E Ink and Lucent Technologies Demonstrate World's First Flexible Electronic Ink Display With Plastic Transistors

Business Wire, Nov 20, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2000

Innovation Marks Significant Milestone in the Development of

Electronic Paper

E Ink Corporation and Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) today announced a major milestone in their effort to develop a flexible, paper-like electronic display, as they jointly demonstrated working prototypes built on thin sheets of plastic. Produced just one year after the development project was announced, these devices prove that electronic ink, driven with printed plastic circuits, is a compelling design for electronic paper and other next-generation displays.

The prototypes consist of a 25-square-inch display area made up of several hundred pixels. The displays were constructed using two ground-breaking developments: E Ink's electronic ink, and Lucent's active-matrix drive circuits printed on plastic, which were developed by Bell Labs, Lucent's research and development unit. The transistors in these circuits are made of plastic materials and are fabricated with a low-cost printing process that uses high-resolution rubber stamps. Their switching properties are similar to typical thin film transistors made with silicon and conventional fabrication methods, but they are mechanically flexible, rugged and lightweight. The electronic ink enables the display's paper-like qualities: extraordinary brightness and contrast under a wide range of lighting conditions; easy viewing from all angles; low power consumption; and plastic film construction.

"True electronic paper has, in many ways, seemed like a futuristic technology," said Jim Iuliano, president and CEO of E Ink. "Today we have brought that concept closer to reality by demonstrating that electronic ink works with Lucent's flexible plastic transistors. With this combination of technologies we believe that we have found a very promising means for achieving paper-like electronic displays."

"The electronic ink display is the first demonstration of a realistic application for plastic transistors, which we believe over time could find use in a variety of low cost electronic information appliances," said Tom Uhlman, president of Lucent's New Ventures Group.

About the Display Prototypes

The unique ability of the materials to be printed on flexible substrates offers the potential to simultaneously reach revolutionary lower costs of flat panel displays and achieve paper-like form, look and ease-of-use.

Bell Labs researchers produced the plastic circuits for driving the electronic ink display by using newly-developed high-resolution rubber stamping techniques with associated compatible materials technologies that bypass many of the steps and costs involved in making traditional silicon devices. These methods also have the advantages of being compatible with rapid reel-to-reel printing schemes and they allow patterns to be applied to large sheets of plastic in a single step. Printing on a thin, plastic film also yields a flexible display that is roughly one-quarter the thickness and weight of a standard liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.

The prototype displays demonstrate other paper-like qualities unique to electronic ink technology. Unlike conventional LCDs and other kinds of reflective displays, an electronic ink display is exceptionally bright and is readily viewable under both bright and dim lighting conditions. Its contrast ratio of more than 10 to 1 exceeds that of newspapers, which typically have a contrast ratio of 8 to 1 or less. Because of its bistable and reflective nature and because it only needs to be powered during a switching cycle, the flexible display draws only one-tenth to one-thousandth the power of an LCD of equivalent size. The initial prototype can display both text and simple graphic images while being flexed.

E Ink and Lucent expect that displays incorporating printed plastic transistors could be available within five years and would be able to deliver improved look, portability, flexibility and low cost to handheld displays, as well as very large graphical displays.

About Lucent Technologies

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as broadband and mobile Internet infrastructure; communications software; communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network design and consulting services. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.

About E Ink

E Ink Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was founded in 1997 to commercialize the use of a proprietary "electronic ink" that will have far-reaching impact on how the world visually communicates information. Electronic ink has the potential to span virtually every industry and create new communications vehicles. The first commercial product using this revolutionary technology is Immedia(TM), a wireless display with the capability to instantly change messages.