Recently, the micro LED field of good news continues, Samsung will launch 89-inch and 101-inch Micro LED TVs in May, and the cost will be reduced by about 40%; Chenxian Optoelectronics successfully lit up the 12.7-inch Micro LED splicing display that can be used for high-end TV, which is the first self-developed glass-based Micro LED splicing screen in Chinese mainland; Deep Pegasus accelerated layout Micro LED car display...
Micro LED has always been a hot topic, as the mainstream trend and development direction of future display technology, its development prospects have been generally recognized by the industry. According to the market consulting agency GGII, it is estimated that around 2022, Micro LED will be applied in mobile phones, VR, car displays, flat panel displays and other fields, and by 2024 mobile phones and large TV displays will become the two largest markets for Micro LED applications, and the size of China's Micro LED market will reach 80 billion yuan in 2024.
In fact, the Micro LED concept was proposed in 2000, but it wasn't until 2012 that Sony introduced the first 55-inch Micro LED display, the Crystal LED Display. Since then, Micro LED products have gradually entered people's field of vision. Compared with the current mainstream display technology LCD and OLED, Micro LED has many advantages such as high brightness, large viewing angle, long service life, short response time and low power consumption, and it has the characteristics of self-illumination without backlight, and has the characteristics of small size and thinness.
However, Micro LED technology is very difficult and costly, and some experts say that it will take a while before the real outbreak. So, what achievements have been achieved by micro LEDs at the moment? What are the challenges? Let's take a look:
Product: Mainland China's first self-developed glass-based Micro LED splicing screen was launched
Recently, Chengdu Chenxian Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. successfully lit up the 12.7-inch Micro LED splicing display that can be used for high-end TV. The product is Chinese mainland first self-developed glass-based Micro LED splicing screen, and the first time a 25-micron LED chip is used. The Micro LED display features 6 panels with stitching of less than 100 microns.
With the self-developed hybrid drive circuit architecture and high-speed large-volume transfer technology, Chenxian Optoelectronics successfully achieved a display effect of 98% DCI-P3 color gamut, 700nit brightness, 256 grayscale (8bit) color depth, and increased the transfer yield of 25 micron LED chips to 99.9%. With the continuous deepening of technology development, this achievement is expected to be widely used in large-size splicing display products in the future.
At this stage, the Micro LED products launched on the market include: TVs, watches, car displays, AR glasses, etc., of which AR glasses are expected to achieve mass production this year, and most of the other products are still in the research and development or trial production stage, and the cost has yet to be reduced. The "metacosm" of the recent fire is also a new world for the development of Micro LED, in the interactive technology, only Micro LED technology can achieve the so-called space three-dimensional display. Current VR/AR technology has not yet been able to achieve this interactive effect, and the experience brought to people is not natural enough, which hinders the explosion of the metaverse.
At CES2022 ,the International Consumer Electronics Exhibition) that just ended last month, Micro LED products once again became the focus of attention. South Korea's two giants Samsung and LG have brought large-size Micro LED TVs; Seoul Semiconductor exhibited two micro LED products for cars; American smart glasses company Vuzix demonstrated AR glasses equipped with Micro LED projection modules with a size of only 1 micron; Chinese company TCL released the second generation of AR glasses with dual Micro LED displays...
Recently, the latest progress of 25 Micro LED companies around the world (including upstream, mid-range and downstream enterprises) has been summarized
Technology: SmartKem announced a joint development with Nanosys on printed Micro LEDs and quantum dot materials
On Feb. 2, SmartKem announced that it has entered into a joint development agreement with Nanosys to jointly develop a new generation of low-cost solutions for advanced displays, printed Micro LEDs and quantum dot materials.
Under the joint development agreement, SmartKem expects to provide organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) backplanes by applying its unique TRUFLEX technology to support the manufacture of Micro LED displays using Nanosys' Micro LEDs and electroluminescent quantum dot Nano LED technology. TRUFLEX materials were developed for standard process equipment groups and offer lower material and equipment costs compared to traditional alternatives such as LTPS. SmartKem believes that this allows manufacturers to obtain high-performance and stable display backplane technology at a lower cost compared to inorganic TFT technology.
Cost: Samsung Micro LED new model cost or reduce by 40%
Recently, it was reported that Samsung plans to reduce the cost of its new 89-inch and 101-inch Micro LED TVs that will be put into production in May by about 40%. And at the end of the year, a 114-inch version will be launched, with a price positioning of nearly $100,000 (about 633,400 yuan), while the price of 89 inches is nearly $80,000 (about 506,700 yuan).
