Category Archives: Flexible Displays

January 19, 2012 — European research centers imec and Holst Centre are pulling together their collective organic and oxide transistor and flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) lighting research and contacts for a new project focused on next-generation flexible OLED displays. The goal is an economically scalable route to high-volume manufacturing of flexible active-matrix OLED displays.

Imec, Holst Centre, and associated partners will target high resolution, low power consumption, large area, outdoor readability, flexibility and light weight in the OLED displays. Individual challeneges that the research will address include:

  • a mechanically flexible encapsulation film and TFT backplane;
  • printed, high-efficiency OLEDs
  • new materials and processes for cheaper production, better quality, lower power, more robustness and more flexibility.

Designs of drivers, pixel circuits and TFT backplane matrix will be reconsidered as increasing display area influences the amount of pixels-per-inch or the refresh rates. Finally the program scope includes the development of new manufacturing equipment such as fine patterning equipment for backplanes and tools for integrated roll-to-roll manufacturing.

Image. Flexible OLED display developed in close collaboration with Polymer Vision, one of the industrial partners in the shared programs at Holst Centre and imec.

State-of-the-art OLED displays offer stronger contrast than LCD screens because OLEDs only emit once activated. OLEDs boast fast response times, low power consumption, better viewing angle, and simpler designs with fewer components than LCD displays. "Flexible displays represent an enormous economic and technical opportunity for flat panel manufacturers and its supply chain," said Gerwin Gelinck (Holst Centre), Program Manager of the OLED Display Program.

Also read: Long-term market outlook may shine for OLED displays

Paul Heremans (imec), Program Manager of the OLED Display Program: “With this program in mind, we already have been working more and more towards integrating separate building blocks and have realized OLED displays using both organic and metal oxide TFT backplanes. Thin, plastic substrates were used, and the displays were fully encapsulated using our state-of-the-art barrier technology. Part of this was done with other research institutes in a European project called FLAME, but we could really pull this off because of intense collaboration with some of our industrial partners. We will demonstrate some of these display prototypes in 2012.”

Imec performs world-leading research in nanoelectronics. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec.be.

Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops generic technologies for Wireless Autonomous Sensor Technologies and for Flexible Electronics. Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by imec (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Government of Flanders. More information: www.holstcentre.com.

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January 18, 2012 — SEMI presented its annual SEMI Award for North America to QD Vision. QD Vision team members made significant progress on the integration and manufacturing processes essential to the commercialization of quantum dot (QD) technology.

The QD Vision team’s pioneering work in the commercialization of QD technology is expected to support a wide range of products from lamps to displays to photovoltaics with lower cost, higher energy efficiency and greater wavelength control. Seth Coe-Sullivan accepted the SEMI Award on behalf of his team during a banquet at the 2012 SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) yesterday in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Team members include:

  • Moungi Bawendi, MIT professor, QD Vision Science Advisory Board
  • Vladimir Bulovic, MIT professor, QD Vision Science Advisory Board, QD Vision founder
  • Seth Coe-Sullivan, QD Vision founder and CTO
  • John Ritter, QD Vision, EVP of Product Development and Operations
  • Jonathan S. Steckel, QD Vision founder and director of Chemistry

Quantum Dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that glow when exposed to current or light. Discovered in the early 1980s, they were researched throughout the 1980s and early 1990s when the industry recognized the commercial potential. QDs emit different colors depending on their size and the semiconductor material in the nanocrystal. The commercial differentiation is in the bright, pure tunable colors, low-power consumption for displays and lighting, and the potential of improved efficiency for photovoltaics. QD Vision was the first to sell QD products which were integrated into general illumination lamps, introduced in 2009 at Light Fair International.  QD-based displays will first improve the color quality of LCDs, and will subsequently become the emissive element in an electroluminescent display, where R&D efficiencies demonstrated in 2011 have already eclipsed that of OLEDs and LCDs.

“Our industry honors the QD Vision team for their combined efforts to speed commercialization of Quantum Dot technology,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “This team’s work on developing integration and manufacturing processes has moved the industry forward for a wide range of applications.”

“The commercialization of quantum dot technology, led by the team at QD Vision, opens the door to new generations of products in lighting, displays, and photovoltaics,” said Bill Bottoms, chairman of the SEMI Award Advisory Committee. “They offer greater wavelength control, improved color purity and greater energy efficiency than any existing alternative. Quantum dots hold the promise of replacing the technologies we use in those areas today.””

