AMEYA360:NanoLED Research Exploits Northern Roots
Trade news

AMEYA360:NanoLED Research Exploits Northern Roots

　　NS Nanotech’s recent opening of a research and development center in Montreal represents a homecoming of sorts, as the company’s technology is based on research conducted at McGill University.　　NS Nanotech Canada will take advantage of exclusive licenses to a portfolio of groundbreaking patents owned by McGill as part of its advanced research efforts to support commercialization of next-generation nanoLED technologies for televisions, mobile phones, smartwatches, augmented-reality headsets and other applications, the company said in prepared remarks.　　In an interview with EE Times, NS Nanotech CEO Seth Coe-Sullivan said the R&D center is a critical enablement of the company’s long-term mission to develop the world’s first efficient submicron-scale nanoLEDs.　　NS Nanotech, which is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has created samples of submicron-sized LEDs in its laboratory research that are radically smaller than any other LEDs available in the world today—these submicron nanoLEDs are much smaller than a strand of human hair, at less than one micron. By comparison, today’s “miniLEDs” are generally between 100 and 200 microns, while new “microLEDs” are smaller than 100 microns.Coe-Sullivan said McGill is a global center of excellence in nanotechnologies that will help NS Nanotech overcome the cost and performance limitations of 20th century technologies.　　The McGill University campus in Montreal (Source: Neale McDevitt/McGill University)　　“What happens to conventional technology is you make the LED smaller, and the efficiency gets smaller as well,” he said. “That’s where a nanoLED comes in.” By building the LED from the nano up, no efficiency is lost. “The efficiency versus size curve is very favorable.”　　NS Nanotech’s strategy since its founding was to be “capital light,” despite being in the capital-intensive semiconductor industry, Coe-Sullivan said. “Raising a lot of capital is great. You get to buy a lot of shiny new toys.” But as much as engineers love their toys, he added, it’s not desirable from a financial point of view. “It’s a big hole to be digging yourself.”　　By collaborating with universities like McGill and the University of Michigan, NS Nanotech can send its engineers to the necessary equipment, such as a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) chamber, rather than making huge capital investments, Coe-Sullivan said. “We scoured the world for that.”　　The company was already a licensee of McGill IP and technology, which meant it already had a formal relationship with the university and its technology transfer office.　　Derrick Wong, COO of NS Nanotech, played a key role in the original technology transfer license. It’s fitting that he’s back in the picture at NS Nanotech after retiring from McGill, as he knows many of the people at NS Nanotech. This includes some who are repatriating back to Canada for the R&D center, such as senior research scientist David Laleyan, a McGill graduate who received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2020.　　David Laleyan, senior scientist at NS Nanotech Canada (left); Derrick Wong, COO of NS Nanotech Canada (center); and McGill University professor Songrui Zhao (right) work with nanoLED fabrication equipment at Professor Zhao’s research laboratory.　　“Although we started this officially in November, people have been working together on this project in various forms for the last nine years,” Wong said in the same interview with EE Times. “McGill University has been very supportive. It still views NS Nanotech as a McGill startup, even though it’s located in Ann Arbor. It’s very much a McGill success story.”　　Also collaborating with NS Nanotech is Songrui Zhao, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University, whose research is contributing to solving the challenges related to nanoLEDs. Over the past few years, McGill has been working with MBE, which is a material growth technique to grow nanowires for very small-scale LEDs and lasers because nanowires provide better material quality, Zhao said in the same interview with Coe-Sullivan and Wong. “If you are using this molecular beam epitaxy technique to grow nanowires, it’s very, very unique, and there are not many players.”　　Zhao added that a chief benefit of conducting this research in a university environment is that there’s a lot of frank interaction with students to discuss many different ideas. “We are not driven by revenue,” he said. University/industrial partnerships can accelerate the technology development and facilitate international connections. “One team cannot solve all the problems.”　　While McGill can handle MBE, materials and even initial device development, Zhao said testing and scaling up requires more resources beyond the university—be it people or equipment.　　Coe-Sullivan said the immediate goal is to grow the team in Montreal to work with the research equipment available there. “At McGill, we’ve got access to great research tools, but they’re research tools. These are not places where we’re ever going to mass-produce a product or be able to truly scale a technology.”　　He said NS Nanotech is talking to foundries that have the same type of equipment, but at a much larger scale and throughput to be able to bring its product all the way to market through partnerships and contract manufacturing. “We’ve got access to foundries here in North America that can take this all the way to the end market.”　　In late April, NS Nanotech Canada announced it received matching funding support from McGill University’s Office of Innovation & Partnerships to accelerate the commercialization of its nanoLED technologies.
Key word：
Release time：2023-06-09 13:16 reading：1352 Continue reading>>
Quantum Dots to Shrink MicroLED Display Pixels
Trade news

