> which etch equipment companies are working with Candescent on the development of the FPD's?
Well, of course I can't tell you any process details, but the publicly available business plan of Candescent is based in part on being able to use the equipment developed for the many LCD manufacturers. That would include LAM, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials, and so on. Because the FEDs are simpler, and can be built on similar equipment, they should be cheaper than LCDs.
> When do you see FPD getting out of the lab and into the marketplace?
Sometime around the mid 1970's. That's when the first LCD and EL panels were commercialized. Now we have vacuum fluorescent, electroluminescent (EL), plasma (PDP), field-emission (FED), and several varieties of liquid crystal (LCD, AMLCD, FELCD, etc.) on the market.
I expect that Candescent's FEDs will begin to compete with LCDs for the notebook computer market in late 1997 to mid 1998.
Plasma displays for large screen TVs are being released in Japan within the next few months. Look for a demo unit at Fry's Electronics this fall. I think PDPs will start to displace large-tube TVs within a year or so.
-bob mackey
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