Posted: February 1, 2010

UK and US organizations collaborate to develop enabling technology for printed flexible displays

(Nanowerk News) The Flexible Display Center (FDC) at Arizona State University today announced that the Printable Electronics Technology Center (PETEC) has become an Associate Member to collaborate on high-performing organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) for flexible display applications. PETEC joins the FDC with a goal of better understanding the process requirements for OTFT backplane fabrication for both reflective and emissive displays.
"In its own right, PETEC is a leading development center for printable electronics technologies with an extensive facility in the UK dedicated to the development and manufacturability of printable and plastic electronics," said Nick Colaneri, Director of the FDC. "Bringing its materials and process expertise in OTFTs into the FDC adds a strong component to our capabilities in terms of exploring and developing new approaches to manufacturing flexible display technologies."
PETEC, a business unit of the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), is a UK national flagship centre at NETPark that was formed in 2009 to focus on the development of printable electronics technologies. It is a new design, development and prototyping facility that brings together leading experts in printable and plastic electronics to help industrial and academic clients bring products to market quickly, cost-effectively and with minimal risk.
"We've joined the FDC looking to gain a greater depth of knowledge of the OTFT integration and reliability issues for display applications and the potential of OTFT for a wide variety of display platforms, such as e-paper and OLEDs, which is being supported by funding from the Northern Way," said Tom Taylor, Director of PETEC. "Bringing together our in-depth understanding of OTFT materials and processes with the FDC's extensive capabilities around flexible display technology and manufacture has the potential to enable flexible, printable OTFTs to be realized in the near future."
Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University
The FDC is a government-industry-academia partnership that's advancing full-color flexible display technology and fostering development of a manufacturing ecosystem to support the rapidly growing market for flexible electronic displays. FDC partners include many of the world's leading providers of advanced display technology, materials and process equipment. The FDC is unique among the U.S. Army's University centers, having been formed through a 10-year cooperative agreement with Arizona State University in 2004. This adaptable agreement has enabled the FDC to create and implement a proven collaborative partnership model with over 27 active industry members, and to successfully deploy world class wafer-scale R&D and GEN-II display-scale pilot production lines for rapid flexible display technology development and manufacturing supply chain commercialization.
PETEC
PETEC, a business unit of CPI, is a UK national prototyping facility for the development and commercialization of printed electronics. It offers a unique blend of materials, process and people capabilities which derisk and accelerate clients' development and commercialization of printed electronics' technologies. Key areas of focus encompass OTFT, solid state OLED lighting and Organic Photovoltaics.
About Northern Way
The Northern Way is a unique initiative, bringing together the cities and regions of the North of England to work together to improve the sustainable economic development of the North. Formed as a partnership between the three northern Regional Development Agencies (Yorkshire Forward, Northwest Regional Development Agency and One NorthEast), the Northern Way also works with local authorities, universities, the private sector and other partners to secure a strong coalition in support of this goal. More information on the Northern Way can be found at www.thenorthernway.co.uk.
Source: Arizona State University