Direct and Spillover Effects of ATP-Funded Photonics Technologies

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To pursue more narrowly the question of whether the corporate publications were providinga useful measure of ATP-related spillover, we focused on interviews with those whosecorporate citations were specifically to Displaytech publications after the ATP grant. Articlesthat Displaytech published before the award in late 1994 presumably did not benefit fromATP. Of Displaytech’s 79 papers in our database, 34 appeared after 1994. There were 145citations to Displaytech articles that followed the ATP award. Of those, 16 citations werefrom authors listing a corporate affiliation.Table 10 lists all the corporate citing organizations that might have benefited from the ATPfundedresearch at Displaytech, based on appropriate publication dates. Notably, 10 of the16 citations are from researchers working in foreign companies. We tracked down theremaining six in the United States.The first U.S.-based citation shown in the table, Computer Optics, Inc., turned out to be aresearcher who, though listed on the publication as at Computer Optics, told us he hadactually done the research in question while a doctoral student working with funding from theU.S. Air Force. He was working on optical image recognition and tracking technologies andused one of Displaytech’s early devices as a spatial light modulator in an optical correlator. Infact, the Air Force funded Displaytech, through an SBIR contract, to develop the system used.The project at the Air Force was later discontinued and the technology not pursued further.The firm he currently works with does not use related technologies. In this case, then, thecitation was clean, in the sense of being an indication of direct information flow, but wasthrough the collaborative direct funding relationship via the Air Force as a paying Displaytechcustomer/funding organization, a within-market transaction. The economic value beyond themarket transaction and employment of this doctoral student was negligible.Litton Data Systems’ (now part of Northrop Grumman) citation in 1997 also had to do withwork they were doing on real-time image recognition systems for targeting and guidancesystems, primarily for military and space applications. Their “miniature ruggedized opticalcorrelator module,” they said, took advantage of the fast-switching capabilities ofDisplaytech FLC microdisplays to speed up the system’s image processing. The citation isagain clean in terms of being a signal of technology diffusion, and the FLC technology wasenabling a processing speed capability that most other microdisplay alternatives did not.Although applied at Litton to military target identification, the technology also has potentialapplications in automated automobile traffic road-sign recognition, digital facial recognition,robot vision, medical image processing, as well as manufacturing applications such as qualitycontrol. One member of the Litton team later founded a startup company, DataVision, whichexplains the DataVision citation. This application of the Displaytech FLC was work done atLitton, and not directly related to his startup.According to our discussions with the IBM Watson Research Center authors, they wereinvestigating technical options for and advances in solving various challenges in designingprojection display systems that use reflective microdisplays, like Displaytech’s. Were therevalue here, it would be within-market and captured in the analysis above, as designers ofthese projection systems are potential customers. As of 2003, IBM was selling portable front-50 DIRECT AND SPILLOVER EFFECTS OF ATP-FUNDED PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGIES
TABLE 10.Corporations Citing Post-1994 Displaytech PublicationsCitations Citing Corporation Location Industry2 Clariant Japan Displays2 Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Japan Chemicals and materials2 Toshiba Japan Displays1 Samsung Display Devices Japan Displays2 Thomson-CSF (now Thales) France Imaging applications/defense1 Philips Netherlands Displays1 Computer Optics U.S.-NH Optical design and consulting1 DataVision U.S.-NJ Imaging applications1 IBM Watson Research Center U.S.-NYC area Displays1 McLaughlin Consulting Group U.S.-Silicon Val Display market review article1 Litton Data Systems U.S.-CA (L.A.) Imaging applications/defense1 Rockwell Research Center U.S.