OLED ink jet printing: introduction and market status - Page 31

Litrex Corporation has shipped the first M-Series(TM) Inkjet Systems to a leading display maker. These systems reinforce Litrex Corporation's position as the world leader in inkjet manufacturing systems for display applications. These new "next generation" M-Series(TM) tools build upon the success of over 50 inkjet systems that Litrex Corporation has installed worldwide at 25 customer sites.
The M-Series(TM) Inkjet Systems are built for substrates from Gen 3 to Gen 7 size, and are designed for precise deposition of high value materials such as those in P-OLED, LCD, nano-metals and biomaterials. The M-Series(TM) Inkjet Systems have a modular architecture that builds upon Litrex Corporation's existing experience and allows new equipment to be designed and adapted quickly to other applications.

The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC) has awarded a research and development contract to Dow Corning Corp. to develop hole injection materials for producing higher efficiency OLED suited for high-definition displays.

USDC and Dow Corning will equally share the cost of the $2.39 million development project.
The USDC-funded project will be undertaken in two phases, with the second phase focused on the application of Dow Corning's hole injection materials using inkjet printing or other patterning techniques.

Litrex Corporation shipped its milestone 50th inkjet printer, a Generation 2, to a major institute for developing a wide variety of LCD manufacturing applications. This shipment solidifies Litrex's leadership in the development of inkjet printing systems for new electronics manufacturing applications. Litrex's current printers are the most advanced inkjet systems for precisely depositing an array of high-value materials, including electronic polymers, nano-metals, and biomaterials. Currently 25 companies worldwide are utilizing Litrex printers for materials deposition in industries such as OLED, organic semiconductors, and LCD manufacturing.

The new facility has been established at Hsin-Chu with the delivery of three Litrex 142P ink jet printers. The Litrex printers are robust, production-capable units, with the ability to print 370 x 470mm glass substrates at approximately two to five minute intervals, and these have been commissioned with the support of CDT’ s Field Support Engineers based in the region.

When combined with the process technology now being developed at CDT and transferred to Delta engineers as part of the commercial transaction, the facility will pave the way for Delta-Opto’s full-scale production of colour displays.

Among the patents now allowed in the US is a patent relating to OLEDs which comprise hole transport, electron transport and emissive components, using type II interfaces, contained in the same molecule. This is believed to be of considerable importance in the context of the printing of OLED devices. Molecules containing 'type II' interfaces are believed to be important in achieving high efficiency display devices.

Other new US patents allowed include a patent relating to the use of a dielectric barrier layer over the key emissive layer to protect it from damage due to sputtering of a conductive layer. This is expected to have important application in top emitting devices in which the light does not have to pass between the transistors but, more efficiently, through a transparent cathode structure.

Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) and Add-Vision Inc (AVI), a pioneering developer of technology for low information content displays, have announced a business collaboration in which CDT will give AVI a paid-up license to certain CDT IP for specialized low resolution display applications. CDT will also join the existing private equity investors in a new round of funding to allow AVI to develop the technology more rapidly. In return for the license and equity investment, CDT will acquire a very substantial minority position in AVI.

The Add-Vision approach, developed over the last ten years, allows simple PLED displays and backlights to be fabricated by fast screen printing on plastic substrates without the need for expensive clean room facilities. As a result, the cost of display production can be kept lower, while maximizing throughput volumes.

Universal Display and Seiko Epson announced that they will work to apply UDC's PHOLED materials to Epson's high-speed ink-jet printing process.

Seiko Epson plans to develop OLED TV technology within three years, to gain an edge in the market for screens manufactured for TVs and other entertainment applications, according to a company executive. The company's new technology will be based around Ink Jet printing.

Seiko Epson already unveiled three OLED prototypes - a 40" XGA OLED TV panel, a 12.5" VGA panel and a 2.1" 144x176 display (130ppi). The company says that currently the main hurdle is lifetime, and once this reaches 10,000 hours OLED TVs may start to appear commercial.