Meidensha Corporation (hereinafter Meiden) has established the first technology in the world for barrier film deposition at a moderate temperature using 100 percent pure ozone, which is expected to cut drastically the cost of making bendable displays and electronics, the company said.

Tokyo-based Meiden has been developing the technology in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) since 2000 and applied for a patent in March 2018.

This technology could be used for high-performance film for flexible organic electroluminescent (EL) displays, printed electronics (PE) and flexible electronics. At present, plasma technology is used to manufacture flexible organic EL displays, but it requires high temperatures of 100 C to 150 C. Meiden’s new technology enables film deposition to be performed on resin film at 30 C, which is expected to significantly lower energy costs.

“Pure ozone is effective in producing nanometers-thick film with less energy,” said Kazuhiko Murai of Meiden’s Engineering Business Unit. “It also could shorten the manufacturing process because it could allow a single machine to perform the multiple tasks of film deposition, surficial hydrophilic enhancement and removal of organic materials generated during manufacturing.”

Meiden and AIST have jointly developed a device to continuously generate pure ozone. Meiden is the only maker that can produce the device, which is mainly used for manufacturing semiconductors.

Meiden plans to continue its research partnership with AIST to improve the quality of film that is precise, difficult-to-scratch and bendable with excellent barrier properties. These types of film are expected to have many future applications.

Meiden website: http://www.meidensha.com/index.html