Electronics Solutions

Dow Corning and FLEx Lighting to Showcase Collaborative Technologies in the new SID Innovation Zone

May 31, 2012 (Midland, MI and Chicago, IL) – Dow Corning (dowcorning.com), a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, and FLEx Lighting (flexlighting.com), a world leader in innovative lighting solutions, will be showcasing a flexible light guide system that is up to ten times thinner than the current industry leading systems for front and back lighting in mobile devices at the upcoming Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week Innovation Zone.

Display Week, held in Boston June 3-8, is the premier international gathering of scientists, engineers, manufacturers and users in the field of electronic-information displays. This year, the Innovation Zone (I-Zone) was created as an area dedicated to showcasing cutting-edge demos and prototypes that will lead to the products of tomorrow.

This is the first time the collaborative work of Dow Corning and FLEx Lighting will be available for public viewing. An innovation in the research and development stage, the combination of silicon-based optical materials and optics technology has the potential to produce ground-breaking lighting systems for the display industry, including crystal clear front lighting of e-readers and other electronic paper displays and efficient back lighting for LCD displays.

“I am enthused by the opportunity to collaborate with FLEx Lighting developing new technologies for display applications,” said Steve Block, Associate Industry Scientist for Dow Corning’s Electronics Industry. “The strengths in optics technology that FLEx Lighting possesses, along with Dow Corning’s silicone optical materials expertise, enables a unique opportunity to offer the display industry innovations in the field of light guides and lighting technology.”

In 2010, Dow Corning and FLEx began collaboration applying silicon-based materials to enhance the performance of light guide films. Dow Corning’s silicon-based technology offers benefits across the entire lighting and display value chains thanks to the optical efficiency, transparency, thermal stability, UV stability, lower cost of ownership, and superior reliability and lifetime of materials. In conjunction with FLEx’s light insertion technology, these features create brighter and more energy efficient lighting components for a wide range of display applications.

“FLEx Lighting is thrilled to be bringing these new innovations to light in our collaboration with Dow Corning,” said Mike Casper, President of FLEx Lighting. “The combination of our technologies opens the doors to the future of electronic displays and light guiding, and the I-Zone will be the first of hopefully many opportunities to showcase this potential to the industry.”

About Dow Corning
Dow Corning (dowcorning.com) provides performance-enhancing solutions to serve the diverse needs of more than 25,000 customers worldwide. A global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services via the company’s Dow Corning® and XIAMETER® (xiameter.com) brands. Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Incorporated.

About FLEx Lighting
FLEx Lighting is a Chicago-based technology company and world leader in innovative lighting solutions. With immediate uses in consumer electronic displays and retail signage, the FLEx ultra-thin and transparent illuminated film can be customized for a wide range of applications. Years of light guide research and development has helped FLEx build an international patent portfolio that is ever expanding as the company continues to pursue the frontier of illuminated films. FLEx’s management and technical team brings over 50 years of experience in lighting, specialty optics design, and international business.

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