Technical / Research - Page 56

Universal Display and Acuity Brands presented advances in their stripes white OLED architecture project. A stripes OLED is made from thin stripes of red, green and blue OLEDs. When you put a diffuser panel on top, it appears white. The stripes architectural results in efficient panels, that are also color tunable (2500-4000K).

UDC reports that the project is proceeding well - and in fact the pixel performance exceeds the project's goal. They fabricated the first 15x15 cm panel samples already and both companies are on target to deliver the actual luminaries in 2012 (which are based on the same design as the Kindred and the Revel - the lamps that use LG Chem's OLED panels). UDC is also working to further optimize the panel's performance.

Rolith says they are developing a new proprietary nanolithography technology that uses its "Rolling Mask" lithography system (RML). Rolith says that the new technology will enable low cost, high throughput and large area nanopatterning, and is suitable for OLED panels. In fact the company is seeking collaboration with companies - to jointly develop this technology.

Rolith's technology is based on a novel concept of continuous (conveyor, or Roll-to-Roll) nano patterning using cylindrical photomasks. A prototype was designed and built in 2011 in partnership with SUSS Microtec which allows patterning a 300 mm x 300 mm plates or 12 wafers. Rolith has successfully demonstrated printing dense nanostructures with less than 300 nm features, and are currently working on enhancing the resolution. The company's roadmap promises scaling up to 1m substrates in 2012 and up to 3 meters in the next 2 years. They are also developing a technology that will handle flexible substrates.

Sony's OLED program is now focused on medium (7" to 25") OLED panel used in professional monitors. With consumer OLED TV coming from Samsung and LG soon, Sony is also considering entering this market. We had the good chance of talking with Gary Mandle, the product manager of Sony's OLED products for the professional market. Gary has worked within the Sony Professional Solutions Group for more than 26 years in the development and marketing of new display products - including CRT, SXRD (LCOS), LCD, and now OLED products. His current focus is on Sony’s OLED technologies intended for video and film production & post production applications.

Q: Sony is currently offering 7.4", 16.5" and 24.5" professional OLED monitors (TriMaster EL^TM) and also OLED monitors for the medical market. Can you update on your current offerings?

A: For professional television and film production, Sony now has seven OLED models. These are offered in three series, each categorized according to performance and features sets to match different applications. Our PVM lineup includes the PVM 740 (7.4 inch), PVM 1741 (17 inch), and the PVM 2541 (25 inch). These are used in areas where you need something that is relatively cost effective and lets you see within the image. These are used in editing, dallies review, graphics generation, and special effects.

The EU announced a new OLED lighting project called IM3OLED (Integrated Multidisciplinary & Multiscale Modeling for OLEDs) that aims to develop a software tool for multiscale OLED lighting modeling. The tool will enable a more systematic R&D process - which will accelerate efficient OLED design development.

The IM3OLED software will predictively model OLEDs in 3D and at all length scales from molecular to large-area devices. It will include molecular calculations, electrical and optical simulation, 1D-3D light extraction and scaling / integration effects. It will also incorporate a dynamic feedback loop, enabling developers to accurately predict how changes in one area of OLED development affect other areas. This will allow multiple OLED properties to be optimized simultaneously.

We just got word from LG Chem that the company finished development of their first OLED lighting panel, and have started mass production. The "type 1" panel, or the LG-OLED-041 is a 100x100 mm square panel that features 4,000K, CRI>80, 45 lm/W and 10,000 hours lifetime (LT70) at 3,000 nits. The active emitting panel is 90x90 mm, and the whole panel is 2.44 mm thick (including the optical film and PCB. The OLED itself is 1.84 mm).

LG Chem is already developing the 2nd generation (or "type 2") panel which will up the efficiency to 60 lm/W and the lifetime to 15,000 hours. The size will be the same, but the color will be 3,500K. LG Chem will start mass production of type 2 panels in 2Q 2012. LG Chem further says that it decided to offer these new panels at "lower prices" - although we do not know the actual price yet.

Nokia's ClearBlack Display technology has been announced in September 2010, and Nokia is using it in several phones (including the Lumia 900, Lumia 800 and older Symbian models such as the X7 and E7). We know that it includes polarizing filters to block incoming light. Today however Nokia finally revealed how it actually works:

A CBD filter includes both a linear polariser and retardation layers between the surface of your phone and the display. When light hits your screen, this is what happens:

Cambrios announces a new CEO and a $5 million investment from Samsung Ventures. Cambrios reveals that they were in close discussions with Samsung for collaboration on "important and valuable" projects over the past several years. Cambrios' first product, ClearOhm is a coating material for plastic or glass that produces a transparent, conductive film by wet processing. Cambrios says that ClearOhm offers significantly higher optical and electrical performance than currently used materials (such as ITO).

ClearOhm can be used in OLED panels, LCDs, e-paper displays and solar panels. Perhaps Samsung wants to use this new material in upcoming OLED panel designs. Cambrios is also collaborating with Plextronics on OLED lighting electrodes.

Corning and Samsung Mobile Display are going to establish a new equity venture for the manufacture of specialty OLED glass substrates in Korea. The new venture will combine Corning's Lotus Glass substrate technology with SMD's OLED display expertise - and will provide product solutions for current and future OLED technologies.

The new venture will produce glasses for all OLED sizes: for small mobile panels to large OLED TV panels. It'll be interested to hear whether this new venture will also develop flexible glass displays, as envisioned in Corning's "Day made of glass" concept video:

STMicroelectronics announced the STOD13AS - a new miniature AMOLED power supply chip. The new chip is produced using ST's innovative Silicon On Insulator (SOI) process technology, which ensures outstanding energy efficiency and results in longer battery life. The chip offers high immunity to cellphone-communication noise - and thus minimizes flicker on the display.

ST explains that the new chip is better than the predecessor (the ST0D03A) because it integrates the step-up and inverting DC/DC converters needed to generate the positive and negative supplies on the same chip. It also features increased display-driving capability as well as additional short-circuit and overload protection modes to maximize ruggedness and reliability. When the display is not used, the new chip can be completely turned off which saves more power, and it also features pulse-skipping operation that optimizes efficiency when the display is consuming minimal power.

Update: UDC's CFO gave some comments on this deal - which involves only non-emitter materials and will not effect their red and green PHOLED sales to AUO...

AU Optronics (AUO) and Idemitsu Kosan announced that they will form an OLED strategic alliance - and will collaborate to develop high-performance OLED displays and OLED-related patents. Idemitsu will supply OLED materials to AUO including device structure proposal. AUO committed to reinforce the development of OLED products - both small sized OLED displays for phones and tablets and large sized OLED panels for TVs. The two companies will also study the possibility of collaboration in other fields beside OLEDs.

AUO 32-inch OLED TV prototype

AUO is gearing up towards mass production of 4" - 5" OLED panels in Q2 2012, targeting smartphones. AUO is using LTPS substrates and vapor deposition for the direct-emission RGB OLED sub pixels. AUO will produce these panels in their 3.5-Gen line in Hsinchu, Taiwan. In the second half of 2013, AUO's 4.5-Gen AMOLED Line in Singapore (at AFPD) will start producing panels as well. Towards the end of 2011 AUO unveiled prototypes of Oxide-TFT based 32" OLED TVs, 4" flexible OLEDs and 6" transparent ones.