Liquid Glow
Light-emitting polymer (LEP) displays are attractive to electronic gadget
makers because the plastics glow brightly and use little power. But
fabricating a polymer layer a mere micro-meter thick can be ex-pensive. A
Santa Bar-bara, Calif., startup, Uniax, has patented an easier and cheaper
way to manufacture LEP displays. Uniax first dissolves the LEPs in a common
organic solvent, then deposits the solution directly onto the substrate.
Uniax is initially targeting monochrome displays for handheld units such as
cell phones and pagers. The company says it has built prototypes and
expects companies to start testing LEP-endowed products by year's end.
