3D-Micromac announced that a leading optical solutions provider has purchased several microMIRA laser lift-off (LLO) systems to use in the production of microLED devices. The systems will be installed in pilot lines and production lines at its state-of-the-art LED chip factory in Asia

3D-Micromac says that the microMIRA laser system provides highly uniform, force-free lift-off of different layers on large-area substrates at high processing speeds without the need for costly and polluting wet chemical processes. The unique line beam system is built on a highly customizable platform that can incorporate different laser sources, wavelengths and beam paths to meet each customer's unique requirements. The system is capable of processing different substrate materials and sizes, and can achieve processing speeds (including handling) of up to 60 eight-inch wafers per hour.

Aixtron announced its financial results for Q2 2022, with the company's highest quarterly order intake since 2011. The company said that it received its first order for tools used in volume production of microLED devices.

Aixtron announced several microLED system orders in the past, but these were R&D or pilot line systems. In 2021 Aixtron said that a US Tier-1 LED producer has selected Aixtron's AIX G5+ C equipment for microLED device production. In February 2022 Wuhan-based HC Semitek selected Aixtron's Planetary AIX 2800G4-TM (IC2) and AIX G5+ C MOCVD systems to produce microLEDs.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (K&S) announced that it has received two purchase orders, from two separate customers, for its LUMINEX, a disruptive laser-based mini and micro LED die-transfer solution.

K&S says that its highly flexible system is capable of single die transfer, multi-die transfer and mass transfer, supporting sorting, mixing, re-pitching and placement process steps. The broad flexibility of this system addresses the growing advanced display value chain and supports needs of LED, OSAT, panel and display suppliers.

During Aixtron's Q1 2022 financial results conference call the company's CEO made some interesting comments on its microLED business and the market in general.

Aixtron says that it sees the microLED display industry advancing "as expected". Demand for its microLED production tools has "started to kick in". The company is "increasingly confident" that we will 'soon' see commercial microLED displays on the market.

This is a sponsored post by STAr Technologies

With Micro-LED moving from Engineering to Production, a near-zero tolerance for bad pixel, ultra-small pitch probing, automatic electrical and optical measurement systems need to step up. With STAr’s enhanced Unicorn-LAIT II addresses these stricter testing requirements and with its unique parallel test architecture for electrical, driver functionality, RGB, optical testing capabilities.

STAr Unicorn-LAIT II Advanced Integrated Test System

Unicorn-LAIT II is an advanced high throughput LED test system, that caters for dies in hundreds of thousands to millions of LED per wafer. High Parallelization allows the customer to significantly reduce the Cost of Test and Test Time. The system provides critical measurements for Mini/Micro-LEDs and integrates parallel testing with the electrical, optical measurement with probe station and probe cards in one system, offering a comprehensive analysis result to industry users.

Aixtron announced that Wuhan-based HC Semitek is using Aixtron's Planetary AIX 2800G4-TM (IC2) and AIX G5+ C MOCVD systems to produce microLEDs. All of these systems, shipped in Q4 2021, feature a configuration of 8x6 inches.

Aixtron says that this AIX G5+ C system uses wafer-level control (based on Auto-Feed Forward) of the film surface temperature during the epitaxial process in combination with Ultraviolet (UV) pyrometry. This warrants, according to Aixtron, a very accurate control of the Indium incorporation into the Multi-Quantum wells (MQW), which will ultimately define the wavelength consistency among all produced wafers

Taiwan-based laser micromachining subsystem and equipment manufacturer Bolite Optoelectronics announced its new automated side-wiring system, the laser-based Bolite SW-L, which can be used for the production of tiled microLED displays.

This laser-based tool offers high-precision alignment, advanced process control, and full automation with robotic handling. The minimum line with and spacing is 5 um. Bolite says that this system is highly compatible with TFT production processes. The SW-L systems are now available, and Bolite is already accepting orders.

This is a sponsored post by Coherent

Coherent is a leading global supplier of lasers and photonics technology. For the MicroLED industry, Coherent provides several solutions from a single laser source, optical systems up to an integrated system for the three vital processes in MicroLED fabrication – Laser Lift-Off (LLO), Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT), and Repair/Trimming.

Coherent recently published a new white paper that provides an update on how high-energy ultraviolet laser beams enable LLO and LIFT processes. The white paper shows the importance of a perfect combination of laser and optical design to a how these lasers ensure placement accuracy and mass transfer that will remain future-proof as microLED chip die size continues to shrink.

This is a sponsored post by Applied Materials

Applied Materials Baccini Cell Systems provides advanced screen-printing solutions and systems for a wide range of applications - including for MicroLED production.

Here is an interview we conducted with Applied Materials' Director of Global Product Marketing, Daniel Hada, who details the company's solutions for MicroLED production and R&D.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about Applied Materials' Baccini systems? What kind of systems are you offering?

We provide advanced screen-printing solutions for both R&D applications and high volume manufacturing. All Baccini systems are built for sheet-to-sheet printing, either on flexible or rigid substrates. In addition to our screen-printing capabilities, we also provide customers with different drying and curing solutions, in-line inspection systems to monitor the quality of the print immediately after the print, and fully automated print lines to enable low cost, and high volume manufacturing. Utilizing Baccini’s Esatto technology which provides high accuracy and high print repeatability, we developed the Double Print technology years ago, to allow print on print capability for printing narrow lines/small features with high aspect ratios and to minimize interruptions in the printed lines.

Toray Industries announced several new materials suitable for microLED production. The materials were developed in collaboration with Toray Engineering, developer of production and inspection equipment for the microLED industry.

The new materials announced today are a laser-transfer release material, a bonding material and a substrate side-wire material (used in a tiled display architecture). The bonding material and the side-wire material are both based on Toray's RAYBRID proprietary photosensitive conductive material.