Quantum Dots to Shrink MicroLED Display Pixels

 Nanoco Technologies and Plessey Semiconductors have partnered to shrink the pixel size of monolithic microLED displays using Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum-dot (CFQD quantum dots) semiconductor nanoparticle technology.Using its existing gallium nitride (GaN)-on-silicon monolithic process, Plessey will integrate the CFQD quantum dots into selected regions of blue LED wafers to add red and green light, shrinking the smallest practical pixel size from today’s 30 µm to 4 µm, a reduction of 87%. The process will enable the production of smaller, higher-resolution microLED displays in applications such as AR/VR devices, watches, and mobile devices while enhancing both color rendition and energy efficiency.Speaking to EE Times from CES, the companies said that the partnership brings together two sets of expertise to address the color conversion needs of microLED customers — Nanoco with its expertise in manufacturing quantum dots at scale and Plessey for its microLED displays. The key challenge was being able to pattern the quantum dots appropriately on the photoresist and making sure the quantum dots were compatible with other materials used in the manufacturing process for the displays, they said.The primary initial application is the head-mounted display for AR and VR, such as in gaming, where customers want specific color ranges and gamuts. Mike Lee, president of corporate and business development at Plessey, said that one specific customer in this area is planning to launch products in 2020 using its quantum-dot–based microLED displays.At CES, Plessey and Nanoco showed individual red, green and blue microLED arrays based on quantum dots. (Source: Plessey)“We pioneered the molecular seeding technology and separated nucleation and growth: This ability to manage the growth phase separately meant it was easier to scale up to volume production of quantum dots," said Brian Gally, Nanoco’s head of products.Lee said the quantum dots are applied onto microLED arrays using an inkjet process, for which the two companies will file a joint patent. “Quantum dots offer the best solution for today’s emerging display requirements," Lee said. "The nano-sized emitters with narrow band emission make them a suitable solution for Plessey’s microLED display roadmap, which will see pixels being driven down to 4 µm in size in 2019.”Lee added that because the company has its own GaN-on-silicon fab, Plessey has been able to optimize the process to achieve very good wavelength uniformity across the 8-inch wafer as well as the ability to add red and green to the native blue GaN silicon.For pixels of 30 µm or greater, color conversion is currently performed by adding phosphors to the blue die. However, because the smallest phosphor particle is about 30 µm, the efficiency of color conversion deteriorates as the pixel size shrinks. Nanoco’s CFQD quantum-dot technology overcomes this limitation while facilitating efficient, compact device packaging.Quantum dots are fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles typically between 10 to 100 atoms in diameter, about 1/1000th the width of a human hair. When one of these particles is excited by an external light source, it absorbs the energy and re-emits the light in a different color, depending on the size of the particle. Therefore, by tuning the size of these particles, it is possible to control the color of light emitted to any color in the spectrum. Quantum dots are energy-efficient, with applications spanning from LCD displays and lighting to biomedical applications. Nanoco’s technology allows for the manufacture of quantum dots that are completely cadmium- and heavy-metal–free.Plessey said that compared with other display technologies, microLEDs are brighter, smaller, lighter, and more energy-efficient and have a longer operating life. Where they replace OLEDs — for example, in AR/VR goggles or head-up displays — Plessey claims that its microLEDs offer 10 times the resolution, 100 times the contrast ratio, and up to 1,000 times the luminance. They do so at half the power consumption, doubling battery life in portable devices. They also feature perfect blacks, realistic color, and immunity to burn-in or decay over time.
Key word：
Release time：2019-01-14 00:00 reading：1110 Continue reading>>
Foldable AM<span style='color:red'>OLED</span> panel shipments to top 50m units by 2025, IHS Markit says
Trade news

