The collaboration combines DuPont's expertise in organic LED panels, flexible substrates, cost-effective printing and organic-TFT technologies with Sarnoff's expertise in active-matrix TFT designs and video display systems, the companies said in a statement Tuesday (Oct. 29). Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs will develop a new class of organic-TFT materials and design processes.

The companies seek to create flexible organic-TFT technology, which has the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of display backplanes while enabling the fabrication of lower cost flexible display devices. Standard silicon-based TFT backplane manufacturing is a costly process requiring billion-dollar facilities, the companies said. The current process is inherently incompatible with the production of flexible plastic substrates because it involves multiple high-temperature vacuum deposition and photolithography steps that are hostile to a plastic substrate, the companies said.

OLED panels are emissive, eliminating the need for the backlight required in other display technologies such as liquid-crystal displays.

"With high-caliber collaborators like DuPont, Sarnoff and Bell Labs working together, we are accelerating efforts toward commercializing moldable display devices with full-color video capability," said Dalen Keys, research and development leader for DuPont Displays, in a statement. "With the combined skills, knowledge and capabilities of all three organizations, this partnership has the potential to revolutionize the displays industry."

"Organic-TFTs have the potential to transform the industry from a capital-intensive batch process on glass to a much lower cost, higher throughput process compatible with plastic substrates," said Ray Camisa, vice president of technology operations at Sarnoff Corp.

Details on the cooperative agreement were not made available.