Merck KGaA : Merck participates in the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition in San Francisco, California, USA

Darmstadt, Germany - January 20, 2012 - Merck KGaA will be presenting its developments for the optics and photonics industry at the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition from January 24 to 26, 2012 in San Francisco, California, USA. Merck's exhibition stand will be focusing on the Patinal®, Solarpur®and Optipur® product ranges.

The Patinal®brand stands for a range of vapor deposition materials specifically developed for higly reliable production of high quality optical thin filmlayer systems. Apart from fluorides, oxides, sulfides and metals, the Patinal® product range offers special substances that combine intermediate and high refractive indices, with high process stability, a wide transparency range, low absorption and low fluorescence depending on the product. Patinal® materials are available for the wavelength range from VUV (157nm) to beyond LWIR (ca. 17 µm).
The WR Patinal®product family enables the smooth operation and easy cleaning of the touch panel surfaces of smartphones and tablet PCs. These hydrophobic and oleophobic layers are also used in automotive applications such as rear view cameras. The WR Patinal® range is being specifically developed for the demanding requirements of the smartphone market.

At the beginning of 2012, Merck KGaA appointed Capitol Scientific, Inc. of Austin, Texas as a distributor of Patinal products for the south-central territory of the United States. They will join the team of two other Merck KGaA distributors, EMCO and Ultimate Index on the west coast in providing customers with fast and efficient service.

Aside from the Patinal® product range, Merck will be presenting innovations within its Solarpur® and Optipur® ranges:

· Solarpur®permits extremely thin antireflection broadband coatings for solar panels. This increases the solar transmission of a glass surface to approximately 98%, thus considerably improving the efficiency of photovoltaic systems.

· Optipur®materials are high-purity inorganic compounds for the reliable production of single crystals used in a wide variety of applications, such as
high-resolution imaging techniques in nuclear medicine or high-transparency lenses for DUV and VUV applications in laser lithography.

At the Merck exhibition stand (Hall D / Booth 5509), a team of experts from the marketing & sales organization will be available to explain the products and answer any questions.

The SPIE Photonics West exhibition is the world's leading venue for the photonics and laser industry and is a platform for presenting the latest developments and technologies in this sector. It is part of the SPIE Photonics West Conference and Exhibition, which is being held from January 21 to 26, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The organizer expects around 1,150 exhibitors and more than 19,000 visitors this year.

More info is available at www.emd-chemicals.com/photonics