Cambridge Display Technology - Page 6

Cambridge Display Technology and Toppan Printing, the leading information and communications company of Tokyo, Japan, have produced a number of 5.5 inch full color active matrix polymer OLED (PLED) displays using a roll printing method. A demonstrator will be shown at the SID conference in San Francisco. The displays - believed to be the first of their type ever produced - are the result of close co-operation between the two companies and part of their joint development activity announced in February 2005.

Solution processing of PLED (also called P-OLED) displays is more commonly associated with inkjet printing, and the companies believe that roll printing represents a promising alternative production technique which offers the potential for very good display uniformity, very high display resolution and low capital and operating costs. In the future, this type of roll printing process could be well suited for making flexible P-OLED displays. CDT believes that this combination of properties can only be achieved with solution-based printing processes.

Cambridge Display Technology and Litrex Corporation are paving the way for the production of a new generation of high resolution polymer organic light emitting displays (PLED, or P-OLED) through the development of an inkjet printing solution capable of producing PLED displays at up to 200 pixels per inch (ppi).

Cambridge Display Technology announces the sale of a sophisticated Eclipse display test system to Merck OLED Materials GmbH, based in Frankfurt, Germany. The equipment will be used to enhance productivity in the development and evaluation of materials for organic light emitting diode displays. The Eclipse system to be supplied to Merck consists of 192 digital source-measure channels and associated hardware and software, some of which has been customized for Merck's particular requirements.

Cambridge Display Technology today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2006. The Company is a pioneer in the development of polymer light emitting diode technology.

Revenues in the quarter were $1.0 million, compared with $1.6 million for the corresponding period in 2005. The majority of revenues arose from Technology Services and Development, but also included sales under Equipment and Supplies as the Company increased sales of inks for use in the evaluation of the technology by major display producers.

Ron Mertens from OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Janice Mahon, Universal Display's VP of technology commercialization.

Janice, could you give a small introduction about UDC, and about your PHOLED products?

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL) is a world leader in the development of innovative OLED technology for use in flat panel displays, lighting and other opto-electronics applications. Founded in 1994, Universal Display provides state-of-the-art OLED technology and services to OLED manufacturers to enhance their products' features and competitive advantage. We have developed proprietary OLED technologies and materials that should provide dramatically enhanced display performance at lower costs than today's liquid crystal displays.

DisplaySearch celebrated its 10th anniversary by holding its 8th Annual US FPD Conference at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, California.

• Kodak discussed new solutions to improving a number of the manufacturing problems that have limited the progress of OLEDs. Kodak claimed to have improved AMOLED yields by a factor of ten over two years and expects AMOLEDs to be cost competitive at up to 4" vs. TFT LCDs by 2007.
• UDC is making real progress with blue phosphorescent solutions and a commercial solution is expected soon.
• CDT indicated it expects the first full color ink-jet printed polymer OLEDs to become available in 2006.
• Samsung SDI revealed their cost reduction strategy to make AMOLEDs competitive with TFT LCDs.

In addition to its development of OLED displays, Epson has researched the characteristics of OLED as an electronic device. Specifically, Epson has succeeded in creating a print head that uses OLED as a light source (OLED print head), opening the way for utilization of OLED as a new printing technology for printers.

At present, electro-photographic printing technologies for copiers and printers use either laser or LED light sources. Epson merged the many years of expertise it had accumulated in printing and display technology, and partnered with Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. to jointly develop a super bright OLED that can be used in printing. Printing tests using a prototype of an OLED-based print head have produced printouts quality comparable to or better than those produced by conventional laser printers.

CDT welcomes the announcement by Sumation - its joint venture partner with Sumitomo Chemical - of rapid progress in the development of long lifetime, high efficiency light emitting polymers for full color, video capable PLED displays.

Following a previous announcement in December, CDT now reports the achievement of blue fluorescent devices (CIEx=0.14, y=0.21) with 12,500 hours lifetime(1) from an initial luminance of 400 cd/m², and an efficiency of 9cd/A.

The Company reported a net profit of $10.2 million for the fourth quarter, including an overall gain of $15.9 million from the sale, in two tranches, of its shares in Litrex, its former subsidiary. For the full year the loss was $13.8 million, a decrease of $8.8 million, or 39%, compared with the 2004 loss (before the cumulative effect of accounting change) of $22.6 million.
Highlights for 2005:

• Reported revenues of $18.1 million for the year, an increase of 36% from 2004
• Successful sale of remaining equity in Litrex Corporation to Ulvac of Japan.
• Formation of Sumation™ - 50/50 JV with Sumitomo Chemical of Japan incorporating Dow Chemical P-OLED IP acquired by Sumitomo and licensed by Sumitomo to the JV
• New revenue streams established through distribution of Litrex ink jet printers and sales of materials
• Strong progress in materials development

Universal Display says there is no row between it and UK organic LED company Cambridge Display Technology following a patent UDC revealed recently. The patent is primarily about the ability to ink-jet print OLEDs using small molecular materials, instead of polymeric materials, for light emission, Janice Mahon, v-p of technology commercialisation at US-based UDC told Electronics Weekly. CDT’s patents largely cover polymeric emissive materials and it is unlikely the patent will cause a conflict.

However, while UDC’s technology in this new patent is fundamentally small-molecule and not polymer, UDC’s patent portfolio broadly covers phosphorescent OLED technology, said UDC’s Mahon. It is too early to tell what structures will be commercialised. We have a very important phosphorescent portfolio just as CDT has a very important polymer portfolio, said Mahon. Mahon added: The competition is LCD, it is not polymer versus small molecule.

CDT announced today that it has acquired an important portfolio of patent rights from Maxdem Inc. The portfolio includes five US patent applications and their foreign equivalents relating to new light emitting polymer compositions and applications. The deal also includes a license to a large number of patents / applications relating to polyphenylene polymers and other polymer compositions and purification methods. These are expected to be useful in future materials improvements.

Included in the acquisition from Maxdem is a patent application for the invention of phosphorescent compositions containing a critical class of polymer materials in combination with metals / metal ions. CDT believes this provides a fundamental position in the use of conjugated polymers to achieve high efficiency phosphorescent emission in solution processable devices, whether for ink jet printing or any other means of solution processing.