Category Archives: Displays

Many large companies and startups are currently working on microLED technologies for display applications: from LED makers such as Epistar, Nichia or Osram to display makers like AUO, BOE or CSOT and OEMs such as Apple or Facebook/Oculus. Due to the multiplicity of players and the diversity of strategies, KnowMade, part of Yole Group of Companies underlines a complex and heavy patent landscape. “Enabling large scale microLED displays manufacturing requires to bring together 3 major disparate know-how and supply chain bricks including LED manufacturing, display manufacturing and technology transfer & assembly”, asserts Dr Eric Virey, Senior Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement (Yole), part of Yole Group of Companies. The microLED displays supply chain is therefore still under construction. Participants have to find the way to collaborate together and define the most efficient manufacturing approach.

display supply chain

While very promising in terms of performance, there are still multiple manufacturing challenges that need to be addressed to enable cost effective, high volume manufacturing of microLED displays. Based on its latest microLED display technology & market report , the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company Yole proposes a live event titled Microled Displays: hype and reality | Hopes & challenges. Taking place on March 29 at 5:00 PM CET this webcast powered by I-micronews.com welcomes Dr Eric Virey from Yole. During this event, Dr Virey will expose the technical challenges and market opportunities of the microLED technologies. To register, click MicroLED Display.

“Even if the remaining technology roadblocks are removed, no company beside Apple and its startup Luxvue acquired in 2014 currently appear to have the positioning and leverage to enable the supply chain,” comments Yole’s expert. So what could happen?

If successful, microLED displays could have a profound impact on both the LED and display supply chains. Indeed, the development of large scale microLED displays requires the combination of three major disparate technologies: LED, TFT backplane and chip transfer. The supply chain is complex and lengthy compared with that of traditional displays. Each process is critical and managing every aspect effectively will be challenging. “No single player can solve all the issues and it seems unlikely that any will fully vertically integrate”, comments Dr Virey from Yole. And he details:

• Small companies could bring together the different technologies to serve the AR/MR market, but for high volume consumer applications such as mobiles or TVs, only a strong push from a leading OEM can enable a supply chain.
• Apple has a unique market positioning: and appears to be the most likely candidate with enough leverage and financial strength to bring all partners together.
• Other candidates including Oculus for example, have also invested in microLEDs for AR/MR applications.

So what will be the next step? Yole confirms: each company will attempt to capture as much added value as it can.

For LED makers, low defect requirements and high resolution features of microLED mean large investments in new clean room and lithography equipment which might be better suited to CMOS foundries.

Traditional display makers are used to manufacturing both back and front planes in an integrated fashion and delivering finished panels to OEMs. With microLEDs, they will push back against becoming component suppliers, only providing a TFT backplane to whichever participant will produce the final display assembly: OEMs or OSAT players.

In parallel, some companies will benefit from microLED displays independently of how the supply chain is shaped. These beneficiaries include MOCVD reactor and other LED equipment manufacturers as well as wafer suppliers.

Please, touch the display


March 20, 2017

The possibilities for integrating haptics with displays are nearly limitless.

BY SRI PERUVEMBA, Board Director & Head of Marketing, Society for Information Display

Screen Shot 2017-04-20 at 10.06.20 PM

A technology trend you may be hearing about more frequently is haptics. The term refers, quite literally, to the science of touch – it is tactile-feedback technology that applies force, motion or vibration to the user to create the sense of touch. In many cases, an actuator is used to convert electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic energy into vibrations that are controlled and managed by special software (FIGURE 1). First integrated into motors, haptics can now be encountered nearly anywhere, enhancing the user’s sense of realism and attracting attention in unique ways. For example, new car models employ haptics in the seat, steering wheel and other areas in conjunction with such technologies as lane departure and forward collision warning alarms.

Screen Shot 2017-04-20 at 10.05.37 PM

Haptics are particularly useful when combined with actual touch technologies. Most of us are familiar with touch displays, given their ubiquity in smartphones, tablets and newer automotive displays. But they do have drawbacks. Touch screens can be difficult to use in wet or sandy environments, as well as those involving extremes of temperature. Now, consider the notion of haptic touch – essentially, a screen that touches you back. Haptic touch screens can provide tactile feedback to your finger as you swipe or scroll over the screen. Ultra-low electrical currents that create sensation on the skin can allow you to feel buttons, textures and other visually flat surface features, resulting in a more immersive experience.

