MANCHESTER, England, May 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartKem, Inc. (OTCQB: SMTK), a company seeking to reshape the world of electronics with its disruptive organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) that have the potential to drive the next generation of displays, is a gold sponsor of this year's Business Conference at Display Week 2023 taking place in Los Angeles, USA. SmartKem Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ian Jenks, will be giving the keynote speech on Wednesday, May 24th at 9:40am PT.
DATE: Wednesday, May 24th, 2023
TIME: 9:40am PT
LOCATION: Los Angeles Convention Center
Ian Jenks will be giving an in-person keynote speech titled 'The Next Generation of MicroLED Displays' as part of the Business Conference segment of Display Week. SmartKem recently announced that, together with its development partner, it has created the first monolithic microLED display using its high performance organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) technology. The novel display was created by printing an OTFT backplane directly on top of Gallium Nitride LEDs. SmartKem believes that this unique process has the potential to lower the cost and accelerate the commercialization of microLED displays. Consumer electronics companies are actively developing microLED displays which promise higher brightness, lower power consumption and longer lifetime. MicroLEDs are particularly important for portable powered displays such as smartwatches and AR/VR displays which cannot accommodate large batteries.
Existing methods of creating microLED displays use physical transfer of LEDs from the wafer upon which they are manufactured to a separate TFT display backplane, where they must be laser welded to the contact pad of the transistor to make an electrical connection. Because high resolution displays require the transfer of millions of tiny LEDs, this process carries a significant risk of placement error. Even if a 99.9% placement yield is achieved, a full HD colour display will have over 6,000 faulty sub-pixel LEDs that would need to be identified, removed, and re-attached.
SmartKem's patented core chemistry enables its semiconductor inks to be processed at 80°C, a significantly lower temperature than other existing methods. These lower temperature inks can be printed directly on top of the microLEDs which would be damaged at the higher temperatures used by other existing methods. This eliminates the mass transfer and laser welding processes, and the placement error described above. Importantly, existing low-cost manufacturing tools currently used for LCD backplane manufacturing can be used for OTFT fabrication.
Attend the Business Conference on Wednesday, May 24th, to hear more about SmartKem's unique TRUFLEX® materials and its ability to deliver the next generation of displays.
For more information on the conference, visit: https://www.displayweek.org/
SmartKem's OTCQB information can be found on the OTC Markets website: www.otcmarkets.com/stock/SMTK/overview
About SmartKem
SmartKem is seeking to reshape the world of electronics with its disruptive organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) that have the potential to drive the next generation of displays. SmartKem's patented TRUFLEX® semiconductor and dielectric inks, or liquid electronic polymers, are used to make a new type of transistor that could potentially revolutionize the display industry. SmartKem's inks enable low temperature printing processes that are compatible with existing manufacturing infrastructure to deliver low-cost displays that outperform existing models. The company's electronic polymer platform can be used in a number of display technologies including microLED, miniLED and AMOLED displays for next generation televisions, laptops, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets, smartwatches and smartphones.
SmartKem develops its materials at its research and development facility in Manchester, UK, its semiconductor manufacturing processes at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) at Sedgefield, UK and retains a field application office in Taiwan. The company has an extensive IP portfolio including 125 granted patents across 19 patent families and 40 codified trade secrets. For more information, visit: www.smartkem.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @SmartKemTRUFLEX.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this press release that are not historical are forward-looking statements, including, among other things, statements relating to the SmartKem's expectations regarding its market position and market opportunity, expectations and plans as to its product development, manufacturing and sales, and relations with its partners and investors. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on SmartKem Inc.'s current expectations, estimates, and projections regarding its business, operations and other similar or related factors. Words such as "may," will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "believe," "estimate," and other similar or elated expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult or impossible to predict and, in some cases, beyond the Company's control. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update information in this release to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.