Foldable AMOLED panel shipments to top 50m units by 2025, IHS Markit says

Spurred on by growing demand for innovative user experience in smartphones, shipments of foldable active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) panels are expected to reach 50 million units by 2025 for the first time since their launch in 2018, according to IHS Markit.The foldable AMOLED panels are predicted to account for 6 per cent of total AMOLED panel shipments (825m), or 11 per cent of total flexible AMOLED panel shipments (476m) by 2025.“As the conventional smartphone market has become saturated, smartphone brands have tried to come up with an innovative form factor for a smartphone,” said Jerry Kang, senior principal analyst of display research at IHS Markit. “A foldable AMOLED panel is considered to be the most attractive and distinguishable form factor at this moment.”In October 2018, China’s Royole Corporation unveiled the world’s first foldable-screen smartphone with a 7.8-inch AMOLED panel. A few other brands are also expected to launch foldable-screen smartphones in 2019.“Smartphone brands are cautious about launching foldable smartphones because the phones should be durable enough for repeated folding and thin and light enough even when supporting a larger display and battery,” Kang said. “Unit shipments of foldable AMOLED panels may not grow as fast for the first few years, but area per unit will be expected to be larger than that of conventional displays. Panel makers are forecast to see an increase in fab utilisation.”Due to lower demand for conventional flexible AMOLED panels, suppliers are hoping that smartphone brands release foldable devices as early as possible. With more optimism, some are even considering investing in another fab solely for foldable AMOLED panels, adds IHS.“Panel suppliers should consider how much demand will increase for the foldable application before investing in additional fabs, because the supply of flexible AMOLED panels is forecast to exceed demand even as we move into 2019,” Kang said.According to the AMOLED & Flexible Display Intelligence Service by IHS Markit, the supply capacity of flexible AMOLED panels will account for more than half of total AMOLED capacity in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Key word：
Release time：2018-11-09 00:00 reading：1100 Continue reading>>
Samsung Display’s AM<span style='color:red'>OLED</span> Fab Utilization to Recover to Above 80% in Q3 2018
Trade news

Samsung Display’s AMOLED Fab Utilization to Recover to Above 80% in Q3 2018

According to IHS, Samsung Display’s average AMOLED fab utilization rate started to plunge from the end of 2017. It remained in the 50% range until May, due to low seasonality and weaker-than-expected demand from major customers.In H1 2018, glass input at the A3 fab fell significantly short of the capacity that nearly doubled in H2 2017. Contrary to expectations that the fab would enjoy a surge in flexible AMOLED panel demand following the launch of new smartphones from Samsung Display’s key customers, especially from Apple, it grappled with lower-than-expected demand. In H1 2018, utilization remained low in both A1 and A2 fabs due to growing competition from LTPS LCD panels in the smartphone display market and disappointing demand from Chinese customers.However, the average monthly utilization rate at Samsung Display’s AMOLED fabs is expected to increase significantly to above 80% in Q3 2018. The A3 fab, which accounts for the lion’s share of Samsung Display’s AMOLED panel production, will see its utilization jump due to the upcoming launches of Samsung Electronics’ and Apple’s new smartphones and a recovery in seasonal demand. With increasing demand from Chinese customers, utilization at A1 and A2 also started to soar from June.In Q3 2018, total glass input area at Samsung Display’s AMOLED panel fabs will top the previous record high. It reached nearly 600,000 m² in Q4 2017 but plummeted to 333,000 m² in February 2018. In Q3 2018, it is forecast to nearly double from the February low.In H1 2019, demand for Samsung Display’s AMOLED panels is expected to decline from that in the end of 2018, driven by the typical slowdown in panel demand for new smartphones and the year-end shopping season. However, utilization rates will not likely fall to the H1 2018 level due to the growing adoption of AMOLED by its customers, the launch of foldable panels, and increasing demand for curved products.However, it is uncertain whether the jump in overall utilization rates will bring forward the mass production start date of the A4 fab, which has been delayed due to low utilization at other existing fabs; rather, it depends more on whether Samsung Display will succeed in adding more customers and expanding the AMOLED business into new applications, the key to the sustainable growth of its AMOLED business.
Key word：
Release time：2018-09-10 00:00 reading：1220 Continue reading>>
<span style='color:red'>OLED</span> display market predicted to reach $25.5bn in 2018
Trade news

