Technical / Research - Page 116

TMA is a technology which potentially can be incorporated into driver chips to bring active matrix capabilities to passive matrix displays. TMA reduces power consumption and enhances panel lifetime for a given pixel count in passive matrix displays. Measurements on small passive matrix displays that incorporated the TMA solution, demonstrated at least a 50% reduction in power consumption or exhibited double the display luminescence at the same power consumption.

he TMA driving system applies both to polymer and small molecule OLED displays. CDT is currently considering how to bring the technology to market in the shortest possible time. A working demonstrator has been created using individual electronic components, that exploit the new driver and image processing technologies. This will be developed further in the coming months. CDT is in discussion with OLED display producers and IC driver companies with a view to commencing design work for commercialising TMA as soon as possible.

Ron Mertens from OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Susan Jones, eMagin's Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.

eMagin is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of virtual imaging products that utilize OLEDs, OLED-on-silicon micro displays and information technology solutions. Focused on Micro displays, eMagin is selling its micro displays to companies that incorporate them into products such as cameras, army helmets or headsets, etc.

Q: First of all, thank you for accepting to do this interview session with us... Let's begin. What kind of OLED microdisplays are you currently selling?

eMagin is currently selling SVGA+ OLED and OLED-XL microdisplays that have 852x600 color triad pixels, SVGA 3D OLED and OLED-XL microdisplays that have 800x600 color triad pixels. We also just announced the availability of a limited number of interface design and reference kits with prototypes of our new SVGA 3DS OLED-XL microdisplay that is the same resolution as the SVGA-3D, but with a much smaller diagonal.

Vitex Systems together with Advanced Neotech Systems (ANS), Pyungtaek, Korea, today unveiled a lower cost version of its proven Guardian™ thin-film encapsulation system, the G200E. Designed to extend the company’s reach into markets where price may be a gating factor, the G200E will enable institutions, universities and industrial development groups to also explore the myriad benefits associated with Vitex’s proprietary Barix™ encapsulation process. Based on Vitex’s flagship Guardian System, the G200E can provide basic thin-thin encapsulation capabilities without sacrificing the quality and performance that has become a trademark of the Guardian platform.

Thin-film encapsulation is a fundamental technology that can be used in the production of OLEDs, photovoltaics, thin-film batteries, organic semiconductors, bio sensors, etc. Specifically, Vitex’s Barix technology—applied via the Guardian tool—can eliminate the packaging components used within the manufacture of these devices by delivering the moisture/oxygen protection, or barrier, necessary to ensure integrity. It also offers added flexibility and enables new design opportunities. Since different applications (e.g. cell phone vs. photovoltaics) have different lifetime requirements, they require different barrier properties. Vitex’s unique ability to customize its technology to address various barrier requirements opens up a number of new markets. At the same time, Vitex and ANS recognized early on that the extensive capital required for thin-film encapsulation made it difficult for some organizations, such as universities, to procure the necessary equipment needed for further research in this area. This prompted the development of the low cost G200E—thereby, expanding the company’s potential customer base.

Skin cancer patients at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland have been helping develop a miniature, portable treatment system that will eventually be used by sufferers in their own homes.

A light-emitting device that looks like a sticking plaster with a glowing orange lozenge in the middle is powered with a lightweight battery pack carried in a belt or pocket like an iPod.

Vitex Systems today announced that it has signed a license agreement with Advanced Neotech Systems (ANS) Corporation of Korea. The agreement includes a technology transfer package from Vitex to ANS, and gives ANS the non-exclusive rights to make and sell GuardianTM thin-film encapsulation systems, which can be used in the manufacturing of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. While the financial terms of agreement were not disclosed, the license includes an upfront fee and on-going royalty payments based on tool sales.

Thin-film encapsulation is the obvious trend for significant cost reduction and reduced thickness of OLED displays on rigid substrates, and is a must for OLED displays on flexible substrate. Vitex is the leading technology supplier in this field, and we are excited about our ongoing relationship with them, said KB Bae, president of ANS. With the recent investment in our company by SNU Precision coupled with our license agreement with Vitex, we now have the financial strength and technological capability to address the developing OLED display market. Moreover, the addition of Guardian to our deposition equipment portfolio will allow us to be more competitive in the marketplace.

