Field-emission display intellectual property (IP) from UK firm Printable Field Emitters (PFE) has resurfaced in a start-up called Mimiv, and is being exploited by an Asian display maker.

“We plan to scale-up in Asia over the next two years,” said Mimiv’s CEO, Bill Taylor, who would give no further details of the partner.

Formerly venture funded, PFE had been developing field-emission display technology since 1995, producing a string of demonstrators until it was put into the hands of administrators in April 2004.

In July 2004 the intellectual property assets were bought by PFE’s founding directors, along with employees, shareholders and consultants. Mimiv stands for the company’s metal-insulator-metal-insulator-vacuum emissive structure, said Taylor.

Since the IP buyout Mimiv has been working on PFE’s materials to improve emissive parameters, particularly pixel to pixel brightness variation.

“Towards the end of PFE we had pretty much resolved it, with pixel to pixel match at 92 per cent,” said Taylor. “With the new materials we have developed and tested we get 98 per cent, which is suitable for the market.”

Mimiv is now looking for a UK HQ site (PFE was based in Oxfordshire) which is likely to be in the North East, said Taylor.

See display videos at www.mimiv.co.uk