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Although OLED display market has grown on the small sized display area for the past decades, but it still has some limitation of higher resolution and larger size. From these reasons, Micro LED display is getting more interesting with its superior optical performance. But, the production process of micro LED display is still struggling in terms of its efficiency (through put, yield rate). In this session, Omdia will summarize the latest Technical Trend & Market Forecast of micro LED display focusing on the main issues of the industry.

Toray Engineering has developed series of technologies to manufacture micro-LED displays based on technologies cultivated through its manufacturing equipment of LCD displays and semiconductors. By combining these technologies, Toray Engineering offers proposal for total solution, and so far, has large delivery records of micro-LED-related manufacturing equipment worldwide. In this presentation, Toray Engineering’s approach to the manufacturing process that utilizes its visual inspection system that uses photoluminescence technology, laser repair equipment, mass transfer equipment, and laser mass transfer equipment shall be introduced. Toray Engineering’s approach focuses measures against these main challenges ahead for the Micro-LED Display Manufacturing:
1) Smaller micro-LED chips & Stable process
It is important which method we use to achieve stable process in Micro LED.
2) Efficient repair process
In case of watch production, 500k chips are used in per product. So if the defect rate is 1%, 5 thousand chips need repairs. In case of a TV, 25 million chips are used. So 250k (two fifty thousand) chips need repairs.
3) Minimizing of image discoloration
Micro-LED chips have variation in luminance and wavelength caused in their manufacturing process. If such variations are transferred to the display pixels, they result in uneven images or mura. There is a need to reduce such image mura.
 
Toray Engineering is ready to offer total solutions to overcome these challenges to help realize high volume production of micro-LED display in the near future.

In order to get higher resolution LED module for public information displays,
the size of LED chips must be further reduced.

Lextar Electronics, a subsidiary of Ennostar, has initiated the development of
Micro LED since 2018. The idea is to combine the existing millimeter-level
packaging technology and the advantages of Micro LED chips in high
resolution, high contrast and low color difference to develop
i-Pixel ® solution that is different from other approaches. In this talk, the
development background, performance and merits of i-Pixel ® would be
introduced.

Lextar looks forward to expanding the application of i-Pixel ® technology from
large indoor/outdoor high-brightness public information displays to consumer
displays, such as automobiles, electric vehicles, and home electronics.

The advantages of µLED are known well and positioned as a next-generation Display. To be widely applied on consumer electronics, cost and performance are both crucial factors. It is direct that micron-scale µLED (lateral size < 10 µm) brings the cost advantage. Therefore we choose the vertical structure to realize 5µm LED chips. Our proprietary process makes it easy to fabricate but high performance at the meantime. In addition, the micron-scale µLEDs also bring the merit of uniform current spreading, Lambertian emission, and even more, it is eye-friendly.
In terms of mass transfer technology, we develop a fast and concise stamp transfer specifically for micron-scale µLEDs. It is operated at a low temperature of 200 ºC, and press-free. We are focusing on these technologies to establish an effective and productive pipeline toward the true µLED Display.

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Despite most microLED application are currently at prototype stage the race for miniaturization is already ongoing towards 10-micron edge length and even below. This necessitates new solutions for the transfer and connecting these microLED chips to the main substrate. A promising material class are functional polymers or adhesives. These materials can be tailored in certain ways to comply with the demands of the display manufacturers.

In this talk we will present the capabilities of adhesives for electrical connection under the assumption of a non-monolithic flip chip design. It will be shown that the adhesive can be applied in multiply ways, while printing seems to be a promising option, yet. The tests have been conducted under lab scale conditions with two different pick & place tools (automated and manual). Moreover, two different substrates have been investigated, one is a wafer the other is rigid PCB.

The presented test results will show that adhesives are a versatile material candidate to enable the further development of microLED displays.

