MicroLED Transfer (Pick and place) - Page 10

Taiwan-based Micro-LED developer Mikro Mesa's chariman, Chen Li-yi, estimates that it will be difficult for micro-LEDs to compete with OLED displays in the small/medium display market - but the opportunity for large area displays is more promising.

According to Chen, 55" micro-LED panels will be competitive in cost with LCDs, and if companies manage to achieve yields of over 80%, a 55-inch micro-LED will be cheaper by around 30% from an equivalent high-end LCD.

Digitimes posted an interesting interview with Epistar's president, Jou Ming-Jiunn. Jou says that the most optimistic scenario is for micro-LED displays to enter production by the end of 2018, with real devices appearing in 2019. There are still challenges ahead though, and Epistar's customers have not yet committed to anything.

According to Jou, there are two main routes to the market for Micro-LED makers: VR/AR or wearable displays and large-area TV panels. It is not clear yet which will route will arrive first.

Market research company TrendForce says Micro LED displays still face several challenges. Commercialization of LED displays with small pitch sizes, which TrendForce calls "Micro LED-like" displays are expected by 2018.

TrendForce defines Micro LED displays as displays with LED size smaller than 100 microns. There are still several challenges ahead - with a major one being the the mass transfer of micron-size LEDs to a display backplane. Companies are now aiming to commercialize 150 micron displays as early as next year, and then will follow to develop processes to support small LED sizes.

Researchers from Korea's Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) developed a new micro-LED manufacturing process based on a roll-to-roll transfer process. The researcher say that this kind of process may enable fast and reliable production.

The patented process is said to be much faster than conventional process, using an "ink-like" placement mechanism. The researchers say that in this process you can place more than 10,000 LEDs in a second - compared to about 1-10 LEDs per second in a conventional process.