The German science and technology company Merck has opened its new production plant for OLED (organic light-emitting diode) materials, which are used in displays and lighting systems, in Darmstadt. With a total investment of around Euro 30 million, this is one of the largest single investments Merck has made at the Darmstadt site in recent years.
The plant enables a fivefold increase in production capacity and can be started up stepwise. By 2018, Merck aims to be one of the leading suppliers of OLED materials and deliver from a single source all the chemical materials necessary for OLED displays. The company is benefiting from its experience in the liquid crystals business, where it is the global leader. The investment in the new plant is thus in line with Merck’s strategic goal to sustainably secure its leading position in display materials.
“OLED technology has the potential to become the technology of the future for displays and lighting. We invested considerable resources in OLED technology early on and are excellently positioned. This applies to Darmstadt, where our OLED materials are developed and manufactured, and to countries such as Japan, Korea and China, where we operate application labs to work closely with our customers,” said Walter Galinat, CEO performance materials and member of the Executive Board of Merck.
Organic light-emitting diodes are semiconducting organic materials that emit light and luminesce when electric voltage is applied. They are particularly suited for use in state-of-the-art displays and lighting. OLED displays provide brilliant colours and sharp images from any viewing angle, have a long lifespan and are highly energy-efficient. In addition, they are thin and flexible, which allows entirely new shapes and opens up a broad spectrum of totally new applications.
The latest technological advances in flexible OLED displays are enabling unique smartphones in new shapes, which are attracting a high degree of interest from consumers. In the future, the ceilings of subway cars, offices or apartments could be transformed into information panels or a view of a blue sky. In order to turn these visions into reality, Merck is working on ultra-thin, printable OLED displays. This will allow the manufacture of flexible or rollable displays, for instance for video walls or windows. OLED technology will create new possibilities also in the automotive sector, medicine and education. The first cars with OLED tail lights can already be seen on roads.