Despite the promising features of GaN-based micro-LED displays, their application has been impeded due to complexities in incorporating transistor logic and crafting multi-color emissions. Our research presents a comprehensive single wafer approach, capitalizing on GaN for micro-LEDs, transistor integration, and adjustable InGaN color-tunability. We showcase superior GaN MOSFETs with impressive on-off ratios exceeding eight orders of magnitude and electron mobility surpassing 300 cm2/V*s. These are vertically integrated with micro-LEDs for enhanced functionality. By manipulating different crystal planes, we engineer color-tunable InGaN micro-LEDs, enabling emissions from 640 to 425 nm. Our methods involve MOCVD growth and conventional semiconductor tools for fabrication. This research illustrates the multitude of advantages offered by a fully-integrated GaN-based solution, paving the way for the future of micro-LED displays.

Electronic displays have changed the way our society lives and interacts with technology. From the first TVs and personal computing devices to current smartphones and smart wearables, every new generation of technology demands a better display than the last. We want brighter, longer lasting, more energy efficient, and higher resolution displays—all at a lower cost. For years, microLEDs have been a sought after technology for achieving superior displays, but have been impeded by cost and manufacturing challenges.

Q-Pixel's Tunable Polychromatic microLED (TP-LED) technology introduces full-color tunability across a single 4-micron pixel, replacing traditional single-color (RGB) LED subpixels to overcome major manufacturing obstacles of current microLED-based displays. Q-Pixel’s TP-LED core competence both simplifies microLED assembly as we know it and facilitates previously unattainable pixel densities. In 2023, using TP-LED technology, Q-Pixel successfully demonstrated the world's first full-color LED display with a record-breaking pixel density of 5000 pixels per inch (PPI). With disruptive advances of the TP-LED, we expect the display industry to undergo a major paradigm shift, with microLED displays displacing most OLED and miniLED based technologies in coming years.

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In the mid-2000s, OLED panel makers entered the display space targeting the LCD monopoly. By 2022, OLEDs generated $42b of the $137b in display revenue and 50% of all the smartphone shipped. OLEDs targeted the high end of the TV, smartphone, monitor and automotive markets and is moving rapidly into tablets and notebooks. In the near eye segment, OLEDoS, which has been installed in Apple’s Vision Pro is rapidly replacing LCoS and LCDs as the go to technology.

15 years later, MicroLED technology seeks to enter the display market, but their base is much wider. When OLEDs entered the market, Samsung alone carried the banner, soon to be joined by LG Display. In 2023, just about every display maker has a MicroLED initiative and powerful new participates, such as Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft have embraced the technology.

MicroLEDs currently operate in two spheres, very large TVs and very small micro displays. They are relegated to high prices and low efficiency, which limits access to the primary markets. Even the expected 2025 release of Apple’s MicroLED based watch is expected to cost at least 3x a comparable OLED display and have comparable luminance, but with enhanced lifetime. The bourgeoning technology is researching smaller LED die sizes, larger wafers, more productive mass transfer, new error detection and repair techniques, all to reduce costs.

But the OLED industry is not standing still; is close to solving the problem of low blue efficiency and are qualifying an emitter expected to be available in 2024; new manufacturing approaches that double the luminance and triple the lifetime will be used in 2025. Panel makers are experimenting with patterning lithographically to increase pixel density, add luminance and lifetime and reduce production costs by eliminating Fine Metal Masks (FMM). By the end of the decade, a whole new material technology called plasmons could increase the EQE up to 3X the present level, making OLEDs the most efficient display technology while increasing lifetime and luminance.

This talk will provide a roadmap and rationale for how MicroLEDs will compete with LCDs and OLEDs through the end of the decade, speculating on how the advances will affect the penetration and the rate of adoption.

Spearheaded by efforts from apple and others, MicroLED has generated a lot of excitement over the past decade. All leading display makers now have sizable microLED efforts. The supply chain is shaping up, with alliances and takeovers amongst large LED and display makers. As some leading players are starting to establish volume manufacturing capacities, the industry is entering a “make or break” era. The success (or failure) of those first large-scale manufacturing efforts will decide on the fate of the technology.

Time has brought up more clarity about the benefits and challenges of microLED. We will take a closer look at what could be realistic expectations for microLED in a variety of consumer applications. Which applications are achievable and under which conditions.