OLED display market predicted to reach $25.5bn in 2018

In 2018, the OLED industry will be worth $25.5 billion, reports IDTechEx Research, rising to $30.72bn in 2019.OLEDs used in mobile devices dominate the OLED industry, comprising 88% of the market revenue this year. According to IDTechEx, these are predominately supplied by Samsung, but recent capacity additions come from china-based companies, BOE Display, CSOT, EDO, Tianman, and Visionox.The second largest sector is OLED TVs, supplied by LG, which are 8% of the total market by revenue in 2018, but 27% of the market by display area, adds IDTechEx.The report identifies the third largest OLED application in 2018 as wearables, which is 2% by market value and 0.4% by area in 2018.The OLED is anticipated to grow to $58bn in 2025, with the total area of displays to be 27.6 million sq meters.The impact of the Rec.2020 digital standard for next generation UHD displays are better satisfied by quantum dot (QD) displays, IDTechEx continues. Emissive QD displays are still in development and IDTechEx predicts the first QD emissive displays to come to market by 2026, at which point it believes the OLED industry will be more depreciated.The reports highlights that there is rapid progress from glass-based OLED displays to plastic based/flexible displays and ultimately, foldable displays. In 2017, 25.6% of manufactured OLED displays were plastic based. That rises to 35.3% in 2020 with the first foldable displays coming to market then in volume.Printed OLED displays are still in development, with JOLED having launched the world’s first commercial printed OLED display in late 2017. While others – particularly Chinese panel makers – pursue research in this area, concludes IDTechEx.
Key word：
Release time：2018-09-06 00:00 reading：1062 Continue reading>>
Continuous Capacity Expansion of Small and Medium-Sized AM<span style='color:red'>OLED</span> May Lead to Oversupply
Trade news

Continuous Capacity Expansion of Small and Medium-Sized AMOLED May Lead to Oversupply

The global production capacity of small- and medium-sized AMOLED panels continues to expand, and will reach 13.6 million m2 by 2018, an increase of 51.1% compared with the previous year, says WitsView, a division of TrendForce. As Chinese panel makers continue to release new capacity, the global capacity of small- and medium-sized AMOLED panels may double to 27.3 million m2 in 2021.“AMOLED panels have become the focus of market after the adoption of iPhone”, says Boyce Fan, Research Director of WitsView. This market trend has most benefited Samsung Display (SDC), which has an absolute edge over its rivals in productivity and technology of AMOLED panels. However, as the mobile phone market entered the off-season in 1Q18, the demand for AMOLED panels began to drop substantially, which in turn lowered SDC's utilization rate of its production lines. As the result, SDC has actively adjusted its pricing strategy to reduce the price differences between AMOLED panels and LTPS panels, improving the utilization rate of production lines. However, the demand for mobile phone panels appears to hugely different between peak-season and off-season, the customer base is too concentrated as well, SDC decided to postpone the plan to invest the new Gen 6 fab.Chinese panel makers continue to release new capacity, and will contribute to 37% of the global capacity in 2021Chinese panel makers’ investment in new AMOLED panel capacity is on the rise, due to the high demand for AMOLED panels from branded Chinese manufacturers coupled with the government's supporting policy. For example, BOE’s first Gen 6 fab of flexible AMOLED panel has entered mass production in Chengdu at the end of 2017. Tianma and Visionox also expect the mass production of flexible AMOLED panel in their Gen 6 fabs in 2018. In the next few years, both Everdisplay Optronics (EDO) and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) have also put forward plans for AMOLED panel production. It is estimated that the production capacity of small- and medium-sized AMOLED panels in China will contribute to 37% of the global capacity in 2021, up from 16% in 2018. Meanwhile, the proportion of capacity in South Korea will be 53% in 2021, down from 81% in 2018.The market may see oversupply, notebook and automotive applications may help consume the capacityThe continuous investment in AMOLED panels may lead to oversupply in the market. Even the market leader SDC may have to strike a balance between consuming capacity and making profits. WitsView notes that the production capacity of rigid AMOLED panels has become stable with few possibility of large-scale expansion, and mobile phones have been the main application to consume current capacity. In this situation, the market will next explore new applications of rigid AMOLED panels in the notebook and automotive fields.As for the currently expanding capacity of flexible AMOLED panels, the market situation will depend on when foldable AMOLED mobile phones can come out. Foldable AMOLED mobile phones will not only bring innovations to the smartphone market, but also help panel makers consume considerable production capacity because screens of foldable mobile phones will be twice as large as traditional ones.
Key word：
Release time：2018-06-22 00:00 reading：1164 Continue reading>>
Plessey Rolls MicroLED, Moves to Licensing Model
Trade news

