Category Archives: Flexible Displays

Flexible circuitry promises a host of innovative biomedical, security, wearable and other products. To date, flexible circuits have offered only limited performance because plastic substrates aren’t compatible with the high temperatures/harsh processes needed to make high-performance CMOS devices.

Some attempts have been made to fabricate high-performance CMOS on silicon substrates and then transfer the devices to plastic, but this has been complex and expensive. At the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), for the first time, a way around this will be unveiled. IBM researchers will demonstrate high-performance state-of-the-art CMOS circuits —including SRAM memory and ring oscillators—on a flexible plastic substrate. The image above is a photo of the final 100-mm-diameter flexible ETSOI circuit on plastic.

The extremely thin silicon on insulator (ETSOI) devices had a body thickness of just 60 angstroms. IBM built them on silicon and then used a simple, low-cost room-temperature process called controlled spalling, which essentially flakes off the Si substrate. Then they transferred them to flexible plastic tape.

The devices had gate lengths of <30 nm and gate pitch of 100 nm. The ring oscillators had a stage delay of just 16 ps at 0.9 V, believed to be the best reported performance for a flexible circuit. A slight degradation of delay for the flexible sample after the layer transfer comes from degradation of p-FET performance due to strain effects.

The image below is a cross-sectional view taken by a TEM electron microscope after selective removal of the residual silicon, confirming the structural integrity of the device.

 

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September 17, 2012 – Shipments of tablets are booming, and that means demand for tablet displays is set to spike as well — and some new panel makers are getting in on the action, according to IHS iSuppli.

Shipments of tablet displays, including iPad’s 9-in. model and smaller 7.x-in. models from various brands, will soar 56% to 126.6 million units in 2012, according to the analysis firm. Of those, more than half (74.3, 35% Y/Y growth) will be for the 9.x-in. segment where the iPad rules supreme.

The second-largest tablet display segment, the 7.x-in. category, is taking up some share now (41.1M units, 98% Y/Y), accounting for nearly a third of total shipments vs. 26% a year ago, notes iSuppli. That’s because these smaller tablets will be launching with lower prices than the bigger ones: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble’s Nook tablet, and others that use the Google Android operating system, explains Vinita Jakhanwal, director for small & medium displays at IHS. (And Apple is expected to come out with its own smaller display later this year.)

Tablet demand strongly follows seasonal trends, and thus shipments of tablet displays fell off in 1Q12 (-20% vs. 1Q12) as suppliers cleared out inventory. Shipments ramped back up in 2Q12 (27M units, 29% Q/Q) once those inventories cleared out, though, and panel orders started coming in for new launches planned in 2H12, iSuppli explains.

LG Display and Samsung Display were by far the top two suppliers of tablet displays in 1Q12 (42% and 38% marketshare, respectively). Both are top iPad suppliers; LG also makes displays for Amazon and B&N, while Samsung sources displays for its own internal tablet business. Both companies are making major investments to upgrade both technology and capacity for high-performance tablet panels, e.g. wide-viewing-angle capabilities such as in-plane switching and fringe-field switching — and both are looking to convert amorphous-silicon (a-Si) fabs to oxide silicon panels to help improve the technology’s resolution, power consumption, and performance.

Another angle in the surge of tablet displays is the arrival of other major LCD panel suppliers, particularly Japanese ones (Sharp, Japan Display, Panasonic) who are dedicating capacity at their Gen-6 and Gen-8 fabs to make room, iSuppli notes. Together they’ll be increasing capacity allocation for small/medium displays by 164% this year to 5.5 mw. Sharp in particular has its eye on oxide silicon capacity, as it’s been supplying panels for the new iPad from its G8 fab. Panasonic is likely to produce 7.x-in. and 8.x-in. tablet panels during 2H12, the firm adds.

Meanwhile, major Taiwanese display suppliers also are adjusting their business models, to go after business in the education sector and China’s white-box market, iSuppli notes. While AU Optronics is believed to be qualified as a supplier for the smaller (7.85-in) iPad, generally speaking Taiwanese panel suppliers primarily target the Chinese market that emphasizes lower-priced tablets — which means they must dial back the display specs, e.g. with more basic twisted nematic (LCD) and not the wide-viewing capabilities.

