Covion and eMagin Team to Deliver OLED Display Materials

eMagin Corp. (Hopewell Junction, NY), manufacturer of virtual imaging technology, and Covion Organic Semiconductors GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany), a developer of organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials, are teaming to bring eMagin's new microdisplay products to market using Covion's new organic OLED materials. Covion is a joint venture between the global chemical companies Aventis and Avecia.

Under the terms of the agreement, Covion will supply new organic light emitting organic materials which eMagin will evaluate for eMagin's microdisplay applications, and eMagin will supply prototype displays to Covion for demonstration purposes. Financial arrangements between the companies were not disclosed.

Covion's organic OLED materials are being developed for incorporating into eMagin's future microdisplay applications such as wearable computers, entertainment headsets, and handheld portable Internet appliances or telecommunication devices. In particular, Covion's materials are being evaluated for their potential to permit the development of high temperature processable OLED displays that can be operated at projection compatible luminance levels.

OLED microdisplays are small flat panel displays that are optically magnified to produce large virtual images of data or video. For example, a 0.6-in. diagonal microdisplay could produce a virtual image equivalent to a 19-in. computer screen or a 60-in. television. OLEDs are seen as a promising technology for virtual imaging systems due to their large field of view, low power consumption, and potential for low cost manufacturing processes.

eMagin, a licensee of Eastman Kodak's fundamental OLED patents, holds over 80 of its own patents (issued and pending) in the flat panel display sector as well as in related fields of optics, active matrix drive schemes, and systems integration. eMagin was the world's first company to demonstrate an OLED-on-Silicon video display and has demonstrated the world's most efficient full-color spectrum white OLEDs. eMagin's work with Covion will supplement its current efforts with Eastman Kodak and other materials developers and suppliers working on enhancing various aspects of the OLED device for microdisplay applications. eMagin recently announced a joint effort with IBM to further develop OLED on silicon technology for possible use in future products, such as wearable computers and handheld portable Internet appliances.

Edited by Winn Hardin, Managing Editor