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Plastic semiconductors on the horizon

Stephen Beard Jan 3, 2007
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Plastic semiconductors on the horizon

Stephen Beard Jan 3, 2007
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SCOTT JAGOW: A British company wants to build the first factory for making plastic semiconductors. This technology could cut the price of electronic circuitry by up to 90 percent. Stephen Beards has more from London.


STEPHEN BEARD: Plastic Logic, which is based in Cambridge, will build the new factory in Germany by the end of next year.

Manufacturing the plastic chips will be much simpler, cheaper and cleaner than for silicon says Herman Hauser who helped create and finance the company.

HERMAN HAUSER: It’s a solution process which happens at room temperature without any nasty chemicals as opposed to silicon processing which needs very high temperatures and very toxic substances.

The product is not yet as fast as the silicon chip and won’t be used in microprocessors.

The first applications are likely to be light, tough and flexible display screens. The company says it could achieve annual sales of more than a billion dollars within the next decade.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.

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