MicroLED Transfer (Pick and place) - Page 5

The microLED transfer process is crucial in MicroLED display production, this is likely to be the most challenging part of the entire process. In this article (an excerpt from The MicroLED Transfer Process Report), we'll give an overview of the transfer process, its challenges, and alternatives.

At the beginning of this stage, there's the wafer with the MicroLED chips, and a display substrate with the backplane TFTs on top. As we said, this is a challenging process, and there are three main challenges in this step – accuracy, speed and reliability.

It is important to note that if the display is based on RGB microLED devices, it complicates this step further – which is why many MicroLED makers are expected to adopt blue LEDs with color conversion.

This is a sponsored post by Coherent

Coherent is a leading global supplier of lasers and photonics technology. For the MicroLED industry, Coherent provides several solutions from a single laser source, optical systems up to an integrated system for the three vital processes in MicroLED fabrication – Laser Lift-Off (LLO), Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT), and Repair/Trimming.

Coherent recently published a new white paper that provides an update on how high-energy ultraviolet laser beams enable LLO and LIFT processes. The white paper shows the importance of a perfect combination of laser and optical design to a how these lasers ensure placement accuracy and mass transfer that will remain future-proof as microLED chip die size continues to shrink.

Today we published new versions of our market reports - that cover different segments of the microLED industry. MicroLED-Info provides comprehensive niche MicroLED market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about the niche market, and can be useful if you want to understand how the MicroLED industry works and what this technology can provide for your own industry. The reports are now updated to January 2022.

The MicroLED Transfer Process Report:

• Different transfer technologies and process
• Information on all companies involved in this industry
• Future technologies and roadmaps
• Information on transfer-less production

The report package also provides a complete list of microLED transfer process developers and their current (and future) products, and over 15 presentations and papers. Read more here!

MicroLED developer PlayNitride is showing a wide range of display prototypes at CES 2022, including two new displays.

The first new display is a 37-inch full-HD PixeLED Matrix panel made from tiled PCB-based microLED displays.

Visionox reveals that the company's MicroLED pilot line, which is the first full-process line built in China, is now capable of producing displays, from driver backplane, through transfer process to full module production. The LED chips themselves are produced by a third party.

Last year Visionox has established a subsidiary called Chenxian Optoelectronics to handle its MicroLED project. Visionox's strategy for the next five years is to focus on OLED and MicroLED displays (the company does not produce LCD displays, so this strategy is not a surprise).

Korea-based test equipment maker Youngwoo DSP announced that it was chosen to lead a new Government-funded project to develop ultra-small microLED package technology (likely this refers to a LED transfer and assembly technologies).

The four-year project (which will end by December 31, 2024) will be awarded with a budget of 25.36 billion Won ($21.4 million USD). The project's goal is to enable the production of 360 PPI displays. The core technology will be around the alignment precision, it seems

MicroLED-Info is proud to announce a new market report, focused on the MicroLED Transfer Process. This market report provides a comprehensive look at the transfer (pick-and-place) process used to produce microLED panels.

Reading this report, you'll learn all about:

• All known microLED transfer processes
• The current industry and market status
• Advantages and disadvantages of transfer technologies
• Future technologies and roadmaps

The founder and General Manager of Bolite Optoelectronics, Dr. Bowen Cheng, was invited to present at the recent Touch Taiwan 2021 Conference in April. The title of his talk was “Laser Processing Applications for the Manufacturing of Mini and MicroLED Displays.” Since it was presented in Mandarin only, microled-info.com caught up with Dr. Cheng to learn more about this trending subject and the company he started.

Q: Dr. Cheng, can you please tell us a little about your background, prior to starting Bolite?

I was a research engineer at Xerox PARC and helped develop surface micromachined microspring interconnects in a project funded by the U.S. Army Research in collaboration with Oracle. I was also a vital member of the team that successfully demonstrated the world's shortest wavelength diode laser at the time, a 250 nm UV laser for military applications. With these experiences in both semiconductor laser processing and MEMS processing, I decided to start Bolite and build a team to develop state-of-the-art laser solutions for microprocessing applications.

Q: I must admit I’ve not heard of Bolite before. What differentiates you from other laser microprocessing companies?

Researchers from Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) developed a new process to produce microLED displays, which they say can be highly cost effective.

The new process is based on a novel film-like material developed at ETRI, called SITRAB. Using lasers, the process apparently detaches the microLED from the original epiwafer and bonds it to the SITRAB film in the same process step. The LEDs are then transferred to the final target backplane.

3D-Micromac announced a new microLED mass transfer tool, called microCETI. The company says its new technology can be used to transfer over 130 million microLEDs per hour.

MicroCETI is based on a laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) process that can support almost any microLED material and shape. The tool also includes optional modules - a laser lift-off (LLO) module, and a single LED die repair module.