The SEMI Award was established in 1979 to recognize outstanding technical achievement and meritorious contribution in the areas of Semiconductor Materials, Wafer Fabrication, Assembly and Packaging, Process Control, Test and Inspection, Robotics and Automation, Quality Enhancement, and Process Integration.

The award is the highest honor conferred by SEMI. It is open to individuals or teams from industry or academia whose specific accomplishments have broad commercial impact and widespread technical significance for the entire semiconductor industry. Nominations are accepted from individuals of North American-based member companies of SEMI. Past award recipients include Walter Benzing and Mike McNealy, Ken Levy, Jean Hoerni, Dan Maydan, Robert Akins and Igor Khandros, among others.

SEMI is aglobal industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains. For more information, visit www.semi.org.

2012 SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) reports:

ISS 2012: What is the semiconductor industry’s strategy? by Michael A. Fury

Fury’s report from ISS Day 2

ISS Top 10 trends, from Pete Singer

January 16, 2012 — The Organic Electronics Association, a working group within VDMA, released its "OE-A Roadmap for Organic and Printed Electronics," 4th edition, December 2011 for download. The roadmap covers organic/printed electronics application clusters such as flexible displays and smart systems, as well as the outlook on materials, substrates, and patterning processes.

The roadmap details product generations with their key applications and technology parameters. It also identifies principle challenges.

The OE-A roadmap application clusters:

Supply chain technologies:

  • Functional materials
  • Patterning processes 
  • Substrates

The last edition of the OE-A roadmap was published in 2009. Today, organic and printed electronics are entering the mass market. "Exciting technical progress" has been made since the 2009 edition. Taking these factors into account, the 2011 edition was streamlined by grouping related application areas with commercial appeal. The Organic Electronics Association believes that the industry must develop "a common opinion about what kind of products, processes and materials will be available and when." Challenges must be approached from every aspect of the organic/printed electronics value chain.

The roadmap can help industry, government agencies and scientists plan and align R&D activities and product plans.


The 4th edition of the OE-A roadmap is available for download from the OE-A homepage.

Want to become a member of the OE-A Roadmap project groups? Contact [email protected].

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Visit the new LEDs Manufacturing Channel on ElectroIQ.com!

January 12, 2012 — Jennifer Ernst of Thin Film Electronics and Michael C. Dudzik of Lockheed Martin have joined the Governing Board of FlexTech Alliance, a group focused on developing the electronic display and flexible printed electronics industry supply chains.

Jennifer Ernst is VP North America for Thin Film Electronics, a supplier of printed non-volatile, and flexible memory products. Ernst formerly served as director of business development for PARC, a Xerox company, for more than 20 years, where she helped establish PARC’s open business model, expand PARC into multiple new industries, and secure licensing and co-development relationships in the US, Asia, and Europe. She holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and BA from San Francisco State University.

Michael C. Dudzik serves as VP, Science and Technology, Washington Operations at Lockheed Martin, and brings extensive engineering design, development and manufacturing experience.  Dudzik previously held leadership positions at Texas Instruments, ERIM Automotive and Georgia Technological University. He is a former Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve with assignments in advanced technology, system development, and Space operations. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics at University of Detroit, a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Ohio State University, and a Master of Business Administration from University of Dallas.  He has been active on the University and Small Business advisory boards, including: the University of Michigan, Florida State University and the University of Detroit Mercy.  He is an SAE Fellow and a Registered Professional Engineer.  

Ernst will be pivotal in "expanding and enabling new flexible electronic applications, technologies and associated infrastructure," said Dr. John Batey, chairman of the FlexTech Alliance Governing Board. Dudzik’s military applications experience, particularly in the confluence of government, academia, and industry will enable "crucial collaborations" and research work, Batey added.

The FlexTech Alliance, formerly known as the U.S. Display Consortium, or USDC, is devoted to fostering the growth, profitability and success of the electronic display and the flexible, printed electronics supply chain. Internet: www.flextech.org.

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January 9, 2012 — Printed, flexible, and organic electronics (FPOE) enable next-generation displays, organic photovoltaics (OPV), transparent conductive films (TCFs), smart product packaging, and thin-film batteries. However, inherent technical hurdles and long development cycles are impeding returns on investment (ROI) in the technology. The key is partnerships that pool expertise in materials, equipment, and device development, shows Jonathan Melnick, in a recent Lux Research "Lux Populi" blog post (access the original blog post below).