Size 2011 2012
5.x-in. 0.9 0.3
7.x-in. 20.8 41.1
8.x-in. 5.2 10.9
9.x-in. 55.2 74.3
TOTAL    82.1 126.6

Forecasted shipments of worldwide tablet panel displays
by size, in millions of units. (Source: IHS iSuppli)

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September 7, 2012 – Intel is lowering its 3Q12 outlook citing sluggish demand amid challenging macroeconomic conditions. The chipmaker says 3Q12 sales will come in about a billion dollars short of expectations, in a range of $12.9-$13.5 billion instead of $13.8-$14.8B, and gross margins will be about a point lower than projected (62% instead of 63%). The firm also said its capital spending for all of 2012 will be on the low end of its $12.1-$12.9B guidance, as it "accelerates the re-use of existing equipment to the 14nm node." Notably, the company also pulled back its full-year forecasts, which it will update in its 3Q earnings report due Oct. 16.

"[We are] seeing customers reducing inventory in the supply chain versus the normal growth in third-quarter inventory, softness in the enterprise PC market segment, and slowing emerging market demand," Intel said in a statement.

Analysts have for weeks been pointing out warning signs about how a variety of macroeconomic concerns are impacting the semiconductor sector. Both Intel and AMD have been predicting a slowdown in 3Q12. "We anticipate the worst 2H for PC sales since inception," warns Citigroup’s Glen Yeung, citing not just the macroeconomic factors but also increasing tablet competition and undetermined Windows 8 timing. "Multiple challenges in the PC space, with slower ultrabooks, weaker OEM commentary and Win8 pricing [are] affecting a more cautious OEM-ODM outlook," adds Vijay Rakesh from Sterne Agee.

Intel’s downgrade though, provides new clarity on just how dismal the environment is becoming. "It

August 21, 2012 – Aixtron SE delivered a Prodos Gen 3.5 polymer vapor phase deposition (PVPD) system, based on its proprietary close coupled showerhead (CCS) technology, to an unidentified major Asian customer. The system will be installed and commissioned "within the next couple of weeks" at the customer’s site, where it will be used to deposit organic polymer thin films in production of flexible electronic devices.

The Prodos Gen 3.5 system, which incorporates carrier-gas enhanced deposition and CCS technologies, is designed to match production environments processing Gen 3.5 substrates sized at 650 × 750mm2. (A R&D version with flexible configuration handles 200 × 200mm2 substrates.)

Aixtron’s PVPD technology is a platform for controlled deposition and in-situ formation of polymer thin films from vapor phase. This "dry" deposition technology (vs. conventional solution-based polymer deposition methods) has advantages in controlling layer properties, high contour conformity of the deposited layers, continuous change of polymer building blocks (controlled co-deposition) during the process, and efficient production work flows, according to the company.

"With flexible electronics still being at an early stage, the prospects for this novel technology are very promising and will allow our customer to develop new applications," including flexible flat-panel displays that are lightweight and rugged, with improved power consumption, color brightness, and legibility, stated Aixtron COO Bernd Schulte.

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August 14, 2012 — Printed electronics is a set of printing methods used to create electronic circuits, sensors, devices, and various electronics products. Printing is emerging as a technology that can replace traditional photolithography processes for electronics manufacturing, reducing costly material use, very complex processes, and expensive equipment. Printing enables direct patterning of desired materials on the desired location without complex processes, and production is cleaner and more productive, according to Displaybank, an IHS analyst business.

Figure. Steps in printing electronics compared to steps in current electronics manufacturing methods.

Printing devices can lead the creation of new industries through technology fusion.

Printed electronics can be classified as substrate and printing material-related technology: various technologies that allow functional materials to be deposited at a desired position, equipments and parts that can run these technologies, and methodologies.

Printed electronics process technology includes material technologies of printed electronics inks such as conductive inks, insulating materials, and metal nano-inks, new printing process technologies such as inkjet printing, µ-contact printing, and imprinting to print materials, and various equipment technologies to support these.

Table. Printed electronics technology applications.

Area

Detail

Applicable processes

Displays and Lighting

LCD

-Color filter, alignment film, spacer: Inkjet, roll printing.

-TFT backplane: Semiconductor layer, gate, S/D electrode, insulating layer, printing.

PDP

-Wiring: Inkjet printing

-Electromagnetic waves shield: Ag conductive film filter screen printing

OLED

-organic light-emitting layer: Inkjet and nozzle jet when polymer-method OLED.

-Transparent electrode layer: Conductive polymer inkjet, slot die coating.

e-Paper

-Frontplane: Septum in wetting, inkjet and roll printing in solution injection.

-TFT backplane: Active layer and insulating layer imprint, inkjet.

Lighting

OLED

-Organic light-emitting layer: Inkjet and nozzle jet when producing polymer-method OLED.

