Dow Completes First-Phase Expansion of Production Facility for LUMATION Light-Emitting Polymers (LEPs)

13-Feb-2003

The Advanced Electronic Materials (AEM) business of The Dow Chemical Company recently completed the first phase of an expansion to its commercial manufacturing facility for LUMATION* Light-Emitting polymers (LEPs) at its Michigan Operations site (Midland, Mich.). These materials are essential to the production of polymeric light-emitting diode (pLED) displays, a next-generation display technology.

"As the development partner of choice in the pLED industry, Dow is committed to helping display manufacturers and OEMs successfully commercialize emissive display applications," said Dave Kyle, senior marketing manager for the AEM Display Technologies group. "With this facility, our customers can be confident we are a reliable source of supply for display technology materials, helping them to accelerate their speed-to-market for pLED displays. "

The first phase of the expansion is a multi-reactor facility that expands Dow's capacity to produce a broad portfolio of materials and products, including numerous colors and formulations of LUMATION LEPs.

"Dow collaborates with our customers to develop tailored solutions for their specific needs, so we designed the expansion to allow production flexibility and versatility," said Jim O'Brien, technical project director for the AEM Display Technologies group. "We can now efficiently supply LUMATION LEPs designed for our customers' specialized display application and fabrication processes, such as LEP products of specific molecular weights and grades tuned for passive- and active-matrix use."

Within the vertically integrated facility completed in the first phase of the expansion, Dow oversees the entire production process for LUMATION LEPs - allowing customers to focus on their pLED development and commercialization programs. Dow's capabilities include solution and ink formulation, ultra-filtration and packaging within a clean-room environment, for direct supply to pLED display fabrication lines around the world.

Dow expects to bring the second phase of the multi-million dollar expansion online in the second half of 2003. The second phase will further increase the production capacity for LUMATION LEPs, positioning Dow to meet global demand for LEPs for the next decade.

The first red, green and blue LUMATION LEPs are now available, enabling the manufacture of monochromatic and first-generation full-color pLED displays. LEPs such as those produced by Dow are the critical light-emitting material in an emissive display and provide many advantages over incumbent display technologies, such as traditional liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). pLEDs are one class of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a new display technology platform for producing bright, high-contrast, low-voltage emissive displays.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/20046/dow-completes-first-phase-expansion-of-production-facility-for-lumation-light-emitting-polymers-leps.html