Merck 2014 Annual Report Download - page 26

21MAGAZINE → A crystal clear future
When people swipe their fingers across
the user interface, they are most likely
setting liquid crystal molecules in motion
– the Darmstadt-based company serves
around 60 % of the global market. The
unique thing about this technology is
that liquid crystals have a state of matter
somewhere between a liquid, whose mol-
ecules flow around one another freely,
and a crystal, which consists of strictly
oriented molecules. In the liquid crystal
mixture, the rod-shaped molecules align
like a school of fish and control the elec-
tromagnetic waves of light. When an
electrical current is applied, the liquid
crystals change their alignment, thereby
transmitting more or less light.
SUCCESS THANKS TO CLOSE
PARTNERSHIPS
For many years, people failed to recognize
the potential of liquid crystals, which were
discovered in 1888 and would later become
an astounding success. While by the end
of the 1960s scientists of Merck KGaA,
Darmstadt, Germany, had come up with
the idea of the flat-screen display, it would
take some time for this dream to be
come a
reality. Initially, liquid crystals were
used
in the LC displays of pocket calculators
and digital watches. In close cooperation
with customers – electronics companies,
particularly in Japan – the company drove
the technological development of LCDs.
Decades of experience have resulted in
liquid crystals that generate brilliant,
high-contrast, razor-sharp images and that
enable rapid frame rates for movies and
animation. They are found in ultra- thin,
large-screen TVs, as well as in mobile
phones, electronic games and digital cam-
eras. Through partnerships with primarily
Asian display and device manufacturers,
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has
MARK VERRALL →
HEAD OF DISPLAY MATERIALS R&D
“ INTUITIVE TOUCHSCREEN
CONTROL IS WHAT TURNED
SMARTPHONES AND
TABLET COMPUTERS INTO
A MASS PHENOMENON.”
WAVELENGTH-DISPERSIVE X-RAY SPECTROMETRY →
IN AN R&D CLEANROOM
IN ATSUGI, JAPAN