USDC FLEXIBLE DISPLAYS AND MICROELECTRONICS CONFERENCE IS SETTING FOR MOST SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRY PROGRESS DISCLOSURES IN
FIVE-YEAR HISTORY

Technology on the Cusp of Commercialization Due to Continued Collaboration Among Industry, Government and Academia

San Jose, CA, February 16, 2006 -- The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the flat panel display (FPD) industry infrastructure in the U.S., announced that last week’s Fifth Annual Flexible Displays and Microelectronics Conference more than fulfilled its promise, serving as the venue for the most significant technical progress and achievement disclosures since its inception. More than 300 display and electronics industry leaders, key government officials and top members of academia convened in Phoenix, Ariz., from Feb. 7-9 to offer insights and to learn more about the individual and collaborative efforts under way toward bringing flexible displays and microelectronics to market. Widely considered the premier event focused on this burgeoning industry, the three-day summit explored myriad topics, such as flexible backplane tech-nologies; applicable electro-optic imaging technologies; materials and substrates; manufacturing processes and equipment; consortia and prototype facilities’ activities and developments; potential new applications; and overall market drivers.

According to Dr. M. Robert Pinnel, USDC’s chief technology officer and the conference organizer, this summit, which began six years ago as an invitee-only assembly of about 70 industry visionaries, was the first to bring together the industry’s brightest minds not only to explore whether the technology and manufacturing hurdles for flexible displays and microelectronics could be tackled, but also to determine if sufficient demand existed to fuel this market to move beyond vision to fruition. “It’s easy to see that commercialization of flexible displays and microelectronics is just around the bend,” Pinnel said. “The consensus surrounding this conference was that commercialization is no longer a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when’—and judging by the 45 presentations we heard last week, the ‘when’ is imminent. USDC attributes this success to the collaborative efforts and united front among industry, government and academia representing equipment and materials developers, display manufacturers, and systems integrators from around the globe—the significant progress and achievements just last year alone underscore these efforts, and we commend everyone’s contributions.”

Conference Highlights
The conference kicked off by analyzing the current and future drivers for the fast-growing flexible displays and microelectronics industry; recapped progress and achievements to date; and explored the challenges still impacting widespread comm-ercialization and adoption. From a market perspective, there is a clear need, and emerging demand, for this technology within the consumer, commercial and military sectors due to the numerous inherent advantages this technology affords (e.g., ruggedness, light weight, thin/compact size, and low power consumption). But, it must still be offered at an affordable price before major penetration of the consumer market is achieved. A wide gamut of potential end-use applications were highlighted during the conference, including mobile communications devices, product packaging, electronic publishing, signage, solar cells, watches and RFID tags, to name a few. Based on results presented at the conference, eBooks leveraging electrophoretic display technology look to be the first major commercial product/application within this rapidly emerging market.

The summit also examined the excellent progress being made with flexible backplane technologies. Nevertheless, it is still one of the larger barriers to near-term introduction of high-performance flexible displays. The consensus from the findings presented at the conference is that thin-film-transistor (TFT) backplanes produced with amorphous silicon, polysilicon and organic materials (polymers) will all have a market presence. Moreover, early applications leveraging stainless steel foils for flexible TFT backplanes are now in development. However, improvements in stability and high temperature performance of organic materials such as PEN, PC and PI will enable them to be used in applications within the next year, in lieu of stainless steel, which is viewed by most as an interim solution.

From a materials perspective, results presented on barrier-layer technology were impressive, confirming that only commer-cialization at a cost-effective level remains to be accomplished. Alternative forms of patterning for TFTs and conductors were also examined, and results to date demonstrate that various forms of printing technology, such as inkjet printing and micro-embossing, will soon become applicable for display fabrication.

One of the conference’s 12 sessions focused on some of the most recent activities and plans at the Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM), which will shortly begin conducting microelectronics manufacturing research and development utilizing a roll-to-roll (R2R) format. In addition, the Flexible Display Center (FDC) at Arizona State University, which was established two years ago, reported its progress on process development and pilot production of flexible backplanes and displays for U.S. Army platforms and, eventually, commercial applications. Coupled with progress reported by other consortia, such as the EU-funded FlexiDis program, these activities tangibly demonstrate the strong collaborative efforts being mounted within the industry utilizing government funding support.

The conference concluded with several sessions centered on the transition to R2R manufacturing. Results presented confirmed that there is significant manufacturing cost advantage to transferring to a R2R process for selected applications, and that useful R2R manufacturing tools and process technology are appearing in the market. The conclusion was that through a continued focus on industry initiatives and cooperation via collaborative efforts such as offered by the CAMM for R2R manufacturing know-how and the FDC for flexible display process technology, effective R2R manufacturing should be possible within the next five years.

In summary, Pinnel noted, “This year’s conference unveiled dramatic progress and achievement, and validates why this conference is considered the premier forum for the flexible displays and microelectronics industry. To this end, it is clear that execution will be the critical factor over the next several years, and that focus needs to be placed on scaling up manufacturing capabilities to support high-volume production at a lower cost. With that said, the driving factors fueling this market and the commitment seen across the entire food chain are clearly evident—thanks to sustained collaboration and investment, we are on the cusp of an exciting new era.”

The 2006 conference’s 300-plus attendees included a significant number of delegates from both Europe and Asia, underscoring the market’s surging momentum throughout the world. There were also a record number of exhibitors and co-sponsors, the latter deserving special recognition for their significant involvement in developing this industry and including—Applied Films, Cabot, Dow Corning, General Electric, H.C. Stark, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Merck, Philips, Plastic Logic, Plextronics, Polymer Vision, Universal Display and Vitex Systems. In addition, the conference offered its first-ever graduate students’ poster session. This proved to be such a successful networking opportunity that the USDC will offer it at future conferences.

To that end, the Flexible Displays and Microelectronics Conference will once again return to the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in February 2007. Additional details surrounding the conference will be posted on the USDC website at a later date. A CD-ROM containing the complete findings unveiled during this year’s conference, including all presentations and poster session charts, a conference findings narrative and an attendee list, may be ordered through the USDC website on the library page. The purchase price is US$395.

Contact:

Heidi Hoffman
USDC
408.993.8111
heidi@usdc.org

Marie Labrie
MCA
650.968.8900
mlabrie@mcapr.com

About the U.S. Display Consortium
The U.S. Display Consortium is an industry-led public/private partnership providing a common platform for flat panel display and flexible microelectronics manufacturers and developers, FPD users, and the supplier base. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the consortium’s primary mission is to fund supply-chain projects and share the results with USDC member companies. The USDC also provides a communication channel among industry, government and the financial communities for display issues; sponsors workshops to broaden the impact of technological developments; and educates consumers on the importance of displays in providing access to information technology. More information about the USDC can be found at www.usdc.org

About Needham & Company
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