Commenting on its agreement with ANS and licensing successes, Chyi-Shan Suen, director of sales and marketing for Vitex, said, ANS has been one of Vitex's equipment partners for the past two years. Signing this license agreement not only validates ANS’s confidence in Vitex’s BarixTM technology and IP portfolio strength, but also reaffirms the growing adoption and need of our thin-film encapsulation technology to enable future OLED displays. He adds, This announcement follows on the heels of a licensing agreement signed in September with a major optical film manufacturer for our proprietary Flexible Glass technology, which also illustrates the success of our new licensing model."

Samsung shows their new 17" AMOLED display - organic television.

The screen is 12mm thick, and has a resolution of 1600x1200 pixels.

The response time is less than 0.01ms, the brightness is 400 nits. Contras ratio is 1,000:1.

Chi Mei EL Corporation (CMEL) announced that it has successfully employed the latest low temperature poly-silicon thin film transistor (LTPS TFT) process technology from Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) together with its own organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) equipment and technology to develop a full-function, full-color 25" OLED TV panel.

This 25" OLED panel is currently the world's largest LTPS AMOLED panel. This successful application of new technologies from CMEL and CMO showcases CMEL's mature product development capabilities and advanced OLED process technology, as well as CMO's unique LTPS TFT process technology.

The new 25" AMOLED TV panel uses the latest LTPS TFT production technology developed by CMO to avoid non-uniform images that plague conventional LTPS TFT panels. Excessive critical voltage fluctuations often cause non-uniform images in conventional LTPS TFT panels; this typically results in a low production yield and difficulty in increasing panel size. CMO's LTPS TFT panel technology -- which ensures outstanding performance and consistency -- can be used in OLED TV panels offering extreme thinness, an ultra-wide viewing angle, ultra-high contrast, and ultra-fast response time. CMEL has also developed passive matrix OLED (PMOLED) products as well as 2.0" and 3.5" active matrix full-color OLED panels using CMO's unique LTPS TFT technology. CMEL will exhibit its new products from Oct.18 to Oct. 20 at the FPD International 2006 in Yokohama, Japan.

Next Phase to Focus on Konica Minolta's Commercialization of All-Phosphorescent OLED Backlights and Other Lighting Products

Konica Minolta And UDC announced the strengthening of their collaboration to incorporate Universal Display's proprietary PHOLED(TM) phosphorescent OLED technology into Konica Minolta's white OLED devices. On June 30, 2006, Konica Minolta announced that it had successfully developed a white OLED with a power efficiency of 64 lumens per watt, which is four times the efficiency of standard incandescent bulbs. For this development, Universal Display's red and green PHOLED technology and materials have been used in conjunction with Konica Minolta's proprietary OLED technologies, such as its own blue phosphorescent materials and multi-layer design technologies.

Konica Minolta is currently accelerating its efforts to enable commercial manufacturing of white OLED devices for backlights in displays and for other lighting applications. These OLED devices are anticipated to use all phosphorescent materials.

Universal Display Corporation announced that it has been awarded a $730,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract by the U.S. Army Research Laboratories (ARL) to continue its development of innovative encapsulation technology for flexible OLEDs.

In this program, entitled Flexible and Conformal Environmental Barrier Technology for Displays, Universal Display will be using a new approach to encapsulate a long-lived, active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display prototype built on flexible metal foil. During the prior Phase I program, Universal Display and Princeton University demonstrated the feasibility of this multilayer encapsulation process based on plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (or PECVD). This technology, pioneered at Princeton University, is designed to enable the deposition of protective, barrier films onto an OLED’s top surface, a critical element on the development roadmap for flexible OLED displays.

Universal Display Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant for $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop power-efficient WOLED™ white OLED technology for future solid-state lighting applications.

Through this Phase II program, Universal Display is seeking to demonstrate novel WOLED device designs that offer further enhancements in power efficiency and operating lifetime based on the Company’s proprietary PHOLED technology.  The DOE has developed a technology roadmap suggesting a feasible path for white OLEDs to achieve power efficiencies of 100 to 150 lumens per Watt (lm/W).  Universal Display’s PHOLED technology is a critical element for achieving this goal.  The Company recently announced a white PHOLED with a power efficiency of more than 30 lm/W and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 29 % at 850 nits, which the Company believes is the highest EQE reported to date.  Through programs such as this one, Universal Display hopes to achieve continued performance gains toward the DOE’s roadmap goals.

The new program will also leverage the Company’s proprietary OVPD™ organic vapor phase deposition processing technology.  OVPD technology offers the potential to optimize organic layer thicknesses, doping concentrations and the interfaces between the layers, and also to provide excellent film uniformity over large areas.