8 April 2015

Aixtron acquires PECVD-based OLED thin-film encapsulation firm PlasmaSi

Deposition equipment maker Aixtron SE of Herzogenrath (near Aachen), Germany has acquired privately held PlasmaSi Inc of Fremont, CA, USA - which provides low-temperature silicon nitride plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems - for $16m in cash.

Founded in 2009, PlasmaSi enables the encapsulation of organic thin-films by depositing ultra-thin and flexible barrier films through its proprietary OptaCap technology. The films are well suited for next-generation organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display products including mobile phones, hand-held devices, tablets, wearables and large-screen HDTV. While initially designed and targeted at those applications, PlasmaSi's technology can also be used to manufacture large-area OLED lighting products as well as to address future opportunities in encapsulation markets. Aixtron aims to integrate PlasmaSi's thin-film encapsulation process into its existing OLED cluster for customer demonstration purposes.

"While increasingly expanding our business focus towards OLED in the coming years, we were looking to broaden our technology portfolio as well as to strengthen our customer access by adding PlasmaSi to our product portfolio," says Aixtron's president & CEO Martin Goetzeler. "Thin-film encapsulation is an essential process step for OLED high-volume manufacturing, specifically for flexible devices. In combining our OVPD [organic vapor phase deposition] technology with PlasmaSi's innovative approach, we will be able to add significant value in the production of flexible OLED applications," he adds.

"We are delighted that we have found a strong partner in Aixtron, a company that has an impressive track record in the successful commercialization of deposition technologies in the semiconductor equipment industry," comments PlasmaSi's CEO & chairman Adam Kablanian. "Therefore, joining forces with Aixtron is the best option for us and we are now looking forward to take our technology to the next level together," he adds. "We will strongly benefit from Aixtron's R&D and production capabilities as well as from its worldwide sales, service and support network." 

Tags: Aixtron PECVD OLEDs

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