The figure above shows display developers, applying the Lux Innovation Grid to compare how potential partners compare in technical value and business execution. The field encompasses more mature technologies, like small molecule organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and electrophoretic displays, in addition to emerging technologies, like electrochromic and electrofluidic displays.

Key points:
OLED materials and equipment have a headstart over emerging technologies like electrochromic and electrofluidic displays, thanks to the sucess of OLED displays in mobile displays and soon televisions. Notable players include materials developers like Universal Display Corporation (UDC) and Novaled, in addition to equipment makers like Kateeva.

E Ink stands out for its technical value –technology and IP — and business execution — strong partnerships and management. E Ink has a nearly 100% market share of the electrophoretic (as seen in the Amazon.com Kindle) market.

For more on high-potential technologies, like reflective and flexible display technologies, and the companies in these eco systems, read the blog post, "Lux Innovation Grid Highlights Viable Partners for Display Developers" at http://www.luxresearchinc.com/blog/2011/12/lux-innovation-grid-highlights-viable-partners-for-display-developers/

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January 6, 2012 — Organic light emitting diode (OLED) manufacturing advanced rapidly in 2011, making gains in organic materials, color patterning, electronic driving methods, and encapsulation, shows the NPD DisplaySearch OLED Technology Report. This trend will continue through the decade.

OLEDs are a solid-state technology for displays, lighting, and organic electronics.

Organic materials have efficacies from <10 to nearly 100cd/A. Large efficiency increases have been obtained with phosphorescent materials, especially in red and green.

Nearly all AMOLED displays are made using thermal evaporation through a fine metal mask (FMM) for color patterning. However, this method has low material utilization and is limited to small substrate sizes. Manufacturing processes with higher material utilization and better uniformity, such as linear and area sources, are likely to be adopted. Other color patterning methods, such as white with color filter and solution-processed materials, are also evolving and ready to be adopted for mass production in larger generation fabs.

OLED lighting gained momentum in 2011, and is forecast to reach revenues of approximately $6 billion by 2018.

OLED display revenues are estimated above $4 billion in 2011, approximately 4% of flat panel display revenues. This will top $20 billion, or approximately 16% of the total display industry, by 2018. OLED displays have a mass market in small/medium applications, such as smartphones.

OLED displays can provide high contrast ratio, fast response time, wide color gamut, and wide viewing angle, while operating in a broad temperature range at low power consumption. In addition, OLED technology enables thin, flexible displays and transparent devices.

Scaling OLED display manufacturing beyond the Gen 5.5 fabs is yet to be accomplished, and the cost factor with larger OLED displays is yet to be determined, the report shows. Samsung Mobile Displays and LG Display have plans for Gen 8 (2200 × 2500mm) OLED fabs. Investments in Gen 8 fabs indicate that AMOLED will compete in larger size applications, such as in TV and mobile PCs, within two years, Strategy Analytics predicts.

Other suppliers — AUD, CMI, IRICO, Tianma, BOE — are entering or re-entering the OLED fab sector. OLED display technology, which operates through direct emission, "has made good progress and is ready to enter large-size applications, but low-cost manufacturing for large sizes is still a challenge," said Jennifer Colegrove, PhD, VP of emerging display technologies for NPD DisplaySearch.

While nearly all AMOLEDs on the market are currently based on LTPS, several companies are developing AMOLEDs using oxide or a-Si TFT backplanes, and are likely to start production in 2012.

Table. LTPS, a-Si, and Oxide TFT for AMOLED. Source: NPD DisplaySearch OLED Technology Report.
Characteristic LTPS
 a-Si Oxide TFT
Electron mobility Excellent: 10-500 cm²/VS Poor: 0.5 cm²/VS Good: 1-40 cm²/VS
Uniformity Poor Excellent Good with amorphous type;
poor with crystalline type
Stability Excellent Poor Poor
Scalable Limited to <40” Excellent, >100” Potential to 100”
Process temp High: >400°C Typical ~300°C,
some low temp process can be 150°C		 Typical ~200°C,
but some anneal at 350°C
Cost High Low Medium
Availability Yes: MP Demo for AMOLED; Announced by
RiTdisplay and IGNIS; MP late 2011		 Demo for AMOLED;
MP estimated in 2012
Challenges Uniformity, cost, scalability Poor mobility; poor stability Threshold voltage unstable; manufacturing process not mature

The 5NPD DisplaySearch OLED Technology Report provides a detailed discussion on the rapid growth and adoption of OLED technology: historical data on OLED technology, organic material development, electronic driving types (passive matrix, LTPS TFT, a-Si TFT, Oxide TFT, organic TFT, etc.), color patterning methods, capacity analysis and a market forecast through 2018. It includes analysis on solutions for the bottleneck in mass production for OLED color patterning. This report also discusses the current status of the OLED industry, developers in each region, and new opportunities. NPD DisplaySearch is a market research and consulting firm specializing in the display supply chain, as well as the emerging photovoltaic/solar cell industries. For more information on NPD DisplaySearch analysts, reports and industry events, visit http://www.displaysearch.com/.

