MARCH 5--The US Display Consortium (USDC; San Jose, CA; www.usdc.org), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the industry infrastructure needed for next-generation flat-panel displays (FPDs), has awarded the first in a planned series of research-and-development contracts aimed at bringing roll-to-roll (web-based) manufacturing of lightweight, flexible displays and microelectronic backplanes to the market. Fremont, CA-based CHA Industries (www.chaindustries.com), a maker of high-vacuum deposition systems and associated equipment for precision coating, was selected as the first contract recipient based on the company's prior experience in successfully developing and commercializing tools for web-based manufacturing. Having developed its prototype web coating deposition tool for experimental evaluation of web handling systems with the help of prior USDC funding, CHA Industries will now receive $3 million under this second contract to design and build a new production quality tool specifically for handling a 24-inch web and multiple deposition heads.
According to the USDC, the display industry is actively exploring innovative ways to create flexible displays with new display technologies. These include organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and polymer LEDs (PolyLEDs), which utilize LEDs manufactured from organic monomers or polymers, respectively, that are deposited onto a plastic substrate material. The resultant very thin layers, with their relative closeness to both the thermal and mechanical characteristics of the substrate material, make organic LEDs ideal candidates for use in flexible displays.
The success of these newer display technologies, however, will mandate new manufacturing methods. Web-based processing--in which devices can be created on a continuous roll, or web, of flexible material--is emerging as a serious candidate. If successful, web-based flexible displays will offer the potential for significantly decreasing overall manufacturing costs. The net result would be more affordable, versatile displays that are both extremely robust and lightweight--unlike any other display technology currently on the market.
USDC and CHA will share half of the $6 million cost of the two-year development project. The first qualification tool will be installed at a USDC member company facility for beta site evaluation and testing. Initially planned for sputter deposition of films in fabrication of polysilicon thin-film-transistor backplanes, the tool will also be fitted with a linear organic materials deposition source module (being developed by Kurt J. Lesker Co. under a separate USDC project) for deposition of small-molecule OLED materials onto plastic film substrates.
