 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Home Register Agenda Speakers Exhibition Sponsors Workshops Call for papers Travel and hotel Press Contact Why OEC-07? Perspectives |
Organic semiconductors: What's it all about?HistoryIn the late 1970s three researchers published a groundbreaking paper on the discovery that certain classes of plastics were capable of being modified to enable them to function as a poorly conducting metal. So groundbreaking and significant was the discovery that in 2000 the Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to Alan Heeger (Professor of Physics, University of California), Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa for their pioneering work on conductive polymers. In the late 1980s Richard Friend, Jeremy Burroughes and Donal Bradley discovered that certain classes of conducting polymers could be coaxed into emitting lighting, so laying the foundations for a new generation of flat panel displays. In 2003 Richard Friend (Professor of Physics at Cambridge University) was knighted for services to physics. Both Heeger and Friend have played key roles in the science behind polymer based organic semiconductors. Both researchers have been active in commercialising the technology discovered in their laboratories. Heeger founded Uniax (displays) in 1990 and sold it to DuPont in 1999. He now sits on the boards of two companies: QTL BioSystems (sensors) and Konarka Technologies (solar cells). Friend co-founded Cambridge Display Technology (displays) in 1992, which was also sold in 1999 to Kelso & Co and Hillman Capital. He now sits on the board of Plastic Logic (electronics) - yet another spin-out company from his laboratory. In December 2004 Cambridge Display Technology IPO'ed on Nasdaq. This discovery has, over the last 20 years, been responsible for creating a completely new industry based on the semiconducting properties of organic materials. 'Plastics' that are capable of exhibiting similar electrical properties to silicon semiconductors have opened up the possibility of creating a range of electronic devices that have the characteristics of being thin, smart, flexible, low cost and eventually completely disposable. Organic semiconductor technology has evolved to the point where not only is it now technically feasible to manufacture beautiful displays, as demonstrated by companies such as Cambridge Display Technology, Kodak, Philips and others, but it is now possible to build solar cells, electronic circuits, bio-sensors, memory and lighting. Essentially, we are beginning to see a new industry emerging for 'organic electronics'. Structure of the industry To understand how the organic semiconductor industry is structured it is best to think about it as existing as three distinct layers of varying complexity and integration. Each layer relies on many, and in some cases all, of the individual components in the layer above. For example, to fabricate a series of transistors or light emitting diodes requires substrates that have been selectively patterned to accept materials that are deposited which are then encapsulated to protect them from the environment. Structure of the organic semiconductor industry
Commercialisation That next phase in the evolution of the industry, the commercialisation of the functional components, has already begun. It is being built by start-up companies such as Cambridge Displays Technology, Universal Displays, eMagin, MicroEmissive Displays, Konarka Technologies, Nanosolar, Plextronics, Nanoident, Novaled, Thin-film Electronics, Elam-T, PolyIC, Polymer Vision, Plastic Logic, OrganicID, ORFID, and others who are defining the materials, initial design rules and manufacturing techniques necessary for making light-emitting, transistors, simple logic gates, memory cells, photovoltaic and sensors from organic semiconductors. It is interesting to note that five of these companies have been formed within the last 18 months. PolyIC is a joint venture between Siemens and Kurz, Polymer Vision is part of the technology incubator unit within Philips. OrganicID and ORFID are both early stage university spin-outs from University of Texas and University of California respectively. Within the past 12 months Nanoident, based in Austria, has formed to develop photonic sensor technology based on organic semiconductors. It has already produced its demo - a 50x50 pixel sensor. Patenting activity is increasing Innovation within the organic semiconductor industry is gathering pace. In 2002 more than 1,000 patents were filed worldwide on organic semiconductor technologies (note 1). For comparison purposes more than 1,000 nanotechnology patents were also filed (note 2) in the same period. During 2004 more than 4,500 patents had been either published or applied for, of these nearly 80% are related to organic light emitting displays, this still leaves more than 1,000 patents related to memory, transistors, sensors, lasers and solar cells. Investment Over the past 36 months more than $150 million - and probably in excess of $200m (see Table 1) - has been invested in a growing number of start-up companies focused on developing technologies that will enable the organic semiconductor industry to continue its progress towards commercialisation.
Nor are these start-up companies alone in their endeavours. Many large corporate research labs such as Philips, Infineon, Siemens, Avecia, Lucent, IBM, Xerox, Motorola, GE Global Research, Bayer, 3M, Merck, DuPont, PARC, and Sumitomo are actively involved and committing significant resources to this emerging technology. Government funding However, estimating the level of financial investment and committed resources these corporate R & D centres have allocated is difficult to assess from the outside. An indirect measure can be estimated by the amount of monies received through government-funded programmes.
