AR developer Mojo Vision announced that as it finds it challenging to raise more funds, it is changing its focus to develop its microLED technology and "decelerating" its work on the smart contact lens system.

According to reports, Mojo Vision has laid off 75% of its employees - it is estimated that the company laid off around 100 employees (it had around 150 employees before the change). The company's CEO says that the its microLED display technology has "is significant near-term market potential".

Belgium-based microLED microdisplay developer MICLEDI demonstrated a "Ferrari" red microLEDs on aluminium indium gallium phosphide (AlInGaP) starting material. The company says that these red microLED devices are produced using a CMOS-compatible flow, free of arsenide.

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MICLEDI says that it uses advanced photolithography available in 300mm wafer fabs. The company's first red microLED on GaN is solidly in the red range with wavelength centered at 620nm and good full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of <50nm. This newest announcement of red on AlInGaP achieves 653nm wavelength at extremely narrow FWHM of <9nm.

Samsung announced its 2023 microLED TV lineup, with a wide range of sizes - from 50-inch to 140-inch. The TVs will still be highly expensive, but Samsung is expected to reduce its prices, and in addition it will be possible (finally) to self-install the TVs.

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The MicroLED CX range of TVs will include sizes of 50-, 63- 77-, 89-, 101-, 104- and 140-inch. Not all the TVs will ship at once and in all regions. It is expected that the main TV will the the 77-inch one. But at the expected high prices, these will be sold at very low volumes, most likely.

There are some new rumors (or analyst estimates, really) that Apple is working to adopt a microLED display in its next Watch Ultra smartwatch, to replace the currently-used OLED display. The new display, according to what we hear, will have a 2.1" display. Apple aims, it seems to release its first microLED display powered device in 2024, or even possibly 2023.

The current (Gen-1) Watch Ultra has an advanced 1.92" (49 mm) 2000 nits 502 x 410 pixels LTPO AMOLED display.

Germany-based 3D-Micromac is the industry leader in laser micromachining and roll-to-roll laser systems. The company develops and manufactures processes and laser systems delivering powerful, user-friendly and leading-edge processes with superior production efficiency. 3D-Micromac offers industrial laser solutions for the mass production of microLED displays.

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We had the pleasure of talking to Frank Richter, Head of Sales and Product Management at 3D-Micromac. Frank explained 3D-Micromac's solutions and technologies for microLED production, and the company's views on the future of microLEDs.

Q: Can you detail 3D-Micromac's solutions for the MicroLED market?

Frank Richter, Head of Sales and Product Management: 3D-Micromac’s product portfolio includes several laser-based system solutions for various manufacturing steps in the MicroLED production process. All systems offer an integrated process control and monitoring to assure stable and reliable operation thus enabling high throughput and low yield losses.

AUO, together with ITRI, developed a new 17.3" transparent microLED display, and deployed a few of these displays in a ferry operated by the Taiwan Kaohsiung Shipping Company. The Snoopy-featured Yawan Smart Ferry, will set sail for the first time on December 24, connecting Zhanerku, Cijin, and Gushan. The gesture-controlled AI smart window screen navigation system combines AR and eye tracking to show tourists information based on what they are looking at. 

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The LTPS microLED displays offer a 1820x720 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The transmittance is 55% and the peak brightness is 3,000 nits

In 2021, ams Osram announced that it will expand its LED production plant in Kulim, Malaysia, with an investment of around $850 million. Osram plans to produce mini-LED and micro-LED chips on 8-inch wafers in Kulim.

ams Osram already said it regards microLED as one of its key initiatives, and in a recent conference call the company's CEO emphasized that that microLED is one of the areas in which the company has clear advantages and is a market leader - and it will direct more efforts on microLEDs. The company is on track, it was revealed, to start microLED production in Kulim in 2024.

Toshiba Corporation announced that it has developed a new high-performance phosphor material that could be highly useful in microLED color conversion, among other applications. Toshiba aims to start mass producing the new material in 2025, and will soon offer samples for potential partners and customers.

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Toshiba says that the new material delivers excellent solubility in polymers or organic solvents, where it is transparent and colorless under visible light, and that emits persistent red-light emissions under UV light, with excellent color purity and a luminescence six times that of current phosphors.

We're happy to interview Comptek Solutions, as part of our new series of interviews with MicroLED Industry Association members. Comptek, established in 2017 as a spin-off from the university of Turku, Finland, develops quantum technology (branded as Kontrox) that boosts the performance of devices such as microLEDs and lasers.

Q: Hello! Can you introduce your company and technology?

Vicente Calvo, Comptek's CEO and co-founder: Comptek Solutions is a forerunner in III-V compound semiconductor surface engineering. We have developed a novel surface treatment process - Kontrox - which effectively passivates the surface of the materials by forming a high-quality native crystalline oxide layer with very low surface defect state density.  In µLEDs, Kontrox is applied to the chip sidewalls to prevent non-radiative recombination mechanisms, effectively passivating the surface.  This drastically improves the performance and manufacturing yields of µLEDs, particularly at small chip sizes.

Q: Can you say why you joined the microLED association and what you hope to achieve?

The association is a perfect networking platform offering an excellent outlook on the current developments and trends in the µLED industry. We particularly appreciate the opportunity to connect to key industry players.