Field Emission Display - History

History

The first concentrated effort to develop FED systems started in 1991 by Silicon Video Corporation1, later Candescent Technologies. Their "ThinCRT" displays used metal emitters, originally built out of tiny molybdenum cones known as Spindt tips. They suffered from erosion due to the high accelerating voltages. Attempts to lower accelerating voltages and find suitable phosphors that would work at lower power levels, as well as address the erosion problem through better materials, were unsuccessful.

Candescent pushed ahead with development in spite of problems, breaking ground on a new production facility in Silicon Valley in 1998, partnering with Sony. However the technology was not ready, and the company suspended equipment purchases in early 1999, citing "contamination issues". The plant was never completed, and after spending $600 million on development they filed for Chapter 11 protection in June 2004, and sold all of their assets to Canon that August.

Another attempt to address the erosion issues was made by Advance Nanotech, a subsidiary of SI Diamond Technology of Austin, Texas. Advance Nanotech developed a doped diamond dust, whose sharp corners appeared to be an ideal emitter. However the development never panned out and was adandoned in 2003. Advance Nanotech then applied their efforts to the similar SED display, licensing their technology to Canon. When Canon brought in Toshiba to help developing the display, Advance Nanotech sued, but ultimately lost in their efforts to re-negotiate the contracts based on their claim that Canon transferred the technology to Toshiba.

Recent FED research focuses on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as emitters. Nano-emissive display (NED) is Motorola's term for their carbon-nanotube-based FED technology. A prototype model was demonstrated in May 2005, but Motorola has now halted all FED-related development.

Futaba Corporation has been running a Spindt-type development program since 1990. They have produced prototypes of smaller FED systems for a number of years and demonstrated them at various trade shows, but like the Candescent efforts no large-screen production has been forthcoming. Development continues on a nanotube based version.

Sony, having abandoned their efforts with Candescent, licensed CNT technology from Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc., of Houston, Texas, who were the public licensing agent for a number of technologies developed at Rice University's Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory. In 2007 they demonstrated a FED display at a trade show in Japan and claimed they would be introducing production models in 2009. They later spun off their FED efforts to "Field Emission Technologies", which continued to aim for a 2009 release.

Their plans to start production at a former Pioneer factory in Kagoshima were delayed by financial issues in late 2008. On March 26, 2009 "Field Emission Technologies" (FET) announced that it was closing down due to the inability to raise capital.

In January 2010, Taiwanese AU Optronics Corporation (AUO) announced that it had acquired assets from Sony's FET and FET Japan, including "patents, know-how, inventions, and relevant equipment related to FED technology and materials". In November 2010, Nikkei reported that AUO plans to start mass production of FED panels in the fourth quarter of 2011, however AUO commented that the technology is still in the research stage and there are no plans to begin mass production at this moment.