All three sizes (89", 101", and 114") will also use low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) thin-film transistors (TTTs). The use of LTPS TPTs is designed to accomplish 4K (3840x2160) resolution, even in smaller screen sizes, as the technology allows control of a single circuit. It is reported that the transistor measures 12.7 inches and is provided by Samsung Display and AUO Optoelectronics.
According to an LED factory, the chips used in Samsung's large-size Micro LED TVs are supplied by Fucai and its reintroduction.
Chip side: there are not many global chip manufacturers in the mainland that need to improve their strength
At present, there are not many manufacturers in the world that can supply Micro LED chips, among them, Zichuang and the crystal power that has led the research and development of Mini LED and Micro LED in the past are important manufacturers; although Sanan Optoelectronics has also been rumored to have production capacity, but the quality is relatively uncompetitive, and although Samsung also carries out Micro LED chip research and development, the progress is still lagging behind the Taiwan factory, which is also the most critical reason why Fucai can lead the entry into Samsung's Micro LED supply chain.
The biggest challenge on the road to scale: technology and commercialization
Massive transfer is one of the most widely mentioned bottleneck techniques. It is understood that most of the huge transfer technologies currently used in the industry are divided into four categories: precision grasping, self-assembly, selective release, and roller transfer printing. The above huge transfer technology is still a "pre-mass production" technology in general, and the bottlenecks we are facing are the same, and this is also the bottleneck faced by the entire Micro LED production, which boils down to precision, yield, efficiency, and cost. These problems are progressive and mutually causal. Only by being able to solve the above four problems can we truly realize the large-scale application of Micro LED.
In addition to the most frequently mentioned massive transfer technology, there is also chip technology and backplane technology. Chip technology includes the consistency of Micro LED wafer wavelengths, as well as the luminous characteristics and reliability of the chip. Backplane technology is currently mainly divided into two kinds, printed circuit board and glass substrate, the former has a large expansion and shrinkage rate is easy to warp the problem, will affect the effect of huge transfer; the latter although the stability is good, but the process requirements are higher. In addition, full-color technology, joining technology, and drive technology are not yet mature.
Regarding the most important reasons restricting the large-scale landing of Micro LEDs, Yan Qun, president of the International Information Display Society in China, believes that the power consumption problem is counted as one. He said that one of the characteristics of Micro LED is that the luminous efficiency can be very high, but in the end, the efficiency of the device is worse than that of OLED. If the power consumption can not be solved, Micro LED itself has no prospects, must be the LED high light efficiency advantage reflected in the device.
As one of the most cutting-edge new display technologies, the industrialization process of Micro LED requires cooperation between enterprises, universities and research institutes in all aspects of the industrial chain, break through key process technology and patent barriers, and promote product applications to achieve rapid development of the industry and win a greater voice in the international market. At present, Micro LED has attracted many giant layouts. In terms of chips, Konka, Skyworth, Jucan, Sanan Optoelectronics, MTC, HC Semitek, Silan Mingxin, Qianzhao Optoelectronics and other enterprises have successively invested in chip research and development. In terms of packaging modules, Jingtai, Zhongqi, Osram, Xin Ruida, AUO, Ruifeng Optoelectronics, Riya Chemical and other enterprises have invested in the construction of Micro LED. In terms of display and terminal-related equipment, Samsung, LG, Lehman Optoelectronics, Leyard, Apple, Konka, Han's Laser, etc. are also actively building factories.
Policy: Many places have written Micro LED projects into the "14th Five-Year Plan"
Recently, Xi'an, Henan and Yunnan have successively issued the relevant plans of the "14th Five-Year Plan", and the new display has become the key development direction in the future.
On January 14, the "Xi'an "14th Five-Year Plan" Science and Technology Innovation Development Plan pointed out that relying on the key core technology research independently controllable in the field of new displays, strengthening the integration and application of the industrial Internet and the first to try, promoting the cornerstone of the electronic information industry - photonic technology research, focusing on building optoelectronics, third-generation semiconductors and other industrial chains, to help Xi'an build a 100-billion-level electronic information industry cluster.
On January 6, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Yunnan Province issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Information Industry in Yunnan Province" (hereinafter referred to as the "Planning"), and Mini/Micro LED was included in the development priorities.
On December 25, 2021, Henan Province pointed out in the "Henan Province's "14th Five-Year Plan for High-quality Development of Manufacturing Industry" that in the new generation of information technology, the focus is on strengthening new displays.
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With the landing of support policies around the world, Micro LED technical problems continue to overcome, new products continue to enrich, costs gradually reduced, I believe that Micro LED mass production will be closer and closer to us.
Editing and typesetting: 21st Century Conan