03-06-2006 UNIVERSAL DISPLAY CORPORATION
AND MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO COLLABORATE
ON
INK JET PRINTABLE OLED MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT
Ewing, New Jersey and Tokoyo, Japan – Universal
Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL), the Company that’s lighting
the way in developing and commercializing OLED technology for flat panel
displays, lighting and other opto-electronics, together with Mitsubishi
Chemical Corporation and Mitsubishi Chemical Group Science and Technology
Research Center, Inc. (Mitsubishi Chemical), one of the world’s
leading chemical companies, announced today that they have entered into
an agreement to collaborate on the development of materials for phosphorescent
OLED displays that are processible through solution or “wet”
processing methods, such as ink jet printing. Printable phosphorescent
OLED technology is a promising approach for large-area OLED displays that
combines the high efficiency of phosphorescent technology with the potential
cost-effectiveness of ink jet printing. The market for large-area OLED
displays is expected to see dramatic growth in the coming years. Both
Universal Display and Mitsubishi Chemical are preparing to participate
in that growth through efforts such as this. “Collaborating with
a world-class chemical company like Mitsubishi Chemical allows us to share
ideas and help each other reach the next level of innovation for OLED
materials based on our PHOLED™ phosphorescent OLED technology and
Mitsubishi Chemical’s expertise in OLED chemicals and ink formulation,”
said Steven V. Abramson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal
Display. “Mitsubishi Chemical’s commitment to printable phosphorescent
OLEDs, which we call P2OLEDs™, indicates that ink jet printable
PHOLED technology has real commercial potential. By working in concert
on the development of next-generation P2OLED materials with Mitsubishi
Chemical, we hope to accelerate this process.” “This collaboration
agreement with a world leader in the innovative OLED technologies like
Universal Display is a remarkable milestone in the development of printable
OLED materials,” said Dr. Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, Chief Technology
Officer of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and the President and Chief
Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Chemical Group Science and Technology
Research Center, Inc. “Developing new and improved materials for
display industries is one of five research and development focuses for
the mid-term management plan. Mitsubishi Chemical’s OLED technologies
combined with Universal Display’s technologies will certainly realize
the earlier achievement of our goal.” Universal Display’s
proprietary PHOLED™ phosphorescent OLED technology offers up to
four times higher efficiency than conventional OLED technology –
a feature that is very important for today’s battery-operated cell
phones and other portable devices, as well as for tomorrow’s large-area
TVs and solid-state lighting products. Over the past few years, Universal
Display has announced a series of record-breaking performance milestones
for its red, green and blue vacuum-deposited PHOLED systems. Through internal
efforts and programs such as this one, Universal Display is also developing
PHOLED emitters and other OLED materials for use in printable OLED systems.
Mitsubishi Chemical has been developing OLED technologies and has a world-class
OLED technologies and materials. At the end of last year, Mitsubishi Chemical
announced that it had built the highest-efficiency printable blue phosphorescent
OLED. MCC will accelerate its development of printable red, green and
blue phosphorescent materials through this agreement with Universal Display.
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