January 2019

Korea-based Lumens demonstrated a new monochrome-green FHD (1920x1080) micro-LED microdisplay (silicon substrate) at CES 2019.

Lumens is collaborating with the Korean Institute of Machinery & Material to develop Micro-LED production technologies and had plans to release its first monochrome 720p microdisplays by the end of 2017. but we do not know if these microdisplays are now available.

Fuji Chimera Research Institute says that the global microdisplay market reached $161 million in 2018, led by LCoS panels (59.7%) and OLED panels (27.8%).

While some analysts expect Micro-LED to take over the AR microdisplay market, Fuji Chimera says that the technology is not mature enough and there are some technology challenges to overcome still - including those in epitaxial wafer process, mass transfer, defect detection and current drive.

UK-based plasma etch and deposition processing system maker Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (OIPT) announced that it has sold several PlasmaPro 100 systems, including both etch and deposition systems, to ITRI for its micro-LED R&D program.

Taiwan's ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) is reportedly developing Micro-LED technologies for both small-size (microdisplays) and large-size (130-inch and larger) applications.

Market research firm Yole Développement has been following the Micro-LED market for some years with some very interesting insights and forecasts.

Yole's technology & market analyst Zine Bouhamri was kind enough to discuss Yole's Micro-LED views with us. Mr. Zine is is a member of the Photonics, Sensing & Display division at Yole and he's deeply involved in the business development of the Displays unit activities.

HDTVTest posted an interesting interview with Cadmium-Free QD developer Nanosys CEO and president Jason Hartlove. In this long interview Jason discusses the company's technology and recent achievements.

Jason explains that producing an RGB Micro-LED has many challenges as each color micro-LED chip is different - and different color LEDs need slightly different voltages and drive currents. The mechanical placement of these chips is also much more difficult for three colors. Using single-color (blue) Micro-LED chips and color-converting them using QDs makes a lot of sense for such displays - with easier manufacturing, longer lifetime, less differential aging (burn-in) and a wider color gamut.

In September 2018 we reported that China-based San'an Optoelectronics is gearing up to setup its first micro-LED epitaxial wafer and chip production line in Q1 2019, and in early 2019 it was reported that San'n plans to start sampling Micro LED chips as early as January 2019.

In a new press release, San'an announced that it is advancing with its Micro-LED R&D and capacity investment, and the company has filed for 27 patents and has signed several key partnerships. San'an also says that it has "expanded its manufacturing capabilities and facilities for micro-LED production".

US-based Rohinni announced a new joint venture with China-based display maker BOE. The new JV (which will be based in China and controlled by BOE) will develop LCD mini-LED and micro-LED backlighting units.

The JV will adopt Rohinni's proprietary high-speed MicroLED placement technology that is capable of placing 50 die-per-second (dps) with 10 micron accuracy at 99.999% die yields. BOE and Rohinni will initially focus on large panel applications (32-inch and up) for consumer electronic products in addition to all display sizes for industrial, automotive and other markets

China-based TCL is demonstrating a what seems to be an early Micro-LED prototype display at CES 2019 called "The Cinema Wall".

The Micro-LED display panel is produced by TCL's subsidiary CSoT. This is a tiled MicroLED display.

Hisense has unveiled its first Micro-LED concept TV, a 143-inch panel called the Adonis MD. We don't have any information, as Hisense did not give any specs or say when it plans to actually launch this as a product.

Samsung is also showing Micro-LED TVs at CES (75" consumer and 219" professional), and seems to be closer to commercialization for its consumer-level TVs.

Aixtron and PlayNitride signed a joint-collaboration agreement to accelerate Micro-LED development. Aixtron will deliver an AIX G5+ C MOCVD system to Playnitride, that will be used to produce GaN-based Micro LED devices.

Aixtron says that the G5+ C is an advanced advanced production tool that offers market leading wavelength uniformity to meet the tightened Micro LED market specifications in a batch reactor high-throughput environment. The system allows for the lowest defect and particle level in the industry due to an effective in-situ cleaning technology and the cassette-to-cassette handler which is essential for high yields. The G5+ C MOCVD was recently ordered by Plessey for its own GaN-on-Silicon Micro-LED development and production.