This silicon production effort follows UMC's successful fabrication of a CMOS process customised for use in MED's polymer OLED microdisplays. MED's microdisplays are aimed at a variety of consumer devices such as viewfinders for digital cameras, night viewers and mobile phones.
Luxell Technologies and Advanced Neotech Systems (ANS) of Korea have signed a Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) to explore and develop commercial and industrial opportunities in the field of OLED technology using Luxell's Black Layer(TM).
The intent of this agreement is to leverage Luxell's strong Intellectual Property (IP)/patent portfolio based on the development of new OLED-based technologies featuring Black Layer(TM), with ANS Inc.'s strength in the area of design and manufacture of advanced processing equipment required for OLED and other similar Flat Panel (FP) display manufacturing. The MOA will allow ANS Inc. and Luxell to develop new manufacturing techniques and related equipment possesses, share valuable skills and capabilities, and assist each other in various projects and ventures.
Among the patents now allowed in the US is a patent relating to OLEDs which comprise hole transport, electron transport and emissive components, using type II interfaces, contained in the same molecule. This is believed to be of considerable importance in the context of the printing of OLED devices. Molecules containing 'type II' interfaces are believed to be important in achieving high efficiency display devices.
Other new US patents allowed include a patent relating to the use of a dielectric barrier layer over the key emissive layer to protect it from damage due to sputtering of a conductive layer. This is expected to have important application in top emitting devices in which the light does not have to pass between the transistors but, more efficiently, through a transparent cathode structure.
OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Alan Tsai, Deputy Director of AMOLED Technology Development Division of Toppoly. Dr. Alan Tsai has 9-year experiences in the development of a-Si, LTPS and AMOLED technology and is also involved in the mass production of display products. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from University of Cincinnati (USA) in 1996. He joined Toppoly in 2000.
Q: Hello Alan, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Before we begin, can you tell us a little bit about Toppoly?
Established on December 24, 1999, Toppoly is a dedicated TFT-LCD volume manufacturer pioneering LTPS technology, based in Taiwan. Toppoly provides Flat Panel Displays with the latest display technology and has been developing AMOLED technology for next generation display. It plans to deliver AMOLED products in 2005.
The government has already started up a â¬100 million ($130 million) initiative to support research and production of OLED's. Firms like Merck, Osram, Philips and Samsung have pledged to invest over â¬500 million.
The recently discovered carbon nanomaterial is an integral part of OLED displays created by U of T Professor Zhenghong Lu and patented by the University of Toronto Innovations Foundation.
Prof. Lu's nanotechnology innovation, U of T says, will revolutionize OLED performance, including the delivery of 50 to 100 per cent more power efficiency, lower drive voltage and power consumption, improved lifetime and stability and better colour.
Toppan Printing and Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) have just announced the commencement of Phase Two of their joint programme to explore alternative printing processes for the fabrication of displays based on PLED technology.
Phase One, completed at the end of 2004, concentrated on proving the feasibility of using a roll printing process to deposit light emitting polymer materials onto a glass substrate.
Signaling the first commercial acceptance surrounding its barrier technology, Vitex Systems Inc., today announced it has received its inaugural order -- worth more than $2 million from a major Japanese corporation.
The flagship order is for one of the company's Guardian deposition systems and its proprietary Barix(TM) thin-film barrier coating solution, both of which will be used by the Japanese company for research and development on next-generation OLED displays and materials.
Vitex's Barix thin-film encapsulation, applied with its Guardian tool, enables the display manufacturer to deposit, in-situ, a planarizing Barix coating directly on top of the OLED material on the glass substrate thereby, eliminating the requirement for a sealed metal can or glass cavity lid with internal desiccant. This provides a much thinner, lighter and more robust display at a reduced manufacturing cost. Vitex's Guardian tool combines an in-line vacuum polymer deposition chamber and a ceramic deposition chamber that can be customized to interface with essentially any manufacturing equipment used to produce OLED displays, such as cluster tools and in-line deposition systems.
Samsung SDI said that it has developed a new technology called Super Grain Silicon (SGS) that can be used to fabricate OLED backplanes. Samsung hopes that SGS will enable them to produce large sized OLED TV panels on the cheap.
A company official said that "This technology is a breakthrough, helping us overcome the major obstacles in producing OLED panels for TVs and computer monitors". They plan to use SGS in 30 to 40" AMOLED display panels.
Leadis announced a new area-color PMOLED display driver, the LDS518. This driver includes integrated display RAM, on-chip oscillator and many user programmable display features.
The LDS518 driver IC supports a maximum display resolution of 128x64 and 4-gray scale color. The company says that this is a cost-effective solution offering optimal price/performance features.
