Merck ties up with FlexEnable for plastic LCD technology

Germany-based Merck, one of the global players in liquid crystals and organic electronic materials, has tied up with the UK-based FlexEnable, the leader in the development and industrialisation of flexible organic electronics. As part of this joint project, the two companies have reached an important next stage in plastic LCD technology.
 
A plastic LCD has been developed which is completely free of glass, instead using organic transistors on a plastic sheet, offering multiple benefits. Plastic LCDs have the potential of making products ten times thinner, more than ten times lighter, and cheaper than conventional glass-based displays - all while delivering differentiating product benefits of being shatterproof and even conformal.
 
The demonstrator was developed in a very short timeframe, and combines the key benefits of organic transistor technology (OTFT), including superior quality and yield. Ultimately, it shows a route to low-cost solutions for volume manufacturing with LCDs, the dominant display technology in the market today. FlexEnable has now demonstrated the world’s first plastic LCD with activematrix in-plane switching (IPS). It uses FlexEnable’s OTFT array as well as liquid crystal (LC) and organic semiconductor materials from Merck. While the first demonstrator employs an IPS mode, this concept will be equally attractive for many other LC modes and applications such as ereaders, dynamic public signage and advertising.
 
“We are very happy about this step forward as it clearly shows the enormous innovation potential the LC technology holds for us to explore. It also shows that plastic-based bendable or even flexible displays are not a dream, but a true possibility and encourages us to develop new LC modes especially for this application,” said Inese Lowenstein, head of Merck’s display materials business unit.
 
Indro Mukerjee, chairman of FlexEnable, said, “Plastic LCDs bring clear benefits where weight and thickness is key – including volume consumer and industrial markets. It also offers a route to simpler, lower cost device stacks for display makers.”