Covion CDT to Collaborate on Polymer Research

FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan. 22 -- Covion and Cambridge Display Technology (CDT, of Cambridge, UK) have signed an agreement covering technology licensing and research, development and evaluation of new polymers for light-emitting polymer (LEP) applications.

The agreement builds on an existing materials-supply agreement between Covion and CDT and is intended to speed up the development of long-lifetime, high-efficiency full-color displays in applications such as mobile phones. The overall market for OLED display devices, which includes LEPs, has been forecast to reach US $2.5 billion by 2007.

The agreement gives Covion licences to CDT's composition of matter and process patents relating to LEPs and gives CDT access to Covion innovations in polymer materials. The companies will also work together on development and testing of new polymer materials.

"This agreement builds on our respective strengths in materials innovation, device design and commercialization," said Hermann Schenk, managing director, Covion. "This will be an important partnership in bringing forward the next generation of organic light-emitting diode displays."