3D Nanowires

NS Nanotech, based in the US, develops nanowire microLED technologies, branded as nanoLED, using MBE deposition. The company targets the microLED display market, and also the LEDs for pathogen-neutralizing far-UV. NS Nanotech's CEO, Seth Coe-Sullivan, will give a talk at the upcoming MicroLED-Connect startup showcase event on February 2024, and was kind enough to send us a short update on the company's technology and status, and his views on the microLED industry and market:

Seth Coe-Sullivan: NS Nanotech is a spin-off from McGill University and the University of Michigan, with offices in Ann Arbor and Montréal near both campuses. We have exclusive licenses to portfolios of patents for breakthroughs in sub-micron-scale vertical nanowire LEDs, and we have published peer-reviewed results showing world-class efficiency for red and green nano-LEDs. And now we are working to demonstrate how this technology can scale to commercially relevant processes and wafer sizes for both main displays and microdisplays.

Our go-to-market strategy involves partnering with larger companies that have the balance sheet to scale quickly, while we remain a technology provider. As we map a clear path to commercialization of our nanowire technology, we have started to fabricate demonstration wafers to make samples available to potential manufacturing partners.

France-based microLED developer Aledia has closed a new financing round, raising €120 million from existing investors. The company also appointed Pierre Laboisse as its CEO (Giorgio Anania, the previous CEO, remains on the company’s board of directors).

Aledia's investors include CEA Investissement, Supernova Invest, and the SPI and Ecotechnologies funds. In 2020 Aledia announced that it plans to establish a 140 million euros LED production fab in Champagnier, near Grenoble in France. The company already raised 110 million Euros towards that goal, and now it has raised another significant amount of money. In total, the company raised over €360 million to date.

NS Nanotech announced that its researchers from the University of Michigan, led by the company's co-founder Prof. Zetian Mi, has developed a native red sub-micron microLED device with an EQE of over 8%. The company says that this is the world's most efficient submicron-scale LED.

NS Nanotech has an exclusive license to commercialize prof. Zetian's LED technology and technologies developed at McGill University. The company grows unique nanowire LEDs using MBE technology.

NS Nanotech announced that it is building a new R&D center in Montréal, Canada. In this center, the company will develop technologies based on exclusive microLED display technology patents licensed from McGill University.

US-based NS Nanotech is developed nanowire microLED technologies. NS Nanotech Canada (the new R&D center) signed an initial agreement with McGill University to start collaboration with top research scientists there including Prof. Songrui Zhao, that holds numerous patents and is advancing the state of the art in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and other foundational technologies

QustomDot announced an agreement with France-based 3D GaN LED developer Aledia to co-develop a full-color microLED displays, based on Aledia's high-efficiency Gan-on-Silicon 3D Nanowire LEDs grown on 300 mm wafers coupled with QustomDot's high performance quantum dots color conversion technology.

QustomDot developed a patented method to produce high-quality and stable QD materials suitable for microLEDs, that are heavy metal free. A few months ago the company announced it is co-developing microLED displays with MICLEDI.

Trinity Capital announced that it has closed $30 million equipment financing line for Aledia, which will use the funds to expand its microLED nanowire growth manufacturing facility, and accelerate its product platform and R&D.

Aledia announced in 2020 that it plans to establish a 140 million euros LED production fab in Champagnier, near Grenoble in France. The company already raised 80 million Euros towards that goal, and the new funds announced will add to that.

Quantum Dots developer Nanosys announced that it acquired 3D Nanowire microLED display developer Glo. The financial details were not disclosed.

Glo has been developing GaN microLED displays on both LTPS and CMOS (microdisplay) backplane. The company, founded in 2003, has invested (according to Nanosys) over $200 million in its technology - which includes epitaxial LED growth, transfer technology and chip processing.

France-based 3D GaN LED developer Aledia announced that it has produced its first nanowire microLED chips on 300 mm silicon wafers, at the CEA-Leti pilot line. Producing microLEDs on large wafers is more cost effective and will enable integration with smaller-node electronics.

Earlier this year Aledia announced that it plans to establish a 140 million euros LED production fab in Champagnier, near Grenoble in France. The company already raised 80 million Euros towards that goal. The new fab will use Veeco's 300 mm MOCVD systems.

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.

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.