MicroLED-Info.com: the Micro-LED experts

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.

Reading this book, you'll learn all about:

• OLED technology and materials and production processes
• How OLEDs compare to LCD displays
• OLED TVs, flexible, foldable and transparent OLEDs
• The OLED lighting industry
• The future of OLED displays and the challenges ahead

The book also provides:

• A history of OLED development
• A guide to OLED investment
• A comprehensive list of OLED companies
• A list of existing and planned AMOLED fabs
• An introduction to quantum dots, micro-LEDs and e-paper displays

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!

Researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology managed to vertically integrate nanowire gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) and indium gallium nitride (InGaN) LEDs. Such technology could be useful for future Micro-LED displays.

The researchers say that this integration could provide to enable smaller structures and more cost-effective processes compared to alternative light emitting architectures - such as high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) combined with LEDs.

Display signage company Daktronics introduced its first mini-LED display, branded as the Optica. The company says that it achieved a resolution "similar to LCD display resolution" but at much higher brightness levels (6,000 nits) while drawing half the power. Daktronics actually calls this a Micro-LED display, but as the pixel pitch is 0.9mm, it cannot really be called a micro-LED.

It is not clear whether Daktronics produces the display panel itself, and how close it is to commercialize this technology. Daktronics says that it is possible to scale up its Optica displays (to pretty much unlimited sizes) - a Full-HD (1080x1920) Optical display will be 1.037 x 1.8434 meter in size, while a 4K one will be 2.074x3.686 meters.

US and Sweden based Glo has been developing Micro-LED displays on both LTPS and CMOS (microdisplay) backplanes for many years. The company has been rather queit until now (even though the 2017 investment from Google created some buzz).

Glo has now started to disclose its technology and achievements. At CES 2019, Glo demonstrated two displays. First up is the 1.5-inch smartphone type display you can see in the image above. The 264 PPI 120Hz display is produced on a LTPS backplane and produces 4,000 nits brightness - you can see how it is much brighter compared to the LGD OLED in the Apple Watch next to it (1,000 nits max).

Korea-based LED developer Seoul Semiconductor announced it will soon introduce its innovate offering of Micro LED products for next generation displays.

Seoul Semiconductor says it is the world's second-largest LED maker (excluding the captive market) and it holds over 12,000 patents.

AU Optronics announced that it will accelerate its development of Micro-LED products. AUO started to ship mini-LED based LCD gaming monitor panels in Q4 2018, and will continue to develop mini-LED LCDs for other niche markets in 2019.

In July 2018 AUO said that micro-LEDs are still too expensive and not ready for mass production yet - even after years of R&D. Hopefully the company's views have now changed. AUO did say in 2018 that it plans to introduce micro-LEDs in "niche products" in the future.

Samsung Electronics reported its financial results for Q4 2018 - with revenues of $53 billion USD down 10% from Q4 2017, and an operating profit of $9.6 billion (down 29% from 2017).

Samsung says that its display innovation in 2019 will include launching foldable OLED displays - and MicroLED TVs.