June 5, 2012 — Nanosys Inc. will supply the Optical Systems Division of 3M Company with quantum-dot-based technologies to provide wide color gamut for consumer electronic displays, allowing liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to display 50% more color.
3M and Nanosys will work together to commercialize Nanosys’ Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF) technology. QDEF is a drop-in film that LCD manufacturers can integrate with existing production processes. It utilizes the light-emitting properties of quantum dots to create an ideal backlight for LCDs. The QDEF product took a gold award in the Display Component of the Year category of Society for Information Display (SID)’s Display Industry Awards this week.
Current LCDs are limited to displaying 35% or less of the visible color spectrum. Wide color gamut displays will enable more immersive and truer-to-life displays.
Color performance “has been largely neglected for the last decade,” said Jason Hartlove, president and CEO of Nanosys, adding that the drop-in quantum dot technology offers competitive advantage to LCD manufacturer against new display technologies such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
A quantum dot’s precise light-emission wavelength allows QDEF to create an ideal white backlight specifically for LCDs. The film packages trillions of quantum dots into a thin film inside an LCD backlight unit, without new equipment or process changes for the LCD manufacturer.
Nanosys, Inc. is an advanced material developer focused on inorganic materials for lighting, electronic displays, and energy storage. For more information, visit www.nanosysinc.com.
3M creates diverse products based on materials science. For more information, visit www.3M.com