Smart products

RFID

Antenna: Roll printing

-Others: Roll-to-roll to capacitors and chips

Packaging

Sensor: Inkjet, roll, and screen printing in sensor layer.

Energy

Solar cells

-CIGS, CdTe, DSSC absorber layer: Spray, screen.

OPV active layer: Inkjet, slot die, roll method.

-Si electrode layer: Screen printing, inkjet, AD method.

Battery

-Electrode layer: Slot die to electrode layer.

Others

Touchpanels

-Wiring: Screen and roll printing to electronic wiring.

-Transparent electrode layer: Jetting and roll printing to replace patterned ITO.

Flexible PCBs

-Wiring: Roll printing when forming high-density wiring.

 

The report, “Printed Electronics Technology Trend and Market Forecast (2011~2020)” from Displaybank talks about printed electronics material technology, issue, process technology issue, and applicable areas throughout chapter 3~5, and chapter 6 and 7 summarize trends of companies and research institutes that are developing technologies in their fields. Lastly, chapter 8 forecasts and analyzes the size of printed electronics-applicable application in the next 10 years, and speculates the size of market, which can be created as printed electronics is introduced, for the first time in the world.

This report will help printed electronics-related technologies developing companies, companies reviewing new businesses, and companies that want to innovate through printed electronics process to understand an industry-wide trend and forecast future prospects. Learn more at http://www.displaybank.com/_eng/research/report_view.html?id=847&cate=6

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The FlexTech Alliance announced the Call for Papers is open for the 12th annual Flexible Electronics & Displays Conference & Exhibition. The 3 day multi-track Flex Conference consists of in-depth technical and business development presentations covering the entire flexible electronics supply chain. Taking place January 29 – February 1, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona, the event also includes interactive exhibits and product demonstrations, a short course series, academic research, poster sessions and a variety of networking opportunities. The deadline for submission is September 22, 2012. 

The Flexible Electronics & Displays Conference & Exhibition attracts attendees from more than 10 countries and 200 companies, universities, R&D labs, and government agencies representing the many different segments of the flexible electronics and displays value and supply chains. Attendees span the roles of research, marketing, product development, manufacturing, senior business development, and executive functions.

The conference is a culmination of shared information, highlighting technical breakthroughs and demonstrating working products in flexible, printed electronics and displays. In addition to product demos and new applications, priority for paper selection will be given to original research and new toolset, process and materials introductions.

Topic areas sought are:

Business Strategies and Market Overviews for Flexible, Printed Electronics and Displays: Business Development; Road Mapping; Challenges to Early Adoption; and Customer Perspectives.

Flexible Electronics-Based Applications and Products: Flexible Displays; E-Book and Mobile Devices; Solar/Photovoltaics; Solid State Lighting and OLEDs; Energy Storage/Batteries; Smart Sensor Systems/RFID (biomedical, smart bandages, health monitors, smart clothing, neuro prosthetic devices, packaging, advertising/point of sales, pharmaceuticals, toys and entertainment, food monitoring, agricultural sensing, security, and structural monitoring).

Flexible Electronic Devices: Thin Film Transistors; Sensors and Detectors; Memory; Logic; Membranes; Device Design, Design Rules, Process Integration

Flexible Electronics Processes and Manufacturing: Additive Printing Processes (inkjet, gravure, flex, screen printing and other patterned deposition, print/ink optimization); Roll to Roll/Web Processing; Production Cost Reduction; Deposition Techniques and Equipment; Metrology; Flexible Electronics Production vs. Graphics Printing Production; Hybrid Manufacturing, Packaging, and Assembly; and Integration of printed electronics and microelectronics.

Flexible Electronics Materials: Substrates; Substrate Treatment to Optimize Films (conductors, insulators, semiconductors, light emitting; Functional Inks; Nanomaterials; Adhesives; Encapsulants; ITO Replacement; and Sustainable Materials.

Supply Chain Development

The conference, now in its 12th year, is moving to the Phoenix, Arizona Convention Center to accommodate its continuous growth. The new venue will provide technologically advanced amenities in a vibrant downtown location, while maintaining the superb networking atmosphere that has long characterized the Flex Conference. With the expanded exhibit space, attendees will be able to engage with more suppliers, customers and partners in flexible, printed electronics R&D, design and manufacturing.  

For more information or to download the Call for Papers for the 2013 Flex Conference, visit www.flexconference.org. Online submissions are now available.  

August 9, 2012 — AIXTRON launched the PRODOS-200 PVPD system for deposition of organic thin film materials, used to make organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) displays, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and other manufacturing applications.

