Merck, Beacon for Liquid Crystal Technology
Merck, Beacon for Liquid Crystal Technology
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  • 승인 2007.08.13 14:24
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Merck Group has maintained its technology leadership in liquid crystal (LC) materials for over a century since it offered the first high purity substances with liquid crystalline properties in 1904. The roots of liquid crystals go back to the year 1888 and Merck participated almost from the outset. The development of liquid crystals by Merck shows persuasively how a large economic success can evolve from a pure research topic. Today, liquid crystal information displays enhance the quality of people's lives worldwide. One of the milestones in Merck's technological success is the establishment of Merck Advanced Technologies Ltd. (MAT) in Korea that showcases excellent cooperative relations with local display manufacturers based firmly on intensive communications.

As the world's leader in research, development and production of liquid crystals, Merck has developed Vertical Alignment (VA), In-Plane Switching (IPS), Twisted Nematic (TN) and Super-Twisted Nematic (STN) display technologies.

Prime Contributor to Korea's Display Industry

In Korea, Merck Ltd. made its debut in 1989 as a supplier of specialized fine chemicals to domestic customers and strengthened its LC business by inaugurating Merck Advanced Technologies Ltd. in 2002.

In order to increase its customer proximity, Merck established a technical center in Poseung Industrial Complex designed for research, development and production of customized liquid crystal mixtures leading to a fast and stable supply of key materials for manufacturing of displays such as flat TV panels, notebooks, PCs and mobile phones. Since then investments have been added continuously to expand the capacity and to improve quality of products. The LC center is located in tandem with Merck's advanced storage facilities that surpass Europe's strict industry standards and a sophisticated logistics center specifically for chemicals and pharmaceuticals for domestic market.

Merck in Korea settled its technical center in Gyeonggi Province in close cooperation and with strong support from the local government and it still maintains a close relationship with authorities.

As the International Meeting on Information Display Conference (IMID) takes place in Korea later this month, Merck will show its cutting-edge materials not just for LC but also for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLED) and organic semiconductors that were lately lined up as its new business items. They include light-emitting objects based on OLED technology, organic TFT, organic solar cell, RFID and optical film materials.

Dr. Andreas Kruse, President of Merck in Korea, informs that Mr. Walter Zywottek, head of Merck Chemicals business and member of executive board, will visit Korea to participate in the IMID conference this year and deliver a keynote speech on Merck's technology leadership and industry outlook, while stimulating industry innovation.

Merck expects that TFT-LCDs will remain the fastest growing segment in the display industry and will continue to dominate all important applications from notebooks, monitors and TVs. The LCD TV market will show the strongest growth with a shift to larger screen sizes. Main areas for improvement are contrast, backlight, and moving picture response time.

Liquid crystals are the key components in TFT-LCDs to meet the technical requirements like wide operating temperature range, low power consumption, low driving voltage, fast response time and high reliability. The recent progress and future trend for LCD monitor and notebook application is TN-TFT technology. For LCD TV applications there is VA and IPS technology which allow faster moving picture response times.

Further and rapid development and introduction of advanced liquid crystals for all important technologies and applications demonstrate the significant and fast progress in the material development.

For years Merck has developed many different types of emitting materials ranging from oligomer to polymer for OLEDs focusing on material with improved physical properties such as increased fluorescent quantum yield in a solid state, the high mobility of electrons and electron holes, easy applicability in vapor deposition and coating, uniformed thinfilming and high chemical stability.

In addition, Merck saves no efforts to develop organic semiconductor materials and participate in various R&D activities to commercialize the materials in a close relationship with business partners in different countries. Merck is expected to contribute significantly to the advancement of OLED industry in the future through its development of key substances and materials that will improve properties of OLEDs. OLEDs have potential as emerging next-generation display devices because OLEDs seem to be brighter, thinner, faster and lighter, use less power, offer higher contrast and are cheaper to manufacture than LCDs.

Boundless Efforts to Strengthen Win-Win Partnership

As a market leader in liquid crystals, Merck strongly believes that one of its duties is to stimulate innovation in the area of display technologies. In this respect, Merck has continuously looked for opportunities to cooperate with local partners and to improve the performance of display technologies. Through the Merck Award introduced at the 2004 IMID conference, Merck has expressed in public its commitment towards the development of the display industry. Since then, the IMID conference has rapidly grown to a major international LCD conference, reflecting the importance of the Korean LCD industry worldwide.

Dr. Kruse emphasizes that Merck LC mixtures for Korean manufactures are developed locally by researchers who work very close with our customers. "Local development has two meanings: one is to secure Merck's technology transfer to Korean industry and the other is to help cultivating local R&D manpower." Actually the Merck Award promotes Merck's responsible corporate citizenship and plays an important role to generate innovative spirit throughout Korea at the same time.

Further to its corporate citizenship activities, liquid crystals produced and supplied by Merck have complied with Europe's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directives, and laws and regulations in Korea, Japan and other major Asian countries who stipulate the reuse of LCDs. From the initial phase of development and production, Merck has examined every aspect of ecological safety. LC substances itself and the manufacturing process of LC materials follow the requirements of Responsible Care and Product Stewardship. More eco-friendly materials and processes support this and save energy at the same time. One example is the reuse of LC mixtures, a new service introduced in a response to customer requirements in the LCD industry. Another example is a new LC packaging system which has been in place since 2005 and helps to increase production volumes while reducing chemical waste at our customer sites. This system allows customers to handle their products in an efficient and safe manner as well. By multiple usage of the system, industry waste is being reduced effectively.

Regarding Merck's business direction and vision for the future, Dr. Kruse states that the LCD business remains a very important growth engine to Merck. Beside LC market we clearly commit to new emerging technology markets related to display industries. "Strategically the mutual growth with customers and the market has first and top priority for Merck." Ongoing development of high-end materials for display technology, product reliability for the end-consumer market and engagement in corporate citizenship activities are the focus areas of Merck Advanced Technologies Ltd.

Summary of Keynote Speech

Merck - Today in the future

by Mr. Walter Zywottek

Head of Merck Chemicals Business and Member of Executive Board

TFT-LCDs remain the fastest growing segment in the display industry and will continue to dominate all important applications from notebooks, monitors to TVs. The LCD-TV market will show the strongest growth with a shift to larger screen sizes. Main areas for improvement are contrast, backlight, and moving picture response time.

Liquid crystals are the key component in TFT-LCDs to meet the technical requirements, like wide operating temperature range, lower power consumption, lower driving voltage, faster response time and higher reliability. The recent progress and future trends for LCD monitors and notebook applications will be described using TNTFT- technology. For LCD-TV application VA and IPS technology will allow faster moving picture response times. Examples for the development of new liquid crystals for all important technologies and applications demonstrate the significant and fast progress in material development.


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