Demonstrating this breakthrough, Plastic Logic has produced prototypes of two new mass-producible 6” display products in 300dpi greyscale and 150dpi colour variants respectively.
This has been achieved through advances in Plastic Logic’s transistor matrix backplane, and BASF’s innovative organic semiconductor (OSC) materials. The optimised formulation and combination of semiconducting and dielectric materials results in greatly increased carrier mobility, necessary for high resolution display and is also contributing to the overall flexibility of the device which is the key feature of plastic EPDs. BASF’s material set can be easily deployed in low-level clean room environments, a must for mass-production.
Commenting Tim Burne, CEO, Plastic Logic, said: “Flexible plastic EPDs offer many fantastic advantages over traditional glass displays — their power consumption, durability, daylight readability, etc. — but the pixel density is often perceived as a limitation. Plenty of R&D work has been spent on improving plastic EPD pixel density, culminating in some impressive prototypes. However, these prototypes have always been very difficult and/or very expensive to produce commercially. Our mass production-capable prototypes, developed in cooperation with BASF is breaking that mould!” Burne adds: “With this new capability and products we’re breaking down barriers, creating competitive advantage and widening the potential appeal of ePaper technology.”
As well as improving the definition of general imagery, Plastic Logic’s true 300dpi display will also make written text much sharper — something particularly beneficial for symbol-based languages such as Chinese and Japanese where character details have previously been lost due to pixel density limitations.
The process co-development with BASF, will also have a positive impact on other applications for Plastic Logic’s backplane technology. It is being applied to several other highly flexible and durable electronic applications such as sensors and detectors.