Cambridge Display Technology (CDT has begun collaborative work on a metal deposition project which is expected to be important in the field of flexible displays.

The project is part-funded by the Department of Trade and Industry which has identified the area of flexible displays sometimes referred to as “plastic electronics” as one for R&D funding support.

This particular project involves the development of a process to deposit high conductivity, very thin metal tracks onto glass and plastic substrates.

"This interesting project could have important implications for the development of next generation displays", comments Dr David Fyfe, CEO of CDT.

According to CDT, the process is seen as an alternative to conventional inkjet printing methods and involves the use of lasers to expose selected material, and is capable of resolutions of less than 5µm.

Flexible displays may relay on this technique for the formation of the TFT backplane, according to CDT, the process under development would be applicable to plasma (PDP) and LCD displays and even organic photovoltaics as well as P-OLEDs.

CDT partners in the project are Conductive Inkjet Technology (CIT), a subsidiary of Carclo and Exitech, supplier of laser processing equipment.

CDT expects to be able to report the outcome of this work by mid 2007.