Automotive applications

Haptics are turning up in the design of today’s cars for a range of applications, helping improve the driving experience and making it safer. As mentioned earlier, car makers are including vibration alerts that warn drivers of potential impact with another vehicle, and sensors integrated with haptics can provide warnings that help drivers parallel park safely. The union of haptics and displays can ideally help improve the interface between people and vehicles. Some automobile brands employ a system similar to a tablet. Located in the center console, it enables the driver to use fingertip touch to control the vehicle. Other carmakers are incorporating haptic feedback in the dashboard and console to enhance driver control and maintain safety.

Mobile devices and gaming

As makers of mobile devices began to adopt haptic technology, the vibrate function on mobile phones became a standard feature. The basic vibrations first incorporated into mobile phones, which allowed users to get notifications without having to turn on the ringer, have now become fully customizable.

Utilizing this haptic “language,” users can know generally what’s happening without having to stop right away and look at their device, increasing safety and convenience while driving, biking, running and other activities. The Apple Watch allows the wearer to hear and feel communication, utilizing the company’s patented “taptic engine” to deliver a physical tap. It also allows the wearer to literally send another person a tap – the recipient will feel a similar sensation when tapping his or her watch, and will know who is looking to get in touch. The next generation of haptic technologies will take it further, allowing a dozen or more uniquely different sensations to be created using new polymer materials driven by customized waveforms.

In the gaming space, early haptics comprised vibrations sent through a handheld controller. As more companies entered the space and launched their own systems, every console featured some type of haptics. Over the last 20 years, haptics have moved beyond the controller, to steering wheels and gaming chairs, among other tactile gaming accessories. Today, the gaming market is approaching $100 billion, and the combination of haptics with large, high-resolution screens is making gaming a fully inter- active experience. Even familiar video games like Pong or those using dice or cards take on a new dimension of reality when haptics are integrated. The newest trends include integration of as many as 10 haptic actuators into the handheld gaming controller. Each of these actuators can provide unique feedback, in both intensity and pattern, driven by software/waveforms.

AR/VR

The fastest-growing application for haptic displays is virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR). Companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Facebook and large startups such as Magic Leap are investing a great deal in this space, while smaller entrants are expanding the landscape, creating many new opportunities. Virtual reality now looks and sounds so lifelike that you feel as though you’re physically in the virtual space, so you want to touch things and to feel things touching you.

But without haptics, this isn’t possible. Early versions of AR/VR devices offered visual and auditory experiences with rudimentary haptic feedback. The next generation of devices will allow even more varied virtual experiences – e.g., realtors can ‘walk’ buyers through a new home, while travel promoters can allow clients to ‘experience’ new vacation destinations. In addition, AR/VR with high-resolution displays and haptics will bring tremendous gains to the medical and entertainment industries. All of these advances will be possible with haptic technologies that let you distinguish textures, feel rain on your palm, and be able to differen- tiate between hard pebbles and soft sand.

Haptics in medicine

Today, if you undergo medical or dental surgery, there’s a good chance the surgeon used technology involving haptics to practice and hone his or her skills. Integrating medical devices with haptics provides a new level of intuitive performance for medical practitioners. While technology developments have yielded new medical devices that let doctors perform procedures with minimal disturbance to the patient, the all-important personal connection between them has lessened. What haptic technology enables is a return to the importance of touch in strengthening this personal connection between doctors and patients. The result is a multi-disci- plinary approach to developing medical devices.

Laparoscopic surgery has already become a boon to surgeons, enabling them to obtain clear internal information on a patient with minimal invasion, recovery time and scarring. Integrating laparoscopes with haptics takes this invaluable technique one giant step further, giving doctors the ability to obtain a similar sensation to what they could receive using their hands and other tools while still minimizing patient discomfort. Dental training simulators also become more effective and realistic when integrated with haptics, and using haptic technology in student practice can help eliminate professional errors.

Looking ahead

The possibilities for integrating haptics with displays are nearly limitless. Imagine being able to “travel” to remote areas and experience what it’s like to visit the rainforest, Antarctica, or virtually any other place on earth. Not only tourism, but the real estate market could benefit from this typeofapplication–peoplewhoneedtorelocateorinvest in property far away from their current location could use haptics to allow the full virtual open house experience. Think of the convenience and savings in travel time. In the retail space, before you visited a big department store, such as Harrods of London, you could go through the store with a VR set outfitted with haptics for a fully tactile pre-shopping experience. And then there’s entertainment. Hollywood is finding new ways to allow you be part of a movie – e.g., 3D films shown in a theater equipped with motion simulator seats – while Disney Research has a major project in the works called Surround Haptics.