Plessey Rolls MicroLED, Moves to Licensing Model

　　Plessey Semiconductor said it expects to be the first to market with a monolithic microLED based display on its GaN-on-Silicon technology. The company also moved to a technology licensing model (as opposed to just manufacturing), to become a key technology platform provider for the photonics industry.　　At CES this week, Plessey is engaging with various display manufacturers and OEMs with a demonstrator to help prove its monolithic approach, and proving the brightness and addressability of the device. The company says it expects to have a prototype microLED fabricated using a GaN-on-Silicon approach at the end of this month and a product by the end of the first half of 2018.　　MicroLED displays came to the forefront this week at CES in Las Vegas, with Samsung announcing its 146-inch TV using microLED technology, which enables luminous efficiency, longer light source lifetime and lower power consumption.　　One of the main challenges to manufacturing microLED displays using non-monolithic methods is the placement of LED chips onto a CMOS backplane, currently achieved using pick and place equipment. This involves the individual placement of every LED on a pitch of less than 50 micron, requiring new and expensive equipment that is subject to productivity issues. As the pixel density of displays increases and pitch reduces, pick and place becomes less feasible both commercially and technically.　　Moving to a monolithic process removes the need for chip placement and will enable smaller and higher resolution displays for a range of applications, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and head-up displays. As the only monolithic solution commercially available, Plessey says its technology doesn’t require pick and place equipment and isn’t subject to the associated productivity issues.　　A fully monolithic approach also supports the integration of the standard CMOS circuitry necessary for driving microLED displays, as well as the close integration of high-performance GPUs, all of which can be carried out using standard CMOS manufacturing methods. By solving all the major challenges, licensees will be able to gain instant access to a technology platform that is ready for volume production.　　"We made the decision to become a technology platform provider in order to get our technology out to the widest possible manufacturing base to meet this growing demand," said Michael LeGoff, Plessey's CEO. "By being the first to market with a monolithic microLED display we will be demonstrating our expertise and the ability to access our proven turnkey solution, enabling manufacturers to ramp up the development and production of microLED displays to address emerging applications."　　The new licensing business model is a significant new direction for the company. "The challenge with manufacturing is in scaling production, as well as investment," said Myles Blake, Plessey's marketing director. "Hence Plessey has commenced an extensive licensing program that will see the company license out its GaN-on-Silicon expertise to microLED manufacturers in line with this new strategy of becoming the photonic industry’s foremost technology platform provider."　　Demand for microLED displays is accelerating, with research consultancy Yole Développement forecasting that the market could reach up to 330 million units by 2025. GaN-on-silicon is the only technology platform capable of addressing all the challenges involved with manufacturing microLED displays in high volumes and cost-effectively.　　Yole says microLED displays could have a profound impact on both the LED and display supply chains. The development of large scale microLED displays requires the combination of three major disparate technologies: LED, TFT backplane and chip transfer. The supply chain is complex and lengthy compared with that of traditional displays. Each process is critical and managing every aspect effectively will be challenging.　　"No single player can solve all the issues and it seems unlikely that any will fully vertically integrate", said Eric Virey, senior technology and market analyst at Yole.　　Virey added that while small companies could bring together the different technologies to serve the AR/MR (augmented reality / mixed reality) market, high volume consumer applications such as mobiles or TVs, really need a strong push from a leading OEM to enable the supply chain. He said that Apple has a unique market positioning and appears to be the most likely candidate with enough leverage and financial strength to bring all partners together, with other candidates including Oculus for example, who have also invested in microLEDs for AR/MR applications.
Key word：
Release time：2018-01-15 00:00 reading：1114 Continue reading>>
MicroLED Pits Big Apple VS. Tiny LED Chips
Trade news

