Researchers from Hunan University have designed and grown wafer-scale uniform green GaN epilayer on silicon wafers (4-inch and 6-inch in size). The epilayer was of very high uniformity and showed excellent properties. Using this wafer, the researchers developed green microLED displays reaching over 10 million nits.

This epilayer demonstrated a low dislocation density of 5.25×108 cm^-2, minimal wafer bowing of 16.7 μm, and high wavelength uniformity (STDEV<1 nm). The researcher integrated the Micro-LEDs with CMOS circuits and created 1080x780 monochrome green microLED displays, which offered the ultra high brightness.

Researchers from Korea's Kookmin University in collaboration with colleagues from Kyung Hee University have managed to enhance the performance of microLEDs produced using fluidic self-assembly based on chelation bonds of chemical linkers. The researcher report up to 61.8% increase in assembly yield compared to previous methods, and their vertically assembled 1.3 um microLEDs achieved a peak EQE of 8.1% and a brightness of 22,300 nits at 9 V.

The researcher developed a novel approach for the face-selective vertical assembly of microLEDs using a chemical linker capable of engaging in metal chelate coordination interactions within Zn metal complexes.

Researchers from Cornell University, in collaboration with researchers from the Polish Academy of Science have developed the world's first chip that combines an LED and a transistor. This so-called Dualtronic chip could pave the way towards smaller, lower-cost and more efficient LEDs. 

The researchers built their GaN device so that on one side it has a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), and on the other side it has an LED. The researchers take advantage of a unique property of GaN - the fact that it has a large electronic polarization along its crystal axis, which gives each of its surfaces dramatically different physical and chemical properties. The gallium side is useful for photonic devices, while the Nitrogen side is useful for transistor devices.

On September 24-26, the inaugural MicroLED-Connect event took place in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. It was an extremely successful event with attendees, speakers and exhibitors from all over the world there to discuss the latest microLED innovations and updates. It is clear that there's much interest and driving force behind the microLED industry.

MicroLED-Connect hosted over 40 speakers and 8 masterclasses, providing a wealth of information by leading display makers and supply chain companies, researchers, material makers, market analysts, investors, application developers, and more. The agenda included speakers from Google, Meta, TCL CSoT, KAUST, JCDecaux, CEA/Leti, GlobalFoundries, Aixtron, Continental, Applied Materials, imec.Xpand, VueReal, ALLOS and many more.

You can now access all of the event recordings (and proceedings), in addition to recordings and presentations from past microLED-Connect virtual events. MicroLED-Connect offers yearly passes to access all of the content, in addition to online access to events during the year.

Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a new process to create transistors for high-performance microLED displays. The researchers say that this is the highest performing solution-processed semiconductor transistor to date, and a potential low-cost one.

The new method is based on ordered defect compound semiconductor CuIn5Se8 prepared by solution deposition. These transistors were used to form high-speed logic circuits operating in megahertz, to power a small 508 PPI blue microLED display (8 micron LEDs).

LG Electronics announced a strategic plan to focus on its Business Solutions division, with an aim to double its sales to $7.5 billion by 2030. The division is in charge of businss-to-business (B2B) and signage displays, commercial TVs, IT devices such as laptops and monitors, robots and EV chargers.

LG says that for its commercial and signage displays, it will focus on premium fine-pitch LED displays, which include its microLED Magnit models. Indeed LG says that "MAGNIT Micro LED display will be at the forefront of this expansion".  The company reveals that its annual MAGNIT sales grew almost 2X since introducing them in 2020 (though sales are still likely very low). LG plans to launch its next-generaiton AI-powered microLED TVs by the end of 2024. 

Hong Kong based microLED microdisplay developer Raysolve Technology announced a new microdisplay product line, branded as PowerMatch 1. These are 0.13" 320x240 full-color microLED microdisplays, that achieve a high brightness of 250,000 nits (up from 150,000 nits in the company's previous panels). The company is using blue LEDs with quantum dots (QD) color conversion.

The company says that it managed to increase the brightness compared to its previous panels by optimizing both the GaN blue material and the quantum dots conversion materials, in addition to updates to the manufacturing process and the CMOS driver. The new dispalys achieve the same olor performance of its predecessor (108.5% DCI-P3).

Adhesive developer and MicroLED Association member DELO has conducted in-house feasibility studies, that shows that their directional conductive adhesives can be used to replace soldering in miniLED, and microLED displays. The bonding was found to be reliable with high yields.

DELO says that current microLED displays use solder materials to interconnect the LEDs to the display backplane. But as chip size gets smaller, isotopic conductive materials (like solder) is not reliable as it is difficult to avoid short circuits, and so production yields suffer.

On September 24-26, the inaugural MicroLED-Connect event took place in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. It was an extremely successful event, with attendees, speakers and exhibitors from all over the world there to discuss the latest microLED innovations and updates. It is clear that there's much interest and driving force behind the microLED industry.

MicroLED-Connect hosted over 40 speakers and 8 masterclasses, providing a wealth of information by leading display makers and supply chain companies, researchers, material makers, market analysts, investors, application developers, and more. The agenda included speakers from Google, Meta, TCL CSoT, KAUST, JCDecaux, CEA/Leti, GlobalFoundries, Aixtron, Continental, Applied Materials, imec.Xpand, VueReal, ALLOS and many more.

Earlier this month we reported about a mention of a possible microLED smartwatch in Garmin's Bluetooth connection software. Now Garmin watch face developers noticed the mention of the Fenix 8 MicroLED device in the list of compatible devices:

Garmin's Fenix 8 series is the company's high-end smartwatch series, that adopts the latest technology, so it could make sense for Garmin to adopt the first microLED display in that series.