Since September 2003 more than $280 million has been committed to accelerating technology development. About $110m is US-based funding and $170 is EU funding. Some programmes run for as little as 12 months while others are major investments lasting five or more years. Participation in many of these programmes is generally on a 50%-50% cost-share basis. So about $140m has been invested by government organisations and $140m by participating companies. US funding Much of the investment has been provided by the US Army, through the US Display Consortium (USDC), that is dedicated to funding the necessary infrastructure in the US to enable the manufacture of flexible displays and flexible electronics for battlefield use. In addition, the US Army has just committed $43.7 million, over a five-year period, to fund the Flexible Display Centre that will be based at Arizona State University. The US Dept of Energy has also earmarked monies for organic semiconductors. The DoE is interested in this technology for the simple reason that it has the potential to make incredibly efficient solid-state lighting. Efficient sources of lighting will lower the long-term demand for electricity. Efficient sources of light will reduce both the impact to the environment and number of additional power plants needed to satisfy future energy demands. One recipient of US DoE funding has been GE Research which last year announced the largest organic lighting panel measuring 24 inches x 24 inches with efficiencies better than standard incandescent light bulbs. Other recipients of DoE funding include Universal Display and Osram Opto-Semiconductors. Government funding of solid-state lighting is about to increase dramatically. In August 2005 the US Government passed its energy bill which includes a commitment to allocate up to $50m per annum to solid-state lighting over the next three to five years, with an option for more to follow. European funding In early March 2004 the EU funded programme PolyApply was officially announced. The EU allocated €12 million and a further €12 million came from the 20 participating companies and research institutes. PolyApply is focused on generic technology development for plastic electronics. Essentially putting in place many of the platform technologies that will be responsible for producing the first generation of products based on organic semiconductors. These early products are most likely to be simple RF tags, and produced at low cost, while later more complex products will emerge that integrate, into a single package, a range of functions such as sensors, processing and displays to make mundane objects more intelligent. In all, EU-funded programmes have more than €70 million of committed investment. This includes both the NAIMO project on advanced materials and the OLLA project on developing organic technologies for solid-state lighting. During March 2005 it was announced that the German government expects to make investments of up to €100m over a five-year period for organic display technologies. IPOs While the appetite for more investment in organic semiconductor technology will continue for many years to come it is reassuring for investors to know that exit routes do exist. In December 2004 Cambridge Display Technology IPO'ed on Nasdaq and in October 2004 Microemissive Displays IPO'ed on AIM (Alternate Investment Market). Between them the two companies raised around $60 million. Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures Over the past 12 months there have been a number of acquisitions in the industry. In June 2004 Konarka acquired the organic photovoltaic project from Siemens for an undisclosed sum. Merck acquired the Schott OLED R & D project in December 2004 for an undisclosed sum. Then in February 2005 Merck acquired both Covion and the Electronic Materials group from Avecia paying €50 million cash for about 100 people. In June 2005 Sumitomo Chemical acquired the Lumation business unit from Dow for an undisclosed sum. Lumation was responsible for developing polyfluorene light emitting polymers which are used in OLED devices to manufacture flat panel displays. In June 2005 Sumitomo and Cambridge Display Technology formed a joint venture to manufacture, market and sell light emitting polymers. Then in August 2005 OTB Displays acquired the Philips PolyLED business including the production facility at Heerlen in the Netherlands. In all 50 people will transfer to OTB Displays.
Further spin-outs expected The rapid pace of device and process technology development currently being reported by leading research institutions such as MIT, University of Cambridge, Fraunhofer Institute, Cornell University, Arizona State University, Acreo, Princeton University, University of St Andrews, Penn State and University of Santa Barbara, coupled with corporate research activities, raises the likelihood of further spin-outs over the next two to three years. Licensing While some of these companies will retain their technology choosing to exploit it themselves, others will seek to license the technology. This latter approach will, for the first time, put into the hands of the product and application developers the means to manufacture components consistently and reliably and will open the next phase of technology development and commercialisation of organic semiconductors. This third phase will see the introduction of new and novel applications based on 'plastic electronics' from roll-up displays and e-paper to disposable intelligent sensors that monitor the condition of food and drinks as they travel through the supply chain. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
