Category Archives: OLEDs

Kateeva Co-Founder, President and COO, Dr. Conor Madigan

Kateeva Co-Founder, President and COO, Dr. Conor Madigan

Kateeva, the OLED production equipment leader, today announced that President and COO, Conor Madigan, Ph.D., was named “Inventor of the Year” for 2016 by the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association (SVIPLA). To date, he is listed as an inventor on more than 100 issued and pending patents.

Madigan was recognized for his pioneering work to develop a manufacturing equipment solution to mass produce Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). OLED technology has revolutionized the flat panel display industry. It’s the gateway technology for flexible displays that enable bendable, foldable and even roll-able consumer electronics products. In a breakthrough for the display industry, Madigan and his team at Kateeva commercialized the industry’s first inkjet printer engineered specifically to mass produce OLEDs. The solution, called the YIELDjet platform, made high-volume OLED production cost-effective for the first time, giving display manufacturers an essential tool to accelerate their adoption of the transformative technology.

The SVIPLA has extended the annual award since 1977. Recipients include individuals whose innovations have changed industries and created new ones. Among them are the inventors of the barcode, the blue LED, and other esteemed contributors to the advancement of science and technology.

Madigan co-founded Kateeva in 2008 following a decade of OLED-related research at MIT, where he also earned his Ph.D. degree. Since then, he and the Kateeva team have accumulated more than 200 issued and pending patents surrounding the YIELDjet platform and related products.

“Given the immense talent in Silicon Valley, selecting a winner was no easy task,” said SVIPLA President, Carlos Rosario. “Conor is an obvious choice, however. Not just because his inventions helped set the display industry on a game-changing technology transition, or that he’s perpetually contemplating ways to enable new display breakthroughs. But also because he combined technical ingenuity with practical execution. That’s the difficult part. Pretty soon, when consumers can fold their laptops into a wallet-size square, or unfurl their smartphones to form a sturdy notebook, they’ll owe much of that innovation to Kateeva. We admire how Conor has built a strong company to commercialize Kateeva IP, and we’re thrilled to name him “Inventor of the Year”.

“I’m honored to be recognized by the SVIPLA,” said Madigan. “Considering the caliber of previous recipients, I’m also humbled. We’re proud of our role in helping display manufacturers shift to cost-effective OLED mass production and seize hold of a large new market opportunity. We did this in the time-honored Silicon Valley way: by applying innovation to solve difficult technical problems that conventional technology solutions couldn’t master. Thanks to the efforts of everyone at Kateeva, we were able to deliver a complex product to customers that is highly enabling and differentiated by valuable IP. For that collective achievement, I share the accolade with my colleagues.”

YIELDjet is trademarked by Kateeva, Inc.

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. and Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. (“Tsinghua Unigroup”) today announced an agreement to form a joint-venture and to mutually terminate Tsinghua Unigroup’s earlier private placement plan.

Under the joint-venture agreement, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (BVI) LTD., a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, will sell 54.98% of the equity interests of its wholly owned subsidiary, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD., to a group led by Tsinghua Unigroup, for approximately RMB 498.4 million (approximately NT$2,437 million or US$77 million). After the consummation of such equity interest transfer, ChipMOS BVI will own 45.02% of the equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, Tsinghua Unigroup through its subsidiary, Tibet Unigroup Guowei Investment Co., Ltd. (“Unigroup Guowei”) will own 48%, and other strategic investors, including a limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees will own 6.98%. The investment will be used to expand the capacity of and services offered by ChipMOS Shanghai. The joint-venture agreement has been approved by the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman of ChipMOS, commented, “We are pleased to reach this joint-venture agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup, which has been at the forefront of the rapidly evolving global semiconductor value chain. As a leader of the semiconductor assembly and test segment, ChipMOS will be able to leverage our extensive expertise and relationships, R&D resources and technology roadmap to meet a critical need within the Tsinghua Unigroup portfolio as it works to meet expanding domestic China market. The joint-venture will allow us accelerate the planned expansion of ChipMOS Shanghai, while adding on new lines to given the higher demand we are seeing for our LCD driver ICs, touch driver, AMOLED, OLED and memory testing, assembly and bumping services. Tsinghua Unigroup is committed to actively supporting the company across its comprehensive semiconductor supply chain investment portfolio, as we work to mutually grow the sustainable revenue and profit of ChipMOS Shanghai over the long-term, while promoting the interests of all shareholders and employees.”