The system supports research on new deposition processes for polymer thin films and easy transfer to industrial processes with high deposition rates, high contour conformity of the deposited layers, and unrestricted scalability based on AIXTRON’s Close Coupled Showerhead technology.

AIXTRON expects adopters to develop new conductive and flexible layers, manipulate surface properties, and create flexible barrier layers, as well as improving today’s deposition processes and structures. The PRODOS line is designed to be modular and expandable for source materials in liquid, gaseous, or solid forms. It supports various PVPD processes, or all-dry processes, in which the carrier gas-based, gas phase deposition is used for the in-situ polymerization and layer formation of functional polymer thin films.

The tools accommodate substrates up to 200mm2. They can be integrated into cluster environments by means of relevant SEMI-compatible interfaces and are compatible with other AIXTRON systems, such as the OVPD* R&D line. The double-wall-chamber construction makes the system eases maintenance and enables fast modifications.

AIXTRON also recently announced that its BM II (2-inch) system is being used for research on depositing carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays for 3D devices, such as nano-antennas and nano-rectifiers by Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST) in South Korea.

*OVPD technology has been exclusively licensed to AIXTRON from Universal Display Corporation (UDC) for equipment manufacture. OVPD technology is based on an invention by Professor Stephen R. Forrest et al. at Princeton University, which was exclusively licensed to UDC. AIXTRON and UDC have jointly developed and qualified OVPD pre-production equipment.

AIXTRON provides MOCVD production technologies for semiconductor devices, such as LEDs, lasers, transistors and solar cells. For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6, DE000A1MMEF7; NASDAQ: AIXG, ISIN US0096061041), see www.aixtron.com.

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August 7, 2012 — Brown University developed a simpler, cheaper, solution-based manufacturing process for indium tin oxide (ITO) conductive films used in displays and solar cell manufacturing.

Brown researchers, with support from ATMI Inc., reported the best-ever transparency and conductivity performance for an ITO made using a chemical solution.

  

Figure. Electron microscopy (cross-section, left, and facing view) shows an even distribution of indium titanium oxide nanocrystals essential for a highly conductive, transparent thin film. Credit: Sun Lab/Brown University.

The ITO offers high enough performance for applications in resistive touch screens, said Jonghun Lee, a Brown chemistry graduate student. The films allow 93% of light to pass through, deposited at 146nm thick. Their transparency is comparable to the glass substrate.

The team also made their films on top of bendable polyimide, showing that it could potentially be useful for making flexible display technologies.

To make the films, the team synthesized nanoscale ITO crystals in a solution. Then they made a flat and smooth film by spin casting the solution on a glass plate. Coated plates were then annealed for several hours (ideal anneal time was 6 hours) and then tested their transparency and conductivity.

The materials research was key to enable the simple spin-casting assembly method, said Shouheng Sun, professor of chemistry at Brown. The best chemicals turned out to be indium acetylacetonate and tin bis(acetylacetonate)dichloride. Researchers synthesized ITO nanocrystals that had a narrow range of sizes, about 11nm in diameter. That consistency meant that when the crystals arranged themselves in the thin films, they neither bunched together in clumps, nor stayed too far apart. The result was a dense but evenly distributed array of crystals, which promotes conductivity.

By varying the thickness and the tin content (between 5 and 10%), researchers varied the transparency and resistance for the best results. The key to a smooth, consistent film was the uniform size of ITO nanocrystals. The researchers settled on a diameter of around 11nm. “By controlling the concentration of the nanocrystal solution, we could control the thickness of the film from 30 to 140nm,” Lee said.

The team will now work on matching the conductivity performance of films made by sputtering, while maintaining the cost and process efficiency benefits of solution-based deposition, according to Melissa Petruska, senior scientist at ATMI.

In new experiments, the team plans to further drive down electrical resistance, to reduce the length of time the films need to anneal, and to lay down fine patterns of their films, rather than continuous sheets, using inkjet or roll-to-roll printing.

Results are published in a paper posted online Aug. 1 by the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In addition to Sun and Lee, the other Brown authors are Sunghwan Lee, Guanglai Li and David Paine. Petruska is a co-author on the paper. ATMI provided project funding and engineering assistance for the research.

Learn more at www.brown.edu.

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August 3, 2012 — E Ink Holdings (8069.TW), electronic paper and LCD technology company, signed a definitive agreement to buy shares of SiPix Technology Inc. (STI) and its wholly owned subsidiary SiPix Imaging Inc. (SII), the maker of electronic paper displays.

