BASF Signs Deals For Electronics

BASF and Bosch will cooperate in the field of organic photovoltaics as members of a new German-government-backed technology initiative aimed at lowering the cost of making solar cells. Germany's Federal Ministry of Education & Research will provide about $80 million in research funding, while companies including BASF, Bosch, Merck, and Schott plan to spend up to $400 million. In a related deal, BASF and Bosch are each investing more than $2 million in the year-old German company Heliatek, which specializes in the manufacture of organic solar cells. Separately, BASF and IBM will jointly develop electronic materials required to produce high-performance chips with 32-nm circuit lines that will reach the market in about 2010.