Micro-LED Production - Page 3

AU Optronics announced an agreement with PlayNitride, to build a 6-inch microLED production line at AUO's Longtan factory. AUO will pay PlayNitride NT$700 million (around $21.5 million USD) for this new line.

AUO says that the new line will utilize PlayNitride's Chip-on-Carrier (COC) technology, that produces the microLEDs on temporary substrates ready for the transfer process. This will enable AUO to more easily realize the production of display panels based on these microLEDs. AUO says that this new line will also enable it to reduce microLED production costs. 

Researchers from the  Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and MIT, published a review article on Micro-Scale Concentrating Photovoltaics, or micro-CPV, a new technology that uses miniaturized solar panels and optics that concentrate the sun's energy into these micro panels. The benefits of micro-CPV compared to normal solar panels include potentially lower cost (much less solar absorption area), better thermal management, shorter optical path and lower resistive losses.

There are many challenges yet before micro-CPVs can be produced in large volume and at competitive prices. Interestingly, microLED production processes can be applied to the production of micro-CPVs, as these solutions can be seen like inverted technologies - tiny devices that either absorb or emit light.

ams Osram is progressing with its microLED production fab project in Kulim, Malaysia, and the company has now signed a sale-and-lease agreement with three local Malaysian funds, with a total sum of 2 billion RM (or about $420 million USD). 

ams Osram will sell its Kulim facility (The building itself) to Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Retirement Fund (KWAP), and will lease it back for at least 10 years. The deal is expected to be formally signed by December 2023.

France-based microLED developer Aledia has closed a new financing round, raising €120 million from existing investors. The company also appointed Pierre Laboisse as its CEO (Giorgio Anania, the previous CEO, remains on the company’s board of directors).

Aledia's investors include CEA Investissement, Supernova Invest, and the SPI and Ecotechnologies funds. In 2020 Aledia announced that it plans to establish a 140 million euros LED production fab in Champagnier, near Grenoble in France. The company already raised 110 million Euros towards that goal, and now it has raised another significant amount of money. In total, the company raised over €360 million to date.

Researchers from Korea's ETRI institute developed a new chip packaging material, that is said to reduce the power consumption of the process by 95%, and reduce the number of required stages from 8 to 3. This could make semiconductors production much more efficient and lower in cost. 

The technology is applicable to all high-end semiconductor production - including microLED production. Indeed the team reports that they have reached out to several microLED developers to evaluate the technology, and the initial testing has been very positive. The material could be commercialized in three years.

Taiwan-based MicroLED developer PlayNitride that it is increasing its production volume, and by the end of the year it will produce 10,000 6" wafers per month (that's up from about 2,000 wafers per month last year). 

PlayNitride is developing a wide range of displays: tiled large-area displays (PixeLED Matrix), wearable panels, microdisplays, transparent displays, and more.

China-based HC Semitek is embarking on a 5 billion Yuan project (almost $700 million USD) to produce microLED wafers in Jinwan District, Zhuhai, China. The project will have three phases, with the first one (estimated at $275 million) has officially started last month.

HC Semitek hopes to light up the new production line in September 2024, and to start production by December 2024. When all three phases are complete, the new production line will have a yearly capacity of 58,000 microLED wafers (we do not the wafer size at this project, but we estimate these are 8-inch wafers). It is not clear from the reports, but this production line may also produce mini LEDs, not just microLEDs.

Apple has been developing microLED displays for wearable devices for many years, but the company and its production partners are not yet ready to initiate mass production. It was reported before that the company planned to launch the first microLED-powered watch in 2023, but this was delayed several times.

According to a new report by TrendForce, Apple delayed its microLED plans again, now hoping to introduce the first device in 2026. The main problem, as always, is the high production costs.