MicroLED Pits Big Apple VS. Tiny LED Chips

　　Differentiating one smartphone from another is no easy feat. A display, however, is the one constant that smartphone vendors believe they can depend on to wow their customers. A new display technology with visible differences in a screen size, resolution, brightness and power consumption could scramble the market.　　Apple’s anxiously awaited iPhone X, unveiled just this week, is the first iPhone to feature an OLED display — long after competitors Samsung and LG brought to market smartphones with OLED. Of course, unlike Samung and LG, Apple doesn't have its own display technology. Yet.　　What if Apple were to develop a display technology of its own, featuring all the advantages of OLED but even better … like microLED? While the company has remained tight lipped — as is its custom — Apple has amassed an impressive portfolio of micoLED patents and there is speculation that it is using a Silicon Valley fab it bought from Maxim in 2015 to develop the technology. And Apple isn't the only big name tech company working on microLED.　　MicroLED displays consist of an array of microscopic LEDs forming individual pixel elements. Unlike OLED, microLED uses conventional gallium-nitride LED technology. MicroLED promises range from high brightness, high dynamic range and a wide color gamut to fast refresh rates, wide viewing angles and lower power consumption. MicroLED proponents claim their total brightness can be 30 times that of OLED products while offering higher efficiency in lux per watt.　　Whether Apple will trigger the shift to microLED has long been a topic of intense discussion among Apple watchers and display technology experts, not to mention driven speculation that Apple would soon use microLED in Apple Watch. (Much to the chagrin of microLED proponents, the Apple Watch Series 3, unveiled this week, features an OLED display).　　EE Times this week talked to Eric Virey, senior market and technology analyst at Yole Développement. We asked him to break it all down, and tell us about where he thinks the display market is with this mythical microLED technology.　　Why do we care?　　Fully aware of all the hype that has gone into the new display technology, Virey understands what we all want to know: “Does microLED even exist? Why do we care?”　　Yole does not expect microLED to arrive in the wearable device market, such as Apple Watch, until the end of 2019. Setting the timeline aside, though, Virey believes the electronics industry should pay even more attention today, because microLED’s emergence is going to change not only the face of mobile devices but also the Who’s Who of the display industry.　　Now Google jumps in　　The race to secure key patents, manufacturing knowhow and expertise in microLED doesn’t involve the usual suspects — traditional consumer display manufacturers based in Asia. Instead, big guns like Google, Apple and Huawei are driving microLED investment.　　Most recently, Google entered the microLED fray by investing in Glo, a spin-off of Lund University. Google led Glo’s latest round of investment in August. One Swedish website reported that Glo received $15 million through a rights issue directed entirely to Google. This makes the Mountain View-search engine giant an owner of just over 13 percent of Glo’s capital.　　Although it did not generate much media coverage beyond Sweden, Google’s investment in Glo reflects the industry’s increasing interest in the new display technology for VR glasses, mobile phones and tablets.　　Glo today has a team of 40 to 50 engineers working in Silicon Valley, according to Yole’s Virey. Last February, Glo teamed up with Jasper Display Corp. in Taiwan to show full color microLED demo at Photonics West 2017, and later also at Display Week in May, he added.　　The deal that initially put microLED on the map was Apple’s 2014 acquisition of startup Luxvue, a developer of low-power, microLED-based displays for consumer electronics applications. Apple’s investment in Luxvue has generated a feeding frenzy for rumors and speculation on Apple’s big push for microLED.　　Not to be outdone by Apple, Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual-reality business unit also bought, about a year ago, a startup called InfiniLED, spun out of the Irish technology research lab Tyndall National Institute in 2011.　　Earlier this year, Foxconn, too, revealed its interest in microLED. Teaming with its display subsidiary Sharp, Foxconn acquired a 31.82 percent stake in eLux, a Delaware-based startup engaged in R&D of micro-LED technology focused on virtual reality and augmented reality devices. eLux was founded in October 2016 by researchers formerly employed at Sharp’s research arm in the United States.　　A host of investment and acquisition activities around microLED startups reflects the tech industry’s never-ending quest for a new generation of display technologies.　　Challenges all along the supply chain　　Yole’s Virey noted, “We’ve seen proof of concept, prototypes of microLED displays. The technology is here.” What’s not here, though, is “cost and yield” critical for high-volume manufacturing of microLED.　　Further, challenges for microLED exist all along the supply chain, he added.　　But before getting into further discussion on microLED, here’s a primer on differences between LCD, OLED and microLED.　　LCD is a flat-panel technology that depends on an LED backlight for illumination. The light passes through a matrix of liquid crystal “light switches” and color filters consisting of individual subpixels, Virey explained.　　In contrast, OLED is an emissive display technology in which each sub-pixel is a tiny light emitter. Brightness can be individually controlled.　　MicroLED is similarly self-emitting. But it uses individual, small LED chips as its emitters.　　LED chip production challenge　　In theory, microLED manufacture should be no different from fabricating LED chips. But regular LED manufacturing facilities don’t fit the job, largely because microLED chips are a lot smaller than regular LED chips. This means every LED chip fab needs a new infrastructure with a “much cleaner clean room,” and “higher resolution lithography,” Virey explained.　　A better fit would be semiconductor foundries, observed Virey. “It would make sense if Apple teams up with TSMC,” for example, to eliminate the first hurdle of microLED manufacturing.　　Energy efficiency challenge　　The production of LED chips causes some insignificant “sidewall” damage, usually one to two micrometers on a regular 250 micrometer x 250 micrometer LED chip. But for a LED chip as small as 5x5 micrometers — necessary for microLED — a two-micrometer sidewall defect would have a devastating impact, leaving a tiny usable area, only 4 percent of the total chip size, explained Virey.　　