LUCENT INVESTS MILLIONS IN E INK

By: Staff Reports Agreement Could Accelerate Development Of E-paper



Lucent Technologies and E Ink Corp. announced Tuesday they are stepping up their
collaborative effort to develop 'electronic paper' that resembles newspapers and
electronic books.


Bell Labs, Lucent's Murray Hill, N.J.-based research operations, has licensed its
proprietary plastic transistor technology to E Ink. Meanwhile, Lucent's New Ventures
Group has made a multi-million dollar investment in E Ink in exchange for a minority
equity position. The two companies first started working together in October.



The venture allows E Ink's electronic ink technology to be combined with plastic
transistors being developed at Bell Labs. The combined technology could result in
flexible electronic displays that could be instantly updated via computers, wireless,
and Internet connections.


E Ink, based in Cambridge, Mass., has been talking about flexible, portable plastic
sheets since the company was founded in 1997, but the electronic paper hasn't appeared
since electronic ink requires some type of electronic signal for the 'switchable'
capsules to show a dark dye or white pigment. Bell Labs' plastic transistors could create
the electric fields needed for the electronic ink to change color and create images.
Very little additional power is needed to maintain the display image once E Ink's capsules
have been switched to display a particular page or image.


Bell Labs' plastic transistors are similar to those found in semiconductors on silicon
chips, but they're flexible and can be printed. Researchers first printed plastic
transistors on transparency-like film with a silk-screening technique. Research on plastic
transistors has been led by Pierre Wiltzius at the Physical Sciences Division at Bell Labs.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Staff reports



Related story:

LUCENT AND E INK TEAM UP TO CREATE 'ELECTRONIC PAPER' (10/13/99)