If you’d like to know what the industry’s brightest minds are dreaming up in the haptics space, plan to visit Display Week 2017, being held May 21-26 in Los Angeles. Display Week is the premier event for previewing display technologies that will be on the market in the next two to five years. This year, AR and VR will be well repre- sented, along with many haptics-related demos. Come join us for a sneak preview, and feel.

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced that it has moved its headquarters office to Milpitas, Calif. The new SEMI office is approximately five miles (eight kilometers) from the former location in San Jose, Calif.

SEMI is a global organization with offices in the U.S., China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. SEMI’s headquarters houses its global leadership and administration staff as well as Americas region personnel. Through maintaining its headquarters in Silicon Valley, SEMI continues to be connected to the region’s unique innovation ecosystem.

In addition to providing efficient and cost-effective office space for SEMI staff, the new facility features a dedicated conference center with configurable seminar rooms, modern infrastructure and amenities. The new facility better supports SEMI member networking and collaboration needs ─ from SEMI Standards and Special Interest Groups to SEMI’s network of Strategic Association Partners, including FlexTech, MEMS & Sensors Group (MSIG), and the Fab Owners Association (FOA).

SEMI Headquarters new location is:

SEMI

673 S. Milpitas Blvd.

Milpitas, CA 95035

“Our new location with its enhanced operational capabilities and efficiencies will help us better serve the growth and evolving needs of our members,” said Rich Salsman, CFO and VP of Operations at SEMI.

To realize the next generation of devices for information processing based on new phenomena such as spintronics, multiferroics, magnetooptics, and magnonics, their constituent materials need to be developed. Recent rapid progress in nanotechnology allows us to fabricate nanostructures that are impossible to obtain in nature.

However, complex magnetic oxides are one of the most complicated material systems in terms of development and analysis. In addition, the detailed mechanism is unknown by which changes in atomic composition that do not affect overall structure lead to drastic changes in material characteristics even though the material structure is similar.

Now, researchers at Spin Electronics Group at Toyohashi Tech and at Myongji University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, University of California, San Diego, and Trinity College Dublin found that nanoscale pillar-shaped distribution of iron in strontium titanate (STF) changes its magnetic and magnetooptical response drastically. Surprisingly, the polycrystalline sample showed stronger magnetism than single crystalline film.

Image of nanopillar-like poly-crystalline STF film obtained by transmission electron microscopy. Credit: TOYOHASHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY.

Image of nanopillar-like poly-crystalline STF film obtained by transmission electron microscopy.
Credit: TOYOHASHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY.

“In usual oxide systems, magnetic and magnetooptical effects are stronger in highly ordered structures. In other words, single crystalline material is better for obtaining better magnetic properties,” explains Assistant Professor Taichi Goto, “However, iron-substituted strontium titanate deposited at certain oxygen pressure is different.”

The STF films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition at various pressures directly on silicon substrate, and crystalline structure and magnetic properties were characterized systematically. A sample deposited at a certain pressure showed significantly stronger magnetism and larger Faraday rotation angle (magnetooptical effects) at room temperature. Several tests analyzing the oxygen stoichiometry and the corresponding Fe valence states, the structure and strain state, and the presence of small-volume fractions of iron revealed that the nanostructure and clustering of the elements enhanced magnetism.

These results show the broad possibility of polycrystalline films being used in silicon-based devices. In this paper, the integration of STF film with 0.1 mm scale optical resonator was demonstrated. Further, the integration of such novel oxides with conventional device concepts would pave a way for interesting systems in the future.

The ConFab – an exclusive conference and networking event for semiconductor manufacturing and design executives from leading device makers, OEMs, OSATs, fabs, suppliers and fabless/design companies – announces Keynotes in the May 14-17 event being held at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

The ConFab 2017 is excited to welcome these distinguished Keynote speakers: Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at ON Semiconductor; Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory, as well as the Laboratory for Intelligent and Safe Automobiles at the University of California San Diego; Dr. Alissa Fitzgerald, Founder and Managing Member of A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, and Bill McClean, President of IC Insights.

Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at ON Semiconductor

Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at ON Semiconductor

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

Mohan Trivedi, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Computer Vision and Robotics Research Laboratory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The five hottest areas for semiconductor growth in the coming years are the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, 5G, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), and artificial intelligence (AI). The ConFab 2017 program will take a close look at the challenges of these applications in the semiconductor industry, not just on the microprocessor and memory side, but on the MEMS, sensor, display, power and analog side. Many new innovations in packaging will also addressed,” said Pete Singer, Conference Chair of The ConFab and Editor-in-Chief of Solid State Technology.