To solve such energy-efficiency issues, the microLED industry needs “a two-pronged approach,” the Yole analyst noted. That could involve the development of both new chip designs and manufacturing technology. For example, Glo is working on nanowire. Aledia in Grenoble, spun out of CEA-Leti, is similarly working on microwire technology, observed Virey.　　Aledia claims it has developed a way to “grow high-density, coaxial gallium nitride (GaN) microwires directly onto large-diameter silicon wafers by using processes that are fully compatible with today's CMOS semiconductor foundries.”　　Virey sees such an approach — “growing epitaxial layers in a tube” — as a disruptive technology that could bring a breakthrough.　　Assembly challenges　　Let’s say we now know how to manufacture tiny LED chips. The next — bigger — problem, said Virey, is the assembly challenges associated with microLED. The question is, “How do you transfer these tiny chips to the back of a display?”　　To transfer individual LED chips to a 6-inch microLED display would take four days, Virey calculated.  In fact, more than a dozen companies are trying to solve this “chip transfer technology” issue, he said. One way to beat the problem is what Virey calls “the monolithic approach.”　　The monolithic approach allows microLED to grow directly onto the wafer at the pitch of the final display. “This way, instead of cutting and transferring each individual microLED onto the display backplane, you can cut a large array in the wafer, let’s say up to 1 inch lateral dimensions, and assemble this array (which will contain hundreds of thousands or millions of LEDs) directly onto the driver backplane,” Virey explained.　　In this case, chances are that this backplane will be made from a traditional silicon CMOS wafer, rather a glass-based TFT, he noted. Conceptually, it's possible to assemble the entire wafer and cut the displays afterward. Alternatively, rather than bonding and interconnecting the array, you can grow the pixel driver circuits directly on top of the MicroLED wafer, he added.  “Lumiode, a New York-based startup, is doing just that,” he said.　　While the monolithic approach is good for very small displays (“microdisplays”) with very high pixel density, such as >2000 PPI (pixel per inch), this is not a universal answer for microLED.　　Why? Because the LED wafer size would be limited to 4x6 inches. If the display pitch is too large, most of the precious wafer real estate goes to waste, Virey said. “Imagine 5 um microLED positioned at a 100 um pitch at the surface of the wafer. You’re wasting 99.75 percent of the wafer surface!”　　For lager displays — necessary for mobile devices, TVs and monitors — most microLED display players are using “pick and place” methodology to put tiny LED chips on the back of the display.　　Meanwhile, key players in monolithic integration include: Lumiode, Ostendo, Aledia, mLED, Nth Degree and probably Facebook/Oculus, Virey said. Various research organizations such as LETI, ITRI and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are using the monolithic approach to make microdisplays, which could serve applications such as augmented and mixed reality headsets or micro-projectors such as head up displays.　　Defect management and repair strategy　　Among the issues related to manufacturing microLED displays, the industry needs to put in place a defect management and repair strategy, Virey said. At a time when most high-end displays are guaranteed with zero defects, microLED displays will have a tough time competing in terms of PPM (parts per million).　　Assume that microLED’s yield — which combines both epitaxy and chip manufacturing — is 99.9 percent, as a result of dead or dim microLED pixels. Then the transfer and interconnect yield — that includes dies not properly picked or placed, or faulty connection to the TFT — is also 99.9 percent, due to missing, dead, or “always-on” pixels. Multiply the two yield rates, the combined defect rate of microLED results in 2000 ppm. This certainly isn’t good enough.　　Numbers like this are triggering massive research to develop microLED testing methods, Virey concluded.　　Who’s winning?　　Having followed patent activity in microLED, Virey explained that it isn’t just Apple, Google and Facebook that are working on the technology. Many research institutes, display makers, LED makers, semiconductor companies and startups — “a lot of smart people” — are also heavily involved.　　Among these players, Virey observed that Apple (after its Luxvue acquisition) “has by far the broadest patent portfolio” in microLED. LG and Huawei are also strong contenders, he added.　　Sony is also an early developer of microLED technology. The Japanese company, said to be engaged in microLED innovation since 2008, showcased a 55-inch full HD microLED TV prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2012. But since then, Sony hasn’t said much, said Virey. Their focus seems to be more on the industrial/commercial market for big screens, he added.　　Remember Maxim’s Fab Apple bought in 2015?　　As simple an idea as microLED display seems (a display made of LED chips), the technology is stymied by manufacturing challenges. Accordingly, many microLED companies are dwelling on problems like assembly and testing.　　Apple for instance.　　In December 2015 Apple bought a wafer fab in San Jose, Calif. from analog and mixed-signal chip vendor Maxim. What Apple intends to do with that fab has stirred a lot of speculation. But now we seem to have a fairly credible answer.　　Apple’s Luxvue appears to have MEMS-based printing technology to place those LEDs precisely onto backplanes. Yole’s Virey believes Apple is developing a specific MEMS-based technology to transfer these tiny LED chips and place them onto backplanes of microLEDs. What used to be Maxim’s small MEMS fab would be perfect for Apple to do test runs, as the company perfects the technology of those “transfer heads.”　　Yole acknowledges that microLED’s remaining technical and manufacturing challenges could prove too difficult to lick. This is a haunting possibility.　　Yole sees smartwatches as the “low-hanging fruit” for microLED. Ultimately, though, Yole noted that microLED “won’t completely displace OLED and LCD, but could end up with a strong position in niche applications such as wearable, augmented reality, mixed reality and heads-up display.”
Key word：
Release time：2017-09-19 00:00 reading：3973 Continue reading>>
Smartphones, TVs Drive Surge in AM<span style='color:red'>OLED</span> Displays
Trade news

