For SID Display Week in Seattle (May 23 to 28), Merck KGaA is using the heading green³ to convey how environmentally friendly its materials are. Specifically, green³ stands for producing eco-friendly materials, enabling eco-friendly manufacturing processes and reducing the energy consumption of the devices that contain them. The company will exhibit its PS-VA (polymer-stabilized vertical alignment) materials, which offer a liquid crystal technology that they say provides better contrast, faster switching speed and a reduction in power consumption for LCD TVs. Based on vertical alignment, the leading LCD TV technology besides IPS (in-plane switching), the materials are part of the company’s licristal portfolio, which is based on a combination of liquid crystals with specially designed reactive mesogens. Merck also will provide information on its liquid crystal materials for a switchable Blue Phase, which is seen as a future technology for fast switching, high contrast ratio and a wide viewing angle, and it will show the LCD materials it produces for many 3-D applications, including mixtures for 3-D shutter glasses. Its reactive mesogens are for use in patterned retarder films for 3-D displays using passive glasses. Broadband cholesteric liquid crystal reflective polarizer films made from commercially available high delta n RMM (reactive mesogen mixtures) from Merck allow LCD manufacturers to decrease the brightness of backlight units, reducing power consumption by maintaining reasonably high brightness values of the display. The extended livilux range now includes a complete set of electron, hole transport and matrix (host) materials for small molecule-based organic LEDs, enabling display and lighting customers to decrease the operating voltage and increase the overall efficiency of the organic LEDs, a boon for mass production. The isiphor brand offers a broad spectrum of lighting materials (phosphors) for manufacturers of LEDs. These support color-on-demand concepts ranging from warm to cold white light. Also on show will be Merck’s isishape products for smart and simple patterning in the display and photovoltaic industries. One highlight is isishape HiperEtch, which can selectively etch antireflection coatings, passivation layers and transparent conductive materials for displays and related applications. The concept is particularly recommended for use in the production of new-generation touch panels, flexible displays, OLEDs and electroluminescence backlights. For manufacturers of innovative applications such as flexible displays, organic solar cells and organic RFID chips, the lisicon brand offers a wide selection of printable organic electronic materials, including advanced organic semiconductor formulations, dielectrics, surface treatment materials and process aid chemicals. Merck will hold four talks on the innovations on Thursday, May 27, in the exhibitor`s forum (Hall 4A). For more information, visit: www.merck.de