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December 12, 2011 — SEMI is looking for presenters for technical sessions and other opportunities at SEMICON West 2012, July 10-12 in San Francisco, CA.

SEMICON West 2012 will feature more than 40 hours of technical sessions and presentations across three show floor technology stages — the TechXPOTs — focused on critical industry topics shaping design and manufacturing of semiconductors, high-brightness (HB) LEDs, MEMS, printed and flexible electronics, and other related technologies.

SEMI is soliciting technical presentations in topic areas including:

Wafer Processing:

  • Emerging Architectures for Logic and Memory
  • Advanced Materials and Productivity Solutions
  • Advanced Lithography

Test:

  • Probe Card/Handlers
  • Semiconductor Test Strategies
  • ATE
  • Adaptive Test

Packaging:

  • Contemporary Packaging Technology and Productivity Solutions
  • New Packaging Solutions
  • Packaging Materials
  • Trends and Opportunities in 3D-IC
  • Testability and Thermal Management of 3D-IC
  • Interposer Solutions for Packaging

"Extreme" Electronics:

  • Opportunities in MEMS
  • High-brightness LED Manufacturing
  • OLED Manufacturing
  • Printed and Flexible Electronics

Submit an abstract (maximum 500 words) focused on the latest developments and innovations in these technology areas, inclusive of supporting data. The deadline for abstract submission is March 15, 2012. Submissions may be made online from the SEMICON West 2012 website at:  www.semiconwest.org/Participate/SPCFP.

On-line submission for abstracts is now available at: www.semiconwest.org/node/8311. Contact Agnes Cobar at [email protected] with questions.

SEMICON West is an event for the display of new products and technologies for microelectronics design and manufacturing, featuring technologies from across the microelectronics supply chain, from electronic design automation, to device fabrication (wafer processing), to final manufacturing (assembly, packaging, and test), as well as emerging technologies. For more information on SEMICON West 2012, please visit: www.semiconwest.org  

SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and micro-electronics manufacturing supply chains. For more information, visit www.semi.org.

December 9, 2011 — Printed electronics materials and equipment suppliers, as well as academics and industry, were honored with annual awards at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA 2011 in Santa Clara, CA.

Also read: Printed Electronics 2011: Chips, inks, tissue boxes, and apps in between

Judging panel: Professor Malcolm Keif, California Polytechnic State University Prof Yang Yang, UCLA – University of California, Los Angeles Joshua Windmiller, University of California, San Diego

Best Technical Development Manufacturing Award – Coatema
Coatema’s Smartcoater is a roll-to-roll (R2R) lab unit with a working width starting at 100mm and a wide range of coating applications and production speed. Complex products can be produced with a minimum use of substrate and chemistry. The base unit offers a 5-in-1 coating module including slot die, knife, dipping, micro-roller and engraved roller application functions. There is no need to purchase individual modules for each of these applications. In addition other modules are being added rapidly including: screen printing; flexo printing; UV spraying and others necessary for producing all layers of a product.

Best Technical Development Materials Award – Opalux Inc.
Opalux develops active photonic crystal materials addressed by stimuli such as pressure, heat, shear and chemical activation to effect a color change. Photonic Ink (P-Ink) — the award-winning material — is electrically tuned to reflect any desired spectral color and can also be tuned to provide UV and IR reflection. Activation at voltages of less than 1.5V and microampere currents gives bright, highly saturated and bistable color states that can be switched at high speeds. The power and current requirements are compatible with standard consumer electronics devices.

Academic R&D Award – Stevens Institute of Technology and US Army ARDEC
A team of researchers from Stevens Institute of Technology and US Army ARDEC have been exploring the evaporative assembly of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets during inkjet printing, as a transformative means of producing 2D and 3D graphene micropatterns for a variety of flexible electronics applications. The ability of producing graphene oxide supercapacitor electrodes by inkjet printing and subsequent thermal reduction was demonstrated by the researchers. This approach provides a scalable manufacturing platform to fabricate economically viable supercapacitor electrodes particularly for miniaturized flexible supercapacitor applications.   