In addition to our great Keynotes, the 2017 Agenda brings together sessions on heterogeneous integration and advanced packaging, starting with a talk from Islam Salama, Director with Intel, followed by Bill Chen, ASE Fellow, and Jan Vardaman, President of TechSearch. Siemens will speak on Smart Manufacturing, which will encompass the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). A panel discussion on Advanced Packaging will be moderated by Vinayak Pandey, Vice President of STATS ChipPAC with additional sessions that will focus on MEMS and sensors. Speakers include Kevin Shaw, CTO and Founder of Algorithmic Intuition and J.C. Eloy, President and CEO of Yole Développement. Another panel will look into the coming opportunities and changes in a range of diverse markets, including MEMS and Sensors, power electronics, biomedical, LEDs, displays and more. Those panelists include Valerie Marty of Connected Micro, Laura Rothman Mauer of Veeco, David Butler of SPTS and Mike Rosa of Applied Materials. Jason Marsh of NextFlex will provide an update on flexible electronics on Wednesday.

The ConFab is a high-level conference for decision-makers and influencers to connect, innovate and collaborate in multiple sessions, one-on-one private business meetings, and other networking activities. For more information, visit www.theconfab.com.

About The ConFab

The ConFab is the premier semiconductor manufacturing conference and networking event bringing over 200 notable industry leaders together. The ConFab is owned and produced by Extension Media and hosted by Pete Singer, Solid State Technology’s Editor-in-Chief, and Conference Chair. To inquire about participating – if you represent an equipment, material or service supplier, contact Kerry Hoffman, Director of Sales, at [email protected]. To inquire about attending, contact Sally Bixby, Sr. Events Director at [email protected]

About Extension Media

Extension Media is a privately held company operating more than 50 B2B magazines, engineers’ guides, newsletters, websites and conferences that focus on high-tech industry platforms and emerging technologies such as: chip design, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, embedded systems, software, architectures and industry standards. Extension Media also produces industry leading events including The ConFab, the Internet of Things Developers Conference (IoT DevCon 2017) and the new Machine Learning Developers Conference (ML DevCon 2017), and publishes Embedded Systems Engineering, EECatalog.com, Embedded Intel® Solutions, EmbeddedIntel.com, Chip Design, ChipDesignMag.com, Solid State Technology and Solid-State.com.

Quantum dots are very small particles that exhibit luminescence and electronic properties different from those of their bulk materials. As a result, they are attractive for use in solar cells, optoelectronics, and quantum computing. Quantum computing involves applying a small voltage to quantum dots to regulate their electron spin state, thus encoding information. While traditional computing is based on a binary information system, electron spin states in quantum dots can display further degrees of freedom because of the possibility of superposition of both states at the same time. This feature could increase the density of encoded information.

Readout of the electron spin of quantum dots is necessary to realize quantum computing. Single-shot spin readout has been used to detect spin-dependent single-electron tunneling events in real time. The performance of quantum computing could be improved considerably by single-shot readout of multiple spin states.

A Japanese research collaboration based at Osaka University has now achieved the first successful detection of multiple spin states through single-shot readout of three two-electron spin states of a single quantum dot. They reported their findings in Physical Review Letters.

To read out multiple spin states simultaneously, the researchers used a quantum point contact charge sensor positioned near a gallium arsenide quantum dot. The change in current of the charge sensor depended on the spin state of the quantum dot and was used to distinguish between singlet and two types of triplet spin states.

“We obtained single-shot ternary readout of two-electron spin states using edge-state spin filtering and the orbital effect,” study first author Haruki Kiyama says.

That is, the rate of tunneling between the quantum dot and electron reservoir depended on both the spin state of the electrons and the interaction between electron spin and the orbitals of the quantum dot. The team identified one ground state and two excited states in the quantum dot using their setup.

The researchers then used their ternary readout setup to investigate the spin relaxation behavior of the three detected spin states.

“To confirm the validity of our readout system, we measured the spin relaxation of two of the states,” Kiyama explains. “Measurement of the dynamics between the spin states in a quantum dot is an important application of the ternary spin readout setup.”

The spin relaxation times for the quantum dot measured using the ternary readout system agreed with those reported, providing evidence that the system yielded reliable measurements.

