The 23rd FineTech Japan, the world’s largest trade show for flat panel displays, was held at Tokyo Big Sight from April 10 to April 12. The following shows were held concurrently in the convention center: The International FPD EXPO, Touch Panel Japan, Nanoimprint Technology Fair and the Printed Electronics Fair.
I was a guest speaker for one of the technical sessions – this allowed me free admission to technical seminars and exhibitions. There were more than one hundred speakers that presented during the keynote sessions and technical seminars as well as the New Product Introduction (NPI) session. Organizers of the show counted more than 7,000 audience members in these seminars.
I found that more than half of the audience was affiliated with material companies looking for business opportunities. Many of the speakers were affiliated with material companies or government backed R&D organizations including universities. They are all competing with each other and want to know what is going on in each other’s backyards.
Topics of conversation included nano materials, printable electronics using ink jet printers, flexible devices using an RTR process, transparent conductors, organic semiconductors and transistors, and more. There were also discussions about products that may be available in the future – in particular, technologies that focus on organic materials. A university professor provided a keynote speech about new organic materials for flexible electronics. He listed the advantages from using organic materials, especially with organic semiconductors. According to him, organic semiconductor materials are flexible and printable; therefore RTR manufacturing is available and will significantly lower costs. He added that these new technologies will generate new flexible photovoltaic cells, displays, and sensors at a very low cost.
I am skeptical whether these applications are economically practical because the electrical performances from organic molecules are much lower compared to traditional inorganic semiconductors such as silicon. Furthermore, it will take years for these organic materials to be available at an industrial capacity.
I asked the professor about the use of inorganic materials for flexible electronics instead of these futuristic organic molecules because most of the inorganic materials can be thinner and flexible. He replied that the inorganic materials are a short-term practical solution; however, organic materials could be invaluable in the future.
I am not as young as some of the new breed of R&D engineers, and quite frankly, I can’t wait 10 years for organic materials to be available (if this idea even comes to fruition). So, I will use the inorganic materials that are now available for current day business, and my mind will always remain open to new ideas.
Dominique K. Numakura, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DKN Research, www.dknresearchllc.com
Headlines of the week
1. ASE (Major IC packaging material supplier in Taiwan) has held a ground braking ceremony for the new plant and R&D center in Kaohsiung. The new plant will produce leading-edge products such as TSV, flip chip and 3D package by the 3rd quarter of 2014.
2. Nippon Electric Glass (Major glass substrate supplier in Japan) has founded a new manufacturing subsidiary in Guangzhou, China to cover the increasing demands of FPD substrates.
3. Mitsubishi Electric (Major electric & electronics company in Japan) will commercialize new lead-free solar cell module series “Multi Roof” for home use. Wide variety of the shapes makes space efficiency high.
4. Kyocera (Major electronics company in Japan) has rolled out the largest energy storage system (14.4kWh) with lithium ion battery as the key element of the solar cell energy generation plant.
5. Taiyo Yuden (Major device manufacturer in Japan) will commercialize a new cylinder type lithium ion capacitor “LIC2540R 3R8277” with 270 Farad as back-up power source.
6. DIGITIMES (Industry media in Taiwan) says LCD panel manufacturers have been getting new orders from China for smart phones. The manufacturing capacity in the 3rd quarter will be tight.
7. Fuji Film (Major film and camera manufacturer in Japan) will invest one billion yen to increase the manufacturing capacity of the sensor film “EXCLEAR” to satisfy the booming demand of the touch panel screens.
8. Sharp (Major electronics company in Japan) has achieved 37.9% conversion rate of photovoltaic cell introducing three compound structure of InGa/GaAs/InGaAs.
9. Chemitox (Test service firm in Japan) has started a new test & evaluation service for solar cell modules under salty water sprinkling conditions.
10. Innolux (Major display panel manufacturer in Taiwan) will begin volume production of 85” ultra HD (3840 x 2160) LCD panels for large size TVs by the end of 2013.
DKN Research Newsletter #1312, April 28th, 2013 (English Edition)
Electronic Packaging Industry News from Japan & Asia
(dknresearchllc.com)
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