Best Product Development Award – Vorbeck and MWV
Vorbeck and MeadWestvaco (MWV) won this award for the new anti-theft retail package product. Vorbeck’s Vor-ink has provided the enabling technology for the development of the MWV package product. This new printed graphene ink technology, called Siren, is part of MWV’s Natralock product line, and will be on store shelves at major retailers including Home Depot in early 2012.

Best Commercialization Award – Peratech
Peratech is the inventor of Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) technology. QTC’s are electro-active polymeric materials made from metallic or non-metallic filler particles combined in an elastomeric binder. These enable the action of ‘touch’ to be translated into an electrical reaction, enabling a vast array of devices to incorporate very thin and highly robust ‘sensing’ of touch and pressure.  QTC’s unique properties enable it to be made into force sensitive switches of any shape or size.  QTC switches and switch matrices can be screen printed allowing for development and integration of switches that are as thin as 75um. Peratech uses IP licensing to commercialize the technology, researching and tailoring it for a customer, then licensing the solution along with supplying the required form of QTC. The first major successes are two license deals worth several million dollars.

Exhibitor awards also went to Novacentrix and PST Sensors (voted by attendees). Printed Electronics USA attendees also named the best poster, created by Stéphanie Dupont, PhD Candidate Materials Sc&Eng., Stanford University.

The next IDTechEx Printed Electronics awards will be held at the European event, in Berlin, Germany on 3-4 April 2012. For more details see www.IDTechEx.com/peEUROPE.

November 22, 2011 — DuPont Microcircuit Materials (MCM), a business unit of DuPont Electronics & Communications, introduced a screen-printable silver conductor material for the printed electronics market, DuPont 5064H. The silver conductor ink provides resistivity ≤6milliΩ per square per mil. 

DuPont 5064H can be printed onto substrates including Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polyethylene-Naphthalate (PEN), DuPont Kapton polyimide films, paper, and more.  The composition is solvent-based and was designed to be screen printed in semi-automatic or high-volume reel-to-reel (R2R) applications.

The new product aims to allow printed electronics manufacturing with less material but high performance, said Scott Gordon, market segment manager — DuPont Microcircuit Materials.  “DuPont 5064H can reduce silver cost by providing higher conductivity with thinner prints of conductor traces.” Gordon adds that high-current application that previously required double print steps can go down to one print step with the 5064H material.

See the new material at the Printed Electronics USA trade show, November 30-December 1, 2011, in Santa Clara, CA.

DuPont MCM is a high-volume supplier of electronic inks and pastes, offering many printed electronic materials for electronic applications in the automotive, display, photovoltaic, biomedical, industrial, military and telecommunications markets.  For more information on DuPont Microcircuit Materials, visit http://mcm.dupont.com.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a science and engineering company with products, materials, and services. For additional information, please visit http://www.dupont.com.

November 2, 2011 — DuPont has signed a technology licensing agreement with a leading Asian manufacturer of active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display products. The display maker will use DuPont process technology to make large AMOLED television displays at significantly lower cost than alternative technologies.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The processing technology is a solution-based printing method that dispenses liquid OLED materials.

AMOLED televisions offer better performance — vivid color, faster response, wider viewing angle, and higher contrast — and energy efficiency than liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and the new DuPont’s process technology will enable cost-effective manufacturing to make AMOLED TVs consumer-price-point friendly, said David B. Miller, president, DuPont Electronics & Communications. Currently, AMOLEDs have been used in small displays, like those in mobile phones, but the cost has been prohibitive for televisions.

In addition to these kinds of partnerships, DuPont plans to sell proprietary DuPont OLED materials, said William F. Feehery, global business director, DuPont Electronics & Communications.  

DuPont reports that the AMOLED television market is projected by industry analysts to grow to over $5 billion by 2017.

DuPont (NYSE:DD) provides innovative products, materials, and services. Visit http://www.dupont.com. For more information on DuPont AMOLED technologies, please visit http://oled.dupont.com.

Watch an animated video on DuPont AMOLED process technology at http://www2.dupont.com/OLED/en_US/knowledge_cente/video_printing_amoled_displays.html?src=pr_techagreement_video
The DuPont solution-based printing process for manufacturing AMOLED displays enables large TV displays to be produced cost effectively. Video courtesy of DuPont.

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