Quantum dots: Nanoco announces Japanese deal

Development agreement

Nanoco Group plc, which develops and manufactures commercial quantities of quantum dots, has announced a joint development agreement with an unnamed major Japanese electronics company under which it will design and develop quantum dots for use in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions.

Nanoco, a University of Manchester spin-out founded in 2001 by Professor O'Brien and Dr. Nigel Pickett, says it will receive an upfront payment and milestones under the terms of the agreement. The company expects that a supply and licence agreement will be signed on completion of the 18-month development work.

The structure of this collaboration, says Nanoco, is similar to an earlier agreement with another major Japanese corporation active in the LCD display and general lighting markets. The earlier agreement comprised a total of $1.2 million in joint development payments during a 12-month period. A supply and licence agreement followed, from which a further $8 million in milestone payments is expected by 31 December 2010.

Nanoco says it expects to sign further agreements with companies active in the LED market in due course.

The use of LEDs as the backlight for LCD displays and in general lighting allows a substantial reduction in the power consumed. Quantum dots offer key advantages over the phosphors currently used to create white light from LEDs including superior colour performance.

Michael Edelman, Nanoco’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to enter into this agreement with a major company aimed at using our quantum dots in LCD TVs. This follows an earlier agreement with another major corporation, which is progressing well. We anticipate signing further deals in the LED market. This represents just one of the key areas in which we are making rapid progress in the commercialisation of our quantum dot development, scale up and manufacturing technology.”