Printed TVs at your store soon? Q&A with Ian Chao of CDT, part four

The keenest competition in the global television market is the race for the next generation of flat-panel technology, and leading the charge is the UK-based Cambridge Display Technology (CDT), a pioneer of polymer-OLED (PLED) technology. A key benefit of PLED technology is the ability to deposit layers in the display using printing processes such as ink-jet printing. CDT is not alone. Last year, Seiko Epson demonstrated a 40-inch model based on printed PLED technology.

If development continues at the heady pace of the last two or three years, Ian Chao, general manager, Asia Business Development, CDT, thinks it’s quite possible we could be seeing PLED TVs by 2007. DigiTimes.com spoke recently with Chao about the technology and the business angles involved in the potentially revolutionary technology of printable polymers.

This is the fourth part of a four-part interview. Part I appeared on 16 August. Part II appeared 17 August and Part III on 18 August.

Q: Delta Optoelectronics is often quoted as being a PLED company, and I understand the company is a CDT licensee. Can you characterize Delta’s relationship with CDT?

A: Last September, we signed a technology transfer agreement with Delta, and we are in the process of transferring ink-jet printing technology. Delta has been our licensee since 1997, and the chairman of the Delta Group, Bruce Chen, is a strong believer in this technology. We hope to advise them on several products, at the end of the transfer phase, and they can decide the range they want to commercialize.

Otherwise, Delta has been shipping PLED products for about two years. These are simple design, monochrome PLEDs for low information content displays, such as signboards. Their target market is security devices, such as alarms, and medical devices, where what is required is a simple display but one with a high level of contrast. Polymer technology produces really good contrast. So Delta is targeting a niche market, but the problem with niche markets is that you don’t have very large volumes; no one is going to place an order for two million pieces. So it’s a major struggle for their sales and marketing. They see the majority of demand coming from Europe.

Q: Why from Europe?

A: I think Europe has a higher tolerance for cost, and an appreciation for something unique. But in Asia, everyone is focused on cost. When people in Asia want information displays, they go for very cheap production, such as STN. That means it’s very difficult to compete for that market. At the high end, we can add value.

More recently, Delta has been moving to full-color active-matrix (AMOLED) development.

Q: What is CDT’s relationship with the materials providers?

A: CDT has granted materials licenses to Dow Chemical, Covion (now part of Merck KGaA) and Sumitomo Chemical. Earlier this year CDT announced our intention to form a joint venture operation with Sumitomo Chemical for the development and supply of polymer materials and inks for the production of PLED displays. Sumitomo recently acquired the Lumation business from Dow, and this is also part of the JV, making it the largest concentration of PLED expertise and IP available.

Q: At FPD Taiwan in June you commented that ink-jet would be the first commercial print technology for PLEDs, while roll-to-roll and screen-printing continue to be developed. Is this a case of developing suitable inks, suitable polymers or a combination of several factors?

A: So far, our approach to printing has been to take the experience of the graphics printing industry – the technology, the experience, the equipment – and apply it to the ink jet printing of polymers. For roll-to-roll and screen printing, the equipment is not yet established in the market, and the process development is quite different from that of ink-jet printing.

We suspect that certain properties of polymers, such as the molecular weight distribution, or even the viscosity, may need to be optimized for these alternative print technologies. We may even need to develop new families of polymer materials. So at the moment we are in an early R&D stage with roll-to-roll and screen printing, but we are pleased with the progress we have made so far, working in partnership with Toppan.

But regardless, whatever the technology, first you have to make sure it works. Then you can start to look at any possibilities for cost reduction and the printing of large displays. Personally, I believe that roll-to-roll and screen-printing could be well positioned to address productivity and cost issues.

At CDT, we intend to continue to invest in these key technologies. This year we invested in Add-Vision, a company that has been developing screen-printing for polymers. At that time we also engaged with Toppan for roll-to-roll printing. So we don’t rule out any of these technologies, and we will continue to invest resources in them, but currently ink-jet printing will continue to be our top priority. From the point of view of commercialization, we think that ink-jet printing is the best available technology, at the current stage. If you look at the supply chain, if you look at the maturity of the technology – if you look at the complete set of factors – then ink-jet is something more concrete, more realistic.

Q: In your presentation at FPD Taiwan, you also mentioned that in roll-to-roll printing there were certain techniques that could be quite complex.

A: Yes. For roll-to-roll, you have to first transfer the ink from one roll to another and then transfer that ink onto the substrate, and this process must occur within a very short space of time. So it becomes a question of developing inks that can be successfully transferred and materials that can absorb and then transfer a high percentage of the ink to the substrate. That’s very critical.

At the same time, you have a certain resolution requirement, so the printer must be capable of patterning, and the roller must be able to accommodate certain patterns and transfer them to the substrate. Then you also have to look at how that would affect the ink-transfer process.

So far we are pleased with what we have learned, and I think we have identified several key areas, certain parameters, where we will be working with Toppan. But we are not yet in a position to draw conclusions, such as suitability for certain products and resolutions, and what the cost structure will be. It’s still too early to draw those kinds of conclusions.

Q: The UK doesn’t normally enjoy a reputation for leadership in technology. CDT seems to be an exception, from that point of view. Do you have any comments on that?

A: I think CDT is a unique company in that it combines a strong research capability with a highly commercial approach. Our key executives, including our CEO, all have experience working internationally.

Previously, CDT had focused on research – creating more IP, publishing papers, and so on – but when our current CEO came on board, he made CDT much more commercially oriented. One consequence was that we made an IPO, at the end of last year, raising funds through a listing on the Nasdaq National Market.

People in the industry normally assume that a UK company can be very strong in R&D, strong in fundamental research, but not very capable of commercializing the research. Usually that doesn’t happen. CDT is a break with that tradition, and it is the first company to be spun out of Cambridge University and go public.

A commercial orientation means we have to be very oriented to our customers. A lot of our current revenue comes from companies who become our partners and who purchase our IP. They want solutions, and they want them now.

They also need a complete exchange of solutions, from materials supply, technology transfer, process development and field support, through to skills development and so on. CDT is organized to provide that full range to its customers in Asia.

This is the fourth part of a four-part interview. Part I appeared on 16 August. Part II appeared 17 August and Part III on 18 August.