This ternary readout system can be extended to quantum dots composed of other materials, revealing a new approach to examine the spin dynamics of quantum dots and representing an advance in quantum information processing.

Over 60,000 attendees are expected at SEMICON China opening tomorrow at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). SEMICON China (March 14-16) offers the latest in technology and innovation for the electronics manufacturing industry. FPD China is co-located with SEMICON China, providing opportunities in this related market. Featuring nearly 900 exhibitors occupying nearly 3,000 booths, SEMICON China is the largest gathering of its kind in the world.

Worldwide fab equipment spending is expected to reach an industry all-time record, to more than US$46 billion in 2017, according to the latest version of the SEMI (www.semi.org) World Fab Forecast. In 2018, the record may break again, with spending close to the $50 billion mark.  SEMI forecasts that China will be third ($6.7 billion) for regional fab equipment spending in 2017, but its spending in 2018 may reach $10 billion – which would be a 55 percent increase year-over-year, placing China in second place for worldwide fab equipment spending in 2018.

On March 14, keynotes at SEMICON China include SMIC chairman of the Board Zhou Zixue. ASE Group director and COO Tien Wu, ASML president and CEO Peter Wennink, Intel VP Jun He, Lam Research CEO Martin Anstice, TEL CTO Sekiguchi Akihisa and imec president and CEO Luc Van den hove.

SEMICON China programs expand attendees’ knowledge, networking reach, and business opportunities. Programs this year feature a broad and deep range:

  • CSTIC: On March 12-13, the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC) precedes SEMICON China. CSTIC is organized by SEMI and imec and covers all aspects of semiconductor technology and manufacturing.
  • Technical and Business Programs: 
    • March 14: China Memory Strategic Forum.
    • March 15: Building China’s IC Ecosystem, Green High-Tech Facility Forum, and Smart Manufacturing Forum, in addition Power & Compound Semiconductor Forum (Day 1).
    • March 16: Smart Automotive Forum, MEMS & Sensors Conference Asia, plus Power & Compound Semiconductor Forum (Day 2)
  • Tech Investment Forum: On March 15, an international platform to explore investment, M&A, and China opportunities.
  • Theme Pavilions:  SEMICON China also features six exhibition floor theme pavilions: IC Manufacturing, LED and Sapphire, ICMTIA/Materials, MEMS, Touch Screen and OLED.
  • Networking Events: SEMI Industry Gala, China IC Night, and SEMI Golf Tournament

For additional information on sessions and events at SEMICON China 2017, please visit www.semiconchina.org/en/4.

Kateeva today announced that it is expanding its Silicon Valley headquarters. The company has leased an adjacent building at its Newark campus, adding 75,000 sq. ft. that is zoned for manufacturing and business operations. This brings Kateeva’s total campus footprint to 150,000 sq.ft. Kateeva moved to its current location in early 2015 to facilitate production ramp-up of its YIELDjet inkjet printing manufacturing equipment for the global flat panel display industry. Since then, headcount has nearly tripled to 330 people, and orders for YIELDjet systems have soared. With the new building, Kateeva’s doubles its manufacturing footprint, providing ample space to accelerate production.

Leading flat panel display manufacturers use Kateeva’s precision deposition equipment for cost-effective mass production of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays. OLED technology is behind some of today’s most popular smartphones and tablets. Already, OLED screens curve around edges to enable unique form factors. Soon, when tablets, notebooks and smartphones can bend, roll and even fold without breaking, it will be thanks to OLED technology. OLED technology enables the production of displays on plastic (entirely free of glass), making them flexible and paper-thin.

Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system for OLED TFE mass production

Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system for OLED TFE mass production

Kateeva’s first product, the YIELDjet FLEX system, enabled a rapid transition from glass encapsulation to Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) in new OLED production lines. The “freedom from glass” technology leap was the gateway to flexible displays. Each Kateeva inkjet printer is highly customized and built to extremely exacting specifications. Measuring approximately 2,000 sq.ft., the tool contains thousands of precision parts, and is differentiated by myriad innovations that are protected by 200 issued and pending patents. With the system, customers can achieve dramatically higher TFE yields and lower mass-production costs than what was previously possible with other deposition techniques. On an OLED mass-production line, Kateeva printers work in concert with tools from other leading equipment companies to process the panels.

Kateeva’s tools are designed and engineered in Newark, so the expansion will support the company’s growing R&D team. In addition, since Kateeva manufactures a majority of its products and components in Newark, the expansion will also support a large increase in its U.S. manufacturing capacity.

