DuPont and Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) of Cambridge, England, announced today at the Society for Information Display Show here that they have entered into a two-year joint development agreement to bring light-emitting polymer (LEP) technology invented by CDT into commercial use in flexible displays. The alliance has the potential to bring the ultimate thin, flexible LEP display to market on a commercial scale along with other products based on CDT's patented technology.

Through the alliance, the companies expect to supply plastic substrates coated with LEP material to electronics manufacturers in large volume within three years. Customers will be able to build displays to incorporate into products such as VCRs, CD players, mobile phones, lighted signs and alarm clocks.

"This technology allows designers of these products and many others an almost unlimited freedom of design versus current limitations imposed by flat glass displays", said Robert Dorothy, Director of DuPont's Conducting Polymers Venture. "We estimate this alliance can enable markets in excess of $10 billion over the next ten years, and believe the ultimate flat screen display could be on the way", he said.

"This alliance enables CDT to deliver on our promise of bringing LEP technology to market across high and low information content products", said CDT Chief Executive Officer Danny Chapchal. "DuPont is a major player in high performance materials manufacture, with a strong record of helping to advance emerging technologies. We believe this alliance will benefit LEP technology development in both the short and long term", Chapchal continued. "Over the next 18 months, a major goal will be achieving large volume, flexible, low information products. Ultimately, we anticipate large scale manufacture of flexible substrates developed with DuPont and leading electronics companies to create high information content products such as a flexible electronic newspaper".

DuPont brings to the alliance its coating and encapsulation expertise and will develop a low-cost coating process for LEP displays suitable for the manufacture of high-volume products. One of the major benefits of LEP technology is that fabrication can generally be carried out on existing manufacturing equipment. At the same time, it offers the low voltage benefits of traditional light-emitting diodes and the large area patternability associated with current liquid crystal displays.

About DuPont:
DuPont is a global research and technology-based life sciences, materials and energy company. Committed to better things for better living, DuPont serves world-wide markets including food and nutrition, health care, agriculture, fashion and apparel, home and construction, electronics, transportation and energy. The company, founded in 1802, now operates in 70 countries and has 98,000 employees. Revenues in 1997 were more than $45 billion.