-CA (L.A.) Micro-optics review articleprojection displays, but using Texas Instruments’ Digital Light Processing (DLP)microdisplays. This 1999 article citing Displaytech discusses a range of theoretical andpractical optimization issues of overall projection system design. These include, amongothers: alternative projector configurations, illumination sources, transmission and focusinglenses, optical coatings, methods for improving light collection and reflection, thermal effectsin optical components, and imaging screens. The authors refer to Displaytech in an illustrativetable listing 19 examples of “reflection light valve technologies.” The table also includessome major competitors such as Texas Instruments, Three-Five Systems, JVC, and Hitachi.The enabling speed of the FLC and DLP microdisplays was pushing the research need forimprovements in single-path, color-sequential systems, which the authors address briefly,as opposed to the standard three-path, color-combining systems, particularly in solvingillumination brightness and contrast issues. Economic spillover value from Displaytech inthis case is limited, however, by lack of commercialization in projection displays. Indeed,slow progress in these complementary technologies is one reason Displaytech exited theprojection and desktop display sides of microdisplay markets. Beyond this, there is nomention or analysis of any differentiation among these various microdisplays, so there is noevidence of additional spillover market value from Displaytech-specific technologies. So thiscitation is again clean in terms of being evidence of technology flow, but the value, if any,depends on any future commercialization of FLC-based projection systems.The citation from the McLaughlin Consulting Group was in a trade journal review articleabout various emerging display technologies. The principal of the McLaughlin ConsultingGroup, whom we spoke with, makes a living consulting, writing, and speaking about trendsin the display industries. The group follows, analyzes, and reports on new developmentsindustrywide. The specific technologies are of interest to him from the point of view of anDisplaytech 51
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NIST GCR 06-893Direct and Spillover
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AbstractTo evaluate the impact of t
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AcknowledgmentsThis research would
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This report presents the findings f
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6. This case study suggests that ke
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3. Comparison of Displaytech and Un
Page 17 and 18: 1. Introduction and BackgroundThe A
Page 19 and 20: the Department of Defense (DOD), Na
Page 21 and 22: Hence, we consider two additional s
Page 23 and 24: area because many photonics technol
Page 25 and 26: FIGURE 2Worldwide Photonics Compone
Page 27 and 28: TABLE 3.Matched Case Study Firms by
Page 29 and 30: 2. DisplaytechINTRODUCTIONIn June 1
Page 31 and 32: significant interest worldwide. The
Page 33 and 34: FIGURE 3Cross-Section of a Ferroele
Page 35 and 36: TABLE 4.Crowded Display Competition
Page 37 and 38: FIGURE 4.Competing Electronic Displ
Page 39 and 40: wafer. For FLC-on-silicon microdisp
Page 41 and 42: FIGURE 5.Within-Market Increase in
Page 43 and 44: FIGURE 6.Estimated ATP Employment E
Page 45 and 46: subtracted the opportunity value of
Page 47 and 48: FIGURE 8.Historic Display Price-Qua
Page 49 and 50: TABLE 6.Estimated Consumer Surplus
Page 51 and 52: TABLE 7.Organizations and Groups Mo
Page 53 and 54: FIGURE 12.Patent Citations to Displ
Page 55 and 56: ColorLink’s pi-cell color switche
Page 57 and 58: FIGURE 14.Geographic Distribution o
Page 59 and 60: competitors, were added by patent e
Page 61 and 62: FIGURE 16.Citations to Displaytech
Page 63 and 64: TABLE 9.Top Organizations and Indiv
Page 65: FIGURE 19.Corporate Citations to Di
Page 69 and 70: 3. Comparison ofDisplaytech and Uni
Page 71 and 72: acklights of LCDs; and they are bri
Page 73 and 74: which was to give DuPont access to
Page 75 and 76: FIGURE 20.Timing of Displaytech and
Page 77 and 78: Table 11. Organizations and Groups
Page 79 and 80: FIGURE 23.Patent Citations to Uniax
Page 81 and 82: In summary, together with Uniax ear
Page 83 and 84: TABLE 12.OLS Regression Results on
Page 85 and 86: FIGURE 26.Corporate Citations to Un
Page 87 and 88: TABLE 13.ContinuedTop 25 Individual
Page 89 and 90: FIGURE 28.Corporate Citations to Un
Page 91 and 92: 4. Findings and ObservationsFINDING
Page 93 and 94: microdisplays. We cannot fully dise
Page 95 and 96: TABLE 15.Publication and Citation R
Page 97 and 98: social ties, distance in the sense
Page 99 and 100: FIGURE 30.Flowchart of ATP Technolo
Page 101: government policies, which establis
Page 104 and 105: • ATP goals inherently involve se
Page 106 and 107: iv. Suppliers. Three or four on who
Page 108 and 109: Business Journal of Phoenix, The (2
Page 110 and 111: Paul, J. (2000), A Brief History of
Page 113: ABOUT THE AUTHORSTodd A. Watkins is
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Direct and Spillover Effects of ATP-Funded Photonics Technologies

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