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Flexible displays that mimic paper are moving a step closer to reality this week, as a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company opens what it is calling the first facility dedicated to develop the technology.

E Ink's new semiconductor facility will be devoted to developing elements for the prototype paper-like displays the company hopes to introduce next year, the company says in a statement Monday.

The technology is designed for such applications as point-of-sale signs in retail stores, displays in mobile telecommunication devices and PDAs, and thin, portable electronic books and newspapers.

Called RadioPaper, the display is a thin material with a coating that changes its image when exposed to an electric field, composed of flexible transistors.

Mass Production?

While the flexible transistors, a key element in the active-matrix displays, have been feasible for several years, E Ink is aiming to develop a commercial design and production process that is suitable for producing high volumes, the company says.

E Ink's proprietary technology, called electronic ink, grew out of research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab.

The company said that along with developing prototypes at the new facility, it will conduct low-volume production for specific customers. As the market for the new displays grows, the company will cooperate on production with "partners in the flat-panel display industry," E Ink says, without naming any of those companies.

The new 880-square-meter facility, in Woburn, Massachusetts, will house the company's Microelectronics Technology Group.

The group will work with traditional silicon-based, thin-film transistors as well as various printed conductor and semiconductor materials including organic, plastic transistors, E Ink says. The new facility will be equipped to handle displays measuring up to 18 inches diagonally.