Opto now

Hello

While those of you who have been reading Electronic Products for the past few years may be aware of my presence in our publication, I wanted to let everyone know that I’ve recently taken on responsibility for coverage of all optoelectronic components: displays, LEDs, lamps, bulbs, and more.

While I’ve been covering optical sensors and transducer for EP since 2004, and have covered display technologies previously in my career, I’d appreciate all the help I can get with this vast, dynamic field. Specifically, if you’d like to see a particular optoelectronic topic covered in our magazine, please contact me; my e-mail address is at the end of this column.

Spray-on solution

Finnish optoelectronic materials supplier Braggone (www.braggone.com) has created chemical process that promises to reduce the cost of solar cells. Rather than requiring chemical-vapor deposition systems to add hydrogenation and anti-reflective coatings to wafers, the new process uses a molecularly tailored material is spray-coated onto the wafer, which is then cured at elevated temperatures. Existing solar-cell manufacturing facilities can expand without investing in additional CVD tools, and new plants can totally avoid CVD costs.

Industrial displays

Taiwanese TFT LCD manufacturer CMO (www.cmo.com.tw) has a new XGA line especially for industrial applications, with guaranteed availability of three years minimum. Models ranging in size from 7 to 15 in. diagonal with a CFL-lamp lifetime of 50,000 hours are now available in the U.S. from Data Modul (www.datamodul.com)