ARMdevices.net

One of the revolutionary new touch screen technologies is created by Cambrios, it’s their ClearOhm® Silver Nanowires, that is now the leading candidate for replacing ITO in touch applications and making strides also in OLED lighting, Organic Photo Voltaic cells, electronic displays and others. At IFA, I interviewed Sri Peruvemba who was very excited about the prospects for the technology. Cambrios ClearOhm technology is replacing ITO not only in applications where ITO cannot play (large monitors, All-In-One computers and upcoming flexible/unbreakable tablets, phones and other devices) but also in applications like tablets and laptops and mobile phones where ITO is dominant. They already have many products in the field (see my video with Cambrios from Computex in Taiwan) and are expecting more tier one design wins to be announced in the near future. Already it’s public that companies like Samsung, Nissha are investors in Cambrios ClearOhm, that the worlds biggest touch screen maker TPK is building a new factory to build Cambrios ClearOhm based touch screens and that Hitachi is also a customer. The ClearOhm product has better transmission than ITO on film, has better conductivity (since silver conducts 100 times better than Indium), is made on flexible plastic material that is 40% thinner and 40% lighter than traditional touch screens, can enable flexible touch screens that ITO cannot since it is brittle, and it is very rugged. The Silver Nanowires from Cambrios is almost invisible in the touch screen, I could not see any pattern or moire that you would see with other technologies like metal mesh and ITO. Also the Cambrios CMO says that they are price competitive even with inferior technologies, that is amazing. During my interview I examined the touch sensors and could not see any pattern visibility. This is why they are winning new business. How fast Cambrios ClearOhm is going to take over the whole worldwide touch panel market is unsure, Cambrios says that they can produce enough silver nanowire material to be in all 1 Billion smartphones to be sold in 2014 if the markets and if the touch screen device producers demand it. I would definitely like to see hundreds of millions of cheaper, lighter, flexible/unbreakable plastics based Cambrios ClearOhm based Smartphone and Tablet designs invade the whole worldwide market as soon as next year!