Nanotech Start-Up Targets Display Market >BY Phil Jones

Computergram International, August 13, 1999

A nanotechnology spin-off from the UK's Oxford University is in negotiations with two major display makers, which could see the British start-ups' technology driving a significant increase in commercial flat-screen performance within six months.

Nanox Ltd, a Yarnton, Oxfordshire company launched by Isis Innovation Ltd, Oxford University's commercial venture incubator, has been set up to commercialize the expertise in manufacture of inorganic phosphors of two Oxford academics, Professor Peter Dobson and Dr Gareth Wakefield. Wakefield and Dobson have "nanoengineered" phosphor particles of far greater purity than conventionally manufactured phosphor materials. Used as an alternative to conventional materials the virtually "defect-free" Nanox phosphor particles can help to produce reflective surfaces that are five times as efficient as those of today's cathode ray tube (CRT) displays or of modern Field Emission Displays (FEDs).

Herb Askew, a director of Nanox, and project manager for Isis, said that Nanox's nanoparticle phosphors will be most immediately attractive to flat-screen display makers, including those building products destined for notebook computers. A key benefit of the new materials is their ability to reduce the power required to produce a bright display from around 30,000 Volts in a normal CRT to as little as 500V.

For FED notebook display makers which currently require several thousand Volts to drive their products, the nanoparticle material will potentially answer "a number of issues connected with running thousands of Volts over a surface a few millimeters thick" said Askew, including safety and lifecycle problems. It will also allow FED makers to build genuinely full color displays, with much faster refresh and display times than present notebook screens.

Askew said two major screen makers are already negotiating with Nanox, and there has been interest from a number of others. Nanox plans to manufacture the nanoparticle phosphors itself, but expects to also license some aspects of its technology to large customers. Askew said the company is ready to supply prospective customers in commercial quantities within six months, but acknowledged that the timing of his company's technology's market debut will be in the hands of the screen makers.

Any barriers to early commercial exploitation of the Nanox technology are likely to revolve around price. The new materials are more expensive than their conventional counterparts, but Askew said he did not believe this would seriously impede its use in the notebook market, or in areas such as electronic trading rooms, where the low-power characteristics of nanoparticles could help solve space and ventilation problems associated with normal CRT monitors.

Following funding from two local business angels, Nanox is now capitalized at 1.5m pounds ($2.4m).