Smartphones, TVs Drive Surge in AMOLED Displays

　　The value of the global market for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) panels is expected to reach $25.2 billion in 2017, an increase of 63 percent from 2016, thanks to growing use of AMOLED panels in smartphones and TVs, according to market research firm IHS Markit.　　According to Ricky Park, director of display research at IHS Markit, in addition to smartphones and TVs, the AMOLED panel market will also get a lift from rising demand in  head-mount displays and mobile PCs.　　AMOLED display use has rapidly risen in the smartphone market in particular as the flexible substrate allows phones to be produced in various designs with a lighter and slimmer bodies, IHS Markit said. Leading smartphone makers have competitively rolled out premium phones this year that boast a narrow bezel or nearly bezel-less designs, the firm noted.　　"The AMOLED display market is also expected to get a boost from Apple’s decision to use an AMOLED screen in its iPhone series to be released later this year, and Chinese smartphone makers’ moving to newer applications of AMOLED panels," Park said, in a press statement.　　Park said South Korean and Chinese display makers have been heavily investing in Generation 6 AMOLED fabs in order to increase capacity to meet the surging demand.　　The AMOLED TV panel market, the second largest market for AMOLED displays, is expected to grow to 1.5 million units this year, up from 890,000 units last year, according to IHS Markit's display demand forecast tracker. By 2021, the AMOLED panel market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent to exceed $40 billion, IHS Markit predicts.
Key word：
Release time：2017-07-07 00:00 reading：1027 Continue reading>>

Turn to

/ 1

Popular categories
Semiconductors Circuit Protection Electromechanical Embedded Solutions Connectors, Interconnects Sensors, Transducers Optoelectronics Development Kits Test and Measurement Power Fans, Thermal Management Boxes, Enclosures, Racks Cables, Wires Passive Components Others
  • Week of hot material
  • Material in short supply seckilling
model brand Quote
CDZVT2R20B ROHM Semiconductor
BD71847AMWV-E2 ROHM Semiconductor
RB751G-40T2R ROHM Semiconductor
TL431ACLPR Texas Instruments
MC33074DR2G onsemi
model brand To snap up
STM32F429IGT6 STMicroelectronics
IPZ40N04S5L4R8ATMA1 Infineon Technologies
ESR03EZPJ151 ROHM Semiconductor
BU33JA2MNVX-CTL ROHM Semiconductor
BP3621 ROHM Semiconductor
TPS63050YFFR Texas Instruments
Hot labels
ROHM
IC
Averlogic
Intel
Samsung
IoT
AI
Sensor
Chip
Original authorized brand
More Licensed Brands>>
Information leaderboard
  • Week of ranking
  • Month ranking

About us

Qr code of ameya360 official account

Identify TWO-DIMENSIONAL code, you can pay attention to

AMEYA360 mall (www.ameya360.com) was launched in 2011. Now there are more than 3,500 high-quality suppliers, including 6 million product model data, and more than 1 million component stocks for purchase. Products cover MCU+ memory + power chip +IGBT+MOS tube + op amp + RF Bluetooth + sensor + resistor capacitance inductor + connector and other fields. main business of platform covers spot sales of electronic components, BOM distribution and product supporting materials, providing one-stop purchasing and sales services for our customers.

Please enter the verification code in the image below：

verification code