SiPix is based in California and Taiwan. It makes electrophoretic displays based on micro-cup technology. E Ink has reached an agreement to buy 82.7% of SiPix’s (STI) shares and is seeking to buy up to 100%, which is valued at approximately NT$1.5 billion. After customary regulatory approvals, the final closing is likely to be during Q4, 2012.

E Ink boasts easy readability and low power consumption with its e-paper, compared to traditional displays. The acquisition will allow E Ink to expand in its existing markets for e-paper, and diversify into newer applications. Over 50 million ePaper displays are being used worldwide. The company’s stated goal is “E Ink on Every Smart Surface.”

Also read: E Ink subsidiary Hydis adds on-cell touchscreen tech to LCD portfolio

E Ink and SiPix’s customers will now have a wider portfolio of products and technologies to choose from with a larger global network of offices in different geographies. With this purchase, E Ink will have the widest offerings of ePaper technologies, a larger set of products and a stronger patent portfolio, the company said

E Ink currently enjoys over 90%+ share in the eReader market with customers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookeen, Ectaco, Hanvon, iRiver, Kobo, Sony, Wexler and others. E Ink also makes ePaper displays for Signage, Electronic Shelf Labels, Battery and Memory Indicators, Wrist Watches, Credit Cards, Mobile Phones and a variety of other applications. Its customers include Epson, Pervasive Displays, Motorola, Lexar, Citizen, Seiko, Toppan, Invue, Eton, Motion Display, Neolux and many others.

Founded in 1992 by Taiwan’s leading papermaking and printing group YFY (1907.TW), E Ink Holdings Inc. (8069.TW) is a pioneer of TFT and ePaper business in Taiwan. For corporate information, please visit www.einkgroup.com; for EPD information, please visit www.eink.com / tw.eink.com; and for FFS information, please visit www.hydis.com.

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Charles Annis, DisplaySearch, reports on new thin glass products for lighter, thinner, and flexible displays. The full article is available in the DisplaySearch Monitor publication for July. In this article, thin FPD glass refers to 0.4mm or thinner, while ultra-thin glass means 0.2mm or thinner.

August 3, 2012 — The flat panel display (FPD) industry is continuously researching thinner glass substrates, to reduce the glass volume and weight of displays. Thinner glass substrates can be more expensive despite the lower raw material quantities, due to the engineering work to create them. With time, thinner glass results in lower display manufacturing costs.

Thinner glass is of interest for mobile displays. Ultra-thin substrates are an enabling technology for flexible displays, including flexible active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, which are on the verge of commercialization. However, DisplaySearch warns that many display fabs are set up to handle glass 0.5mm and thicker, and will need to be retrofitted to process 0.4mm glass, and will need even more handling tools for 0.3mm and thinner.

Corning recently brought its 0.3mm EAGLE XG Slim glass to Gen 6 substrates, targeting mobile displays. The glass avoids or reduces wet etching by hydrofluoric acid for thinning.

Figure. The glass-thinning segment will grow at a 29% CAGR between 2010 and 2015. SOURCE: DisplaySearch, TFT LCD Process Roadmap Report

Corning also presented “Ultra-Slim Flexible Glass Substrates for Display Applications” at the Society for Information Display’s Display Week, this June in Boston, discussing 0.2mm glass that can be rolled up on spools. It can be used as touch panels, cover glass, lighting, color filters, substrate, and encapsulation glass.

Non-alkali glass is the substrate of choice for conventional FPDs, and is desirable for flexible applications. It offers thin form factor with smooth surface quality and high transmission, among other benefits. Polymer substrates are stronger and lighter, but suffer from significantly higher surface roughness and lower optical transmission than glass. Glass also offers a significantly better hermetic seal than polymer substrates, of high interest for AMOLED displays.

Figure 2. Qualities of polymer film versus glass for flexible displays. SOURCE: Corning,“Ultra-Slim Flexible Glass Substrates for Display Applications,” SID 2012.

Glassmakers are developing hybrid substrates that combine polymer films with glass. Their purpose is to overcome the tradeoffs with each of the materials, providing the high quality of glass while adding the strength of polymer films.

To read the full article, including information about AGC’s carrier technology for 100µm glass, register for the DisplaySearch Monitor publication at http://www.displaysearch.com/cps/rde/xchg/displaysearch/hs.xsl/displaysearch_monitor_newsletter_with_fpd_market_news_flash_reports.asp

DisplaySearch LLC, an NPD Group Company, reports and articles can be accessed at www.displaysearch.com

Also read: The view from Display Week 2012: Glass tech at AGC

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