Kateeva’s President and Co-founder, Dr. Conor Madigan noted: “Kateeva’s manufacturing strategy utilizes a balance of production in Asia, as well as the U.S. This dual-region strategy generates optimum efficiencies and will continue as we grow. For now, our most complex and customized products will be built at our Newark facility where we can leverage our adjacent manufacturing and engineering teams to maintain highest quality while also satisfying our customers’ aggressive delivery timelines. This is far more difficult to achieve when our manufacturing and engineering teams are separated and remote. Building these products in the U.S. also helps us safeguard the intellectual property that differentiates our technology solution.”

Madigan listed other advantages of Kateeva’s newly expanded Newark HQ: “By obtaining an adjacent building we can maintain the operating efficiencies of a single site,” he said. “Also, in Newark we’re next door to several international airports, which is imperative for a manufacturer of capital equipment bound for production fabs in Asia. Finally, our location situates us ideally to draw talent from all regions in and around Silicon Valley.”

Today, FlexTech, a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, announced the agenda for 2017FLEX Japan, the first flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) conference in Tokyo on April 11-12. More than two hundred attendees are expected to participate from the international FHE community and adjacent industry sectors including semiconductor, sensors, and printed electronics industries. Japanese-English simultaneous translation will be available in all sessions of the conference. The event is based on the same format as the 15 year-old FLEX Conference events in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia.  Registration is now open for 2017FLEX Japan.

FHE is the leading technical approach to design and manufacture devices for fast growth markets including IoT, environmental sensing, wearable applications, flexible displays and other conformable and low profile applications. 2017FLEX Japan includes four sessions on critical areas for FHE success:

  • FHE / Printed Electronics – addresses latest technical developments on flexible electronic components including, substrates, printed communication, processing, power and displays
  • IoT Applications – covers new applications for FHE in home security, retail and distribution, and industrial IoT
  • Sensors – provides updates on integrating sensors into FHE systems
  • Smart Textiles – focuses on design of stretchable, twistable FHE components

The four sessions will feature 16 technologists and experts from Japan, Americas, Asia and Europe representing organizations and academia active in the FHE area, including:

  • Tohoku University: Masayoshi Esashi, professor, Micro System Integration Center
  • AIST: Toshihide Kamata, director, Flexible Electronics Research Center
  • Google: Kelly Dobson, research leader, Advanced Technology and Projects Group
  • SECOM: Tsuneo Komatsuzaki, managing executive officer, director of Intelligent System Laboratory
  • Cornell University: Juan Hinestroza, associate professor of Fiber Science, Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design
  • U.S.A. Air Force Research Laboratory: Michael F. Durstock, chief, Soft Matter Material Branch

The two-day program also includes a table top exhibition and a reception to facilitate business developments and technology collaboration.

To learn more about the event, visit 2017FLEX Japan website at: www.semi.org/jp/node/73811/

Materion Corporation (NYSE:MTRN) announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the target materials business of the Heraeus Group, of Hanau, Germany, for approximately $30 million.

The acquisition strengthens Materion’s position in precious and non-precious target materials for the architectural and automotive glass, photovoltaic, display and semiconductor markets. The business, now operating within the Materion Advanced Materials business segment, is expected to generate approximately $50 to $60 million in new value-added sales on an annualized basis and be accretive to 2017 earnings. Materion Advanced Materials reported value-added sales of $176.3 million in 2016.

Through this transaction, Materion’s Advanced Materials segment gains target manufacturing capability in Europe, Asia and the U.S., as well as new technologies and a highly specialized workforce of 135 employees.

Donald G. Klimkowicz, President, Materion Advanced Materials, commented, “Beyond accelerating and solidifying our global materials offering in semiconductor and display, the acquisition provides diversification, critical mass and new opportunities in other growing target-related areas where Materion has not enjoyed as strong a position including glass and photovoltaic. This truly is a winning combination.”

Added Materion Chief Executive Officer Richard J. Hipple, “This transaction is the latest in a series of advanced materials acquisitions made by Materion since 2005 to augment our growth and further our diversification into a leading advanced materials organization. I am very excited about the prospects for future growth that this acquisition brings us in existing and new markets, and how closely the values and culture of the Heraeus employees who join us match with our own. We welcome them to the Materion family.”

Materion Corporation is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, supplies highly engineered advanced enabling materials to global markets. Products include precious and non-precious specialty metals, inorganic chemicals and powders, specialty coatings, specialty engineered beryllium alloys, beryllium and beryllium composites, and engineered clad and plated metal systems.