An OLED materials R&D company is being set up that will supply chemistry for a regional OLED lighting cluster in Japan's Yamagata prefecture.
The company, to be called Europium, is the brianchild of professor Junji Kido, president of the Research Institute of Organic Electronics on the campus of Yamagata University.
In 2008 Kido set up Lumiotec, a company that will make OLED lighting panels based on his research into developing white OLED technology. The start-up's investors include Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Toppan Printing and Rohm. Lumiotec has installed pilot equipment for making the panels by gas deposition.
Earlier this year Kido also established Organic Lighting, a company that will make luminaires and modules based on OLED lighting panels, supplied by companies such as Lumiotec because, as yet, there is no supply chain that exists for making and luminaires and fixtures that use OLED sources.
Kido, who will be president of Europium, says the company will also make make materials for organic solar cells and organic TFTs, as well as OLED devices.
Lumiotec and Organic Lighting are based in Yamagata prefecture. Europium and any future ventures will also be based there, employing staff locally.
Dresden in Germany is also home to a burgeoning OLED lighting cluster. Partners include materials technology firm Novaled and a new venture between Fraunhofer IPMS and Zumtobel called Ledon OLED.