Eikos

Eikos was established in 1996 by Joseph Piche in Franklin, Massachusetts. The company entered the field of advanced materials at a time when transparent conductive coatings were important components in displays, touch interfaces, lighting technologies, and photovoltaic devices. Its technical focus was the use of carbon nanotubes to form electrically conductive networks that remain sufficiently transparent for electronic applications. Eikos branded its transparent-conductor platform as Invisicon. The platform included transparent carbon-nanotube films and nanotube-based inks. Rather than competing as a conventional consumer-facing electronics brand, Eikos operated as a materials and technology developer whose potential customers and application partners were in electronics, display, lighting, solar, and printed-device manufacturing. The company's technical proposition was to address limitations associated with indium tin oxide, the established transparent-conductor material in many electronic devices. ITO can be relatively brittle and depends on indium, while carbon-nanotube networks offered the possibility of greater flexibility. Eikos also emphasized deposition methods that could operate under atmospheric conditions and potentially reduce manufacturing complexity or cost. These characteristics made the technology relevant to flexible electronics and other applications requiring transparent, conductive, or printable layers. The reference material identifies several intended application areas: touch screens, LCDs, OLEDs, photovoltaic devices, electroluminescent lamps, and electronic paper. The available information does not document which of these applications reached commercial production, nor does it provide sales, production volumes, licensing agreements, or named major customers. Eikos gained recognition from technology and innovation organizations in the mid-2000s. In 2005, its environmentally friendly coating work received an R&D 100 Award. The company was also included in the Micro/Nano 25 in 2006. In September of that year, The Wall Street Journal gave Eikos a Technology Innovation Award in the materials and other base technologies category. These distinctions marked the company as a notable developer of emerging nanomaterials technology. No reliable information in the supplied material establishes the company's subsequent corporate development, current ownership, continued operations, or dissolution. Its status is therefore unknown rather than assigned as active or defunct. The documented historical record supports describing Eikos as a pioneering materials-technology company associated with Invisicon transparent conductive carbon-nanotube coatings.

• 2006

  Micro/Nano 25 recognition

  [1]Eikosen.wikipedia.org

  Eikos was recognized in the Micro/Nano 25 for its nanotechnology work.

• 2006

  Wall Street Journal technology award

  [1]Eikosen.wikipedia.org

  In September 2006, Eikos received a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the materials and other base technologies category.

• 2005

  R&D 100 Award recognition

  [1]Eikosen.wikipedia.org

  Eikos's environmentally oriented transparent conductive coating technology received an R&D 100 Award.

• 1996

  Company founded

  [1]Eikosen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph Piche founded Eikos, Inc., a technology company based in Franklin, Massachusetts.

Eikos positioned its Invisicon technology as a flexible and potentially lower-cost alternative to indium tin oxide and conducting polymers for transparent electronic coatings.

• Transparent conductive coating technology

  Invisicon

  Invisicon was Eikos's branded technology platform for transparent electrical conductors based on carbon nanotubes. It was intended to provide conductive coatings for transparent electronic components while offering flexibility and the possibility of atmospheric, lower-cost deposition. Proposed application areas included touch screens, LCD and OLED displays, photovoltaics, electroluminescent lamps, and electronic paper.

• Advanced materials

  Carbon-nanotube transparent films

  These films used interconnected carbon nanotubes to create a transparent conductive layer. Eikos developed them as a possible alternative to indium tin oxide and conducting polymers, particularly where flexibility or compatibility with atmospheric coating methods could be valuable.

• Functional inks

  Carbon-nanotube inks

  Eikos developed nanotube inks intended for forming transparent conductive coatings through coating or printing processes. The available material identifies the inks as part of the company's technology portfolio but does not specify commercial formulations, customers, or production status.

1. 1Eikosen.wikipedia.org