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Taiwan-based Foxconn is building a display production fab in Wisconsin, USA. Announced in 2017, the fab changed its designation a few times (from LCD display panel production, to R&D and finally to LCD module production).
Foxconn now announced that it may also add OLED and Micro-LED production lines in the Wisconsin factory. It did not disclose any more details or timeline, this is certainly not a commitment yet, it's not even clear if the plan is to produce MicroLED panels or assemble modules.
Korea-based driver IC developer MagnaChip announced its latest 28-nm process, and the company said that it is now starting to develop driver ICs for Micro-LED TVs.
This is just an early announcement, hopefully the company will give more details in the future about its MicroLED driver program. For OLED displays, the company says it is currently using the world's most advanced process and has already secured its first 28 nm design win with a leading smartphone maker.
The Germany Bavarian state ministry for regional development has funded a new three-year project to develop transparent micro-LED displays for automotive applications.
The SmartVIZ project consortium consists of Osram, Fraunhofer IISB and ASM Amicra. The partners aim to develop direct-view high-resolution transparent and demonstrate a prototype in October 2021.
Sony is set to install the world's largest micro-LED display - 16K (15360x3840) 19.2 x 5.4 meters "CLEDIS" panel that was installed at Shiseido new research center in Yokohama, Japan.
Sony is also creating its own 16K content specifically for this display, using a method it call “demosaicing” to create “quad ultra-high definition” footage.
The Korea Intellectual Property Office released a report on the Micro LED industry IP situation - in which it says that Korean display companies may lose their current industry lead as they account for less than 15% of all micro LED display patent applications.
The leading countries in Micro-LED IP are China and the United States - which together account for more than 50% of all applications.
UK-based GaN-on-Si MicroLED developer Plessey Semiconductor developed its proprietary 2D planar gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) process to emit Green light without the need for color conversion techniques.
Plessey says that its native Green LEDs are formed inherently using its proprietary GaN-on-Si epitaxial growth process similar to the native Blue LEDs with the principal difference coming in the amount of indium that is incorporated in the quantum well structures of the LED. The native Green emission is orders of magnitude times brighter than color-converted process for micro-LEDs.
Researchers from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed new GaN nanowire-based ultraviolet LEDs that are five times as bright as regular LEDs. The new design uses a silicon-doped GaN nanowire core coated with a shell made from magnesium-doped GaN and Aluminum.
The nanowires are built in a p-i-n structure and the researcher say that adding the Aluminum to the shell of the LED helps confine electrons to the nanowire core by introducing an asymmetry in the electrical current which boost the electroluminescence of the device.
In July 2018, France-based 3D GaN LED developer Aledia announced that it has selected Veeco Instruments’s Propel GaN MOCVD system to support its advanced R&D. Veeco's Propel system enables Aledia to process 6- and 8-inch wafers or 2- to 4-inch wafers in a minibatch mode. Aledia also uses Veeco's R&D K465i MOCVD system.
Aledia and Veeco now announced that Aledia "expands its portfolio of Veeco equipment to develop and produce 3D micro-LEDs". It is not clear what kind of equipment Aledia ordered - and it also seems that the two companies are collaborating to develop next-generation Micro-LED production equipment.
n-tech Research says that the Micro-LED lighting will experience very fast growth, with revenues exceeding $1.4 billion by 2028 with 170 million lighting units shipped.
n-tech says that some industry analysts say that micro-LED lighting will always remain a tiny niche and only cater for novelty lighting. n-tech, however, sees several advantages of micro-LEDs compared to conventional HB LEDs and expect that these will be enough to earn micro-LEDs a healthy share of the LED lighting market.
We are happy to announce the eighth edition of The OLED Handbook, the most comprehensive resource on OLED technology, industry and market - now updated for 2019. The OLED industry grows and changes very fast, and the new edition include new details on the OLED mobile display market, new production fabs in China, OLED TVs, flexible OLEDs and more.
The OLED handbook has been read by hundreds of display engineers, business developers, researchers, equipment vendors, OLED material companies, private investors and others who wished to learn more about OLEDs today and in the future. I truly believe that it is the best introduction to OLED displays and lighting!