therefore may be a good candidate for replacing amorphous silicon in flexible displays. In addition, switching speeds are approaching those required for some RFID applications. We will discuss the tradeoffs associated with achieving printability, and discuss the implications of printing technology on device performance. Finally, the issues that remain to be solved will be discussed in the context of specific application requirements, thus establishing a foundation for future work aimed at realizing fully printed smart tags.