Details of Joint-Venture Agreement and Termination Agreement: 

  1. A mutual agreement was reached between ChipMOS and Tsinghua Unigroup to terminate Tsinghua Unigroup’s participation in a planned private placement of ChipMOS Taiwan:On December 11, 2015, the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan adopted a resolution to approve a private placement of common shares in which 299,252,000 private placement shares issued by ChipMOS Taiwan would be subscribed by a controlled entity of Tsinghua Unigroup at NT$ 40 per share, and ChipMOS Taiwan and Tsinghua Unigroup entered into the Share Subscription Agreement with other transaction documents on the same date. The aforementioned private placement was subsequently approved by a resolution of ChipMOS Taiwan’s shareholders meeting on January 28, 2016, and the subscriber, Tibet MaoYeChuangXin Investment LTD., also entered into another Share Subscription Agreement and other transaction documents with ChipMOS Taiwan.All parties have agreed to mutually terminate the Share Subscription Agreement and other transaction documents. ChipMOS Taiwan held a Board meeting to terminate the aforementioned private placement, and entered into the Termination Agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup and the subscriber, respectively.
  2. Under the joint-venture agreement announced today, ChipMOS BVI, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, will sell 54.98% of the equity interests of its China subsidiary, ChipMOS Shanghai, to strategic investors led by Tsinghua Unigroup, and will further increase the capital of ChipMOS Shanghai with such strategic investors according to their respective shareholding ratio. The sale of the 54.98% equity interest is expected to result in a gain to ChipMOS Taiwan of approximately NT$2,288 million(approximately NT$2.67 per ChipMOS Taiwan share) upon the transaction’s close primarily due to a gain on the appreciation of fixed assets and land use rights.ChipMOS BVI, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, originally owned 100% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS and ChipMOS BVI entered into the Equity Interest Purchase Agreement and the Agreement for China-Foreign Joint Venture with each strategic investor respectively, such as Unigroup Guowei, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Tsinghua Unigroup, and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees, selling 54.98% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai at the price of around RMB 498.4 million to strategic investors including Unigroup Guowei and others, and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees (hereinafter collectively as “Purchasers”). After the consummation of such equity interest transfer, ChipMOS BVI will own 45.02% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, Unigroup Guowei will own 48% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, and other strategic investors and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees will own 6.98% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS BVI will increase capital to ChipMOS Shanghai, by the funds obtained from selling equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, with the Purchasers according to their respective shareholding ratio, and except the foregoing funds, ChipMOS BVI does not inject any additional funds to ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS Shanghai is expected to gain additional cash of approximately RMB 1,074.0 million from a capital increase after the deal closes.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman of ChipMOS, added, “We have been steadily ramping production at ChipMOS Shanghai as part of a three-year capacity expansion plan, which is aligned with the increasing customer demand levels for semiconductor testing and assembly services in Mainland China and our goal of achieving sustainable profitability at ChipMOS Shanghai. Other than the US$42 millioncapital contribution invested and US$33 million bank loan facility secured formerly, the additional RMB 1,074.0 million capital contribution will help us achieve our targeted economies of scale and our long-term goals. We are also pleased as the joint-venture structure brings powerful strategic partners to ChipMOS Shanghai in a structure that will benefit all shareholders.”

The overall utilization rate at fabrication plants (fabs) used for display panel production is expected to reach 90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 7 percentage points from the same period in the previous year, and up 1 percentage point from the previous quarter, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

2016_Display_Panel_Manufacturing_Monthly_Utilization_Rates_-_IHS_Markit

One of the contributing factors for driving up the fab utilization rate is the sudden rise in demand for larger TV panels, notably in 2016, when the average area size of overall TV panels increase by 1.9 inches from the previous year, raising the unit area by about 10 percent.

TV display panels, which account for about 70 percent of overall display area demand, suffered a fall in unit demand in recent times, but the area demand is expected to increase by 6 percent in 2016. A rise in TV panel demand is now projected to raise overall display panel area demand by 5 percent in 2016 compared to a year ago.

As a result, display panel makers are increasing the utilization rate of Gen 7 fabs and later Gen fabs, used mainly to produce TV panels, and can be expected to stay high in the fourth quarter of 2016 and beyond, according to the latest IHS Markit Display Production & Inventory Tracker report.

“Such a high utilization rate would suggest that these fabs are running at full loading, considering the remaining capacity is already allotted for test runs and maintenance,” said Alex Kang, senior analyst of display research at IHS Markit.

“This increase in display panel area demand has allowed panel manufacturers to sustain inventory levels that are considered healthy, and has prevented a sharp drop in utilization rate this year,” Kang added.

IHS Markit expects that panel manufacturers’ year-end panel inventory level will remain healthy at under four weeks. This will allow panel manufacturers to maintain a high utilization rate for a certain period of time regardless of demand fluctuations with sufficient space to pile up extra production stock.

With a healthy inventory outlook, panel manufacturers are projected to reach a fab utilization rate of between 85 and 90 percent in the first quarter of 2017 after the year-end peak season, which is up by between 5 and 10 percentage points since the first quarter of 2016.

 

Last night at the Printed Electronics USA conference in Santa Clara, Calif., Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX inkjet printing system was named the winner of the prestigious Technical Development Manufacturing Award. Presented annually by conference organizer IDTechEx, the award honors the most significant development of a manufacturing device process or production plant in the printed electronics industry over the previous 24 months. In particular, manufacturing developments that optimize the process of lab-scale or mass-scale production by improving productivity, quality, reliability, uniformity, or scale.

Since its debut in late 2014, Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system has become the leading high-yield mass-production tool for the key organic layer deposition step in the OLED Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) market. Customers include the world’s largest flat panel display manufacturers located in Asia. With its novel features and capabilities, it solves critical technical problems that previously made it economically impractical to mass produce flexible OLEDs.

Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, reports: “This is printed electronics in action, where inkjet printing is used to enable commercial consumer electronics devices today. Kateeva has built a system that continuously provides uniform, reliable and precise function required for the demanding display business.”

In accepting the award, Kateeva’s Chief Product Officer Eli Vronsky thanked the Judging Panel and called the accolade a considerable honor. “Engineering the YIELDjet FLEX system was an extraordinary opportunity for our team,” he said. “But as any product designer will confess, watching it catalyze an industry shift is the greater thrill. We’re proud that by solving certain OLED mass-production challenges, our tool has helped customers clear the path for exciting mobile products that are bendable, foldable and even roll-able. We’re grateful to be recognized for this achievement by our friends in the printed electronics industry.”

Today at the Printed Electronics USA Conference, Kateeva technologist, Xiao Chen, Ph.D. will reveal how YIELDjet technology will soon be applied to mass produce the RGB OLED layer to enable affordable OLED TVs. Dr. Chen’s talk begins at 11:40am.

The latest Research and Markets report, “North America Light Emitting Diode (LED) Market (2016-2022)”,  indicates that the North American LED market is expected to reach $11,702.6 Million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period.

The General lighting market dominated the North America LED market in 2015, and that trend is expected to continue until 2022, thereby achieving a market value of $ 4,563.6 Million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period. The Automotive market is expected to reach a market size of $1,663.5 Million by 2022.

The U.S market dominated the North America LED market in 2015 and would continue until 2022 thereby achieving a market value of $ 8,683.3 Million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 8.8% during the forecast period. The Canada application market is expected to reach a market size of $1,755.4 Million by 2022. The Mexico market would witness the growth rate of 14.2% during 2016-2022.

High brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs) are widely used in automotive, signals and signage in the North American region. Major mobile companies such as Apple Corporation have incorporated Organic LEDs (O-LED) in their mobile phones, which will contribute to the growth of the LED market. With widespread adoption in North America, the emerging economies also have started using LEDs in various applications, which should further add to the market growth, offering tremendous opportunities for the LED market players to enter into the LED market.

Kateeva, the OLED production equipment developer, today announced the appointment of Mark R. Shaw, Ph.D. as Senior Vice President of Human Resources (HR). Previously, Shaw worked at Lam Research and Applied Materials. He joins Kateeva at a time of rapid growth. He’ll build a comprehensive HR infrastructure to support the company’s accelerating global business, with strategic initiatives to attract, inspire and reward top talent, world-wide.

Shaw has spent 25+ years driving transformational HR programs at multi-billion-dollar capital equipment companies with global operations, multiple product lines, and thousands of employees. Over time, he has led multi-national teams in shaping and executing HR solutions to support myriad corporate transactions and significant change events. This included: establishing HR organizations for multiple joint ventures in the US, Asia and Europe; developing comprehensive executive leadership and workforce strategies for new regional markets; unifying compensation programs across multiple geographies, and driving successful M&A integrations with practical change-management protocols.

“Few candidates know the business of leveraging people-power to support a fast-growing, global hardware company as thoroughly as Mark,” said Kateeva President and COO, Conor Madigan. “At Lam Research and Applied Materials, he navigated major events and complex global interactions, offering innovative and thoughtful HR solutions to maximize success outcomes for his employer and fellow employees. With our market trajectory already presenting similar growth events for Kateeva, we’re thrilled that Mark will lead the effort to build a talent-optimization infrastructure to help us expertly harness the opportunities.”

For Shaw, the new role is a unique opportunity to apply HR best-practices that made his previous employers rewarding workplaces. “In its short life, Kateeva has already achieved the near-impossible by commercializing a disruptive OLED-enabling technology that catapulted to market leadership in under two years. The same DNA behind that success will soon propel the company into new markets. For me, that means designing and implementing agile strategies that embolden the culture without sacrificing the entrepreneurial vibe that fueled the successes. I’m excited to accept the challenge.”

Shaw joined Kateeva from Lam Research where he was Vice President of HR for sales, service and manufacturing. He led organization and talent initiatives that included succession, employee development, sales capability, and field technical resources. Following Lam’s acquisition of Novellus Systems, he helped establish new organization structures and select new leaders. He also designed and implemented employee retention programs.

Previously, Shaw spent nearly 15 years at Applied Materials. He ended his tenure there as HR VP for the international sales and marketing organization, supporting 4000 regional employees in 15 countries.

Shaw holds a B.A. degree in speech from California State University at Hayward. He earned an M.A. degree in speech communication from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D. degree in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University.

By Ji-Won Cho, SEMI Korea

SEMI Korea has hosted a SEMI member event every year for its members since 2008 to provide networking opportunities and insight on the ever-changing issues in the industry. This year, over 225 SEMI members in Korea from 132 companies ─ including the chipmakers, Samsung and Dongbu Hitek ─ participated in SEMI Members Day on October 6. Almost 70 percent of the attendees were executive level. Five speakers shared their thought-provoking perspectives: global semiconductor outlook, technology trends, flexible AMOLED technology, autonomous vehicle, and robot industry.

Soo Kyum Kim, director at IDC Korea, presented “Global Semiconductor Industry Outlook.”  Kim pointed out that global semiconductor market will decrease 2.9 percent in 2016 and recover slightly 0.6 percent in 2017 while the dedicated foundry market will face a short correction. He also forecasted that the CAGR of global semiconductor market will be 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2020. This growth will be led by non-traditional areas; automotive, industrial and smart home. He believes that IoT and Intelligent system penetration will drive both MPU and MCU in processor market.

Worldwide-MCU-Opportunity

Sei Cheol Lee, principal analyst at NH Securities, presented “Semiconductor Technology Trends.” Lee discussed how the solid state drives (SSD) and UFS markets are rapidly growing and 3D NAND stack will move from 48 to 64 layers. Lee added that increasing layers will lead to more dry etch than wet etch in processes and incease in KrF patterning, PECVD/ALD,  and test. Lee forecasted that the test market will grow to $3 billion in 2017 from only $2.2 billion in 2016 due to high-end SSD and DDR4’s bus speed enhancement.

Minsu Kang, analyst at IHS Technology, spoke about the Flexible AMOLED Industry Outlook. According to his presentation, flexible displays are mainly used for smartwatch and smartphone, but set manufacturers are also trying to apply them with foldable or rollable form-factors. Flexible AMOLED has clear advantages for flexible display technology, in terms of form-factor, size, PPI and picture quality. He pointed out that flexible AMOLED was expected to increase to over 13 percent of OLED panel shipment in 2016, and it will continue to grow rapidly because more set manufacturers are adopting the technology. Apple may try to apply it to their smartphone in 2017.

Ji-won-Korea article Photo 1

Kang highlighted that many panel manufacturers have been trying to increase flexible AMOLED capacity since 2015, but need to develop experience. He added that the curved forms of flexible display will be the mainstream until 2020, but foldable forms may be the mainstream after.  It depends on how the innovation resonates with the user experience

Seyong Kim, senior manager at Renesas Electronics Korea, presented “Technology Trends of the Autonomous Vehicle.” He said it may be fully realized between 2025 and 2030. Each country is now focusing on establishing the safety standards as like ISO 26262 to gain the initiatives.

Concerning the connected car, he mentioned the most important issue was security. Kim also added that a growing autonomous vehicle industry will need more semiconductors but the market share likely will remain under 10 percent of the entire semiconductor market.

Ji-won-Korea article Photo 2

Dongkyeong Kim, head of R&D center at Future Robot, wrapped up the day with a presentation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Robots in the semiconductor industry. Kim stated that development of semiconductor technology has driven the Big Data and AI eras and it will increasingly result in strong demand for semiconductors. According to Kim, globally the robot industry has invested 1.8 billion USD and 50 percent of the amount was invested by China in 2015.

The attendees were interested in the topics and an ongoing dialogue took place during the Q&A after each presentation. In the survey, more than 92 percent of attendees responded that they were satisfied. The attendees recommended additional topics for next year’s program, including equipment and materials outlook, advanced packaging market outlook, and technology roadmap.

Jin Soo Ko, VP of Teradyne said, “SEMI Members Day was the best in terms of agenda and contents since I attended from 2007. I am very satisfied with all programs and networking opportunities provided by SEMI.”

Hyun-Dae Cho, president of SEMI Korea, said, “The SEMI Korea Members Day connects our members to peers and industry executives and gives first-hand information on the trends and technology in the industry. I hope SEMI members enjoyed the opportunities through this annual event.”

For information on becoming a SEMI member, visit www.semi.org/en/Membership.

Due to increasing capacity from China, South Korean LCD panel makers are quickly realizing that LCD displays profitability may eventually erode, due to growing capacity and price competition from China, so they are betting their future on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. Because of lower profit margins and slowing market growth, the IT display category has become the first product line that LCD display manufacturers are quitting, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.

Samsung Display was the first company to do so, selling a fifth generation (Gen 5) fabrication plant (fab) to a Chinese touch and module maker last year. In the future, more fab restructuring is expected, especially the facilities dedicated to making IT panels. 

“Brands like HP and Lenovo expected notebook panels to be in a surplus situation, and they were therefore keeping their panel inventories at very low levels,” said Jason Hsu, senior principal analyst, IHS Markit. “This shift from Samsung Display could cause some brands to experience panel shortages in the third quarter of 2016.”

BOE to possibly double its panel shipments this year

Samsung Display delivered 30 million notebook panels in 2015, according to the latest information from the IHS Markit Tablet and Notebook Display Market Tracker. With the company’s latest fab reorganization plan, notebook PC LCD panel shipments could fall to 12 million units in 2016 and to 4 million in 2017. There will be an 18 million-unit gap this year, which means brands might not be able to find other sources to keep up with production needs.

When reviewing the supply chain mix in the first quarter of 2016, it is clear that HP has been affected by these changes more than other companies, with shipments from Samsung Display down from 1.1 million units in first quarter to 350,000 units in the second quarter. However, HP has shifted its orders to other panel makers to secure enough panels for its production needs, for example, Innolux.

BOE is another panel maker benefitting from the exit of Samsung Display from this market. Panel shipments from BOE increased from 4.9 million units in the first quarter to 7.2 million in the second quarter. BOE is expected to grow its notebook business to more than 36 million units in 2017. BOE first began to supply panels for notebooks in 2009, and it has now become one of the largest IT panel suppliers. Furthermore, BOE has a Gen8 fab in Chongqing, China — near the world’s largest notebook production base. In fact, notebook panel shipments from the Chongqing fab are expected to grow quickly next year, thanks to the more efficient logistics.

Chinese and Taiwanese makers to increase unit shipments of premium panels 

LG Display and Samsung Display used to supply Apple with notebook panels; however, the fab re-organization — especially the reallocation of oxide capacity — has increased Apple’s concerns about a potential panel shortage and possible low yields. For this reason, Apple is expected to add another panel supplier for its new MacBook Pro, to diversify the risk from Samsung Display business changes. For its legacy MacBook Air line of notebook PCs, Apple is considering diversifying its supply chain to Chinese makers, which is the first time Apple will use LCD panels from China.

Samsung Display’s exit from the LCD display business has also affected the supply of wide-view-angle in-plane switching (IPS) and plane-to-line switching (PLS) displays. Samsung Display has been one of the major suppliers to offer wide-view-angle panels, and its shipment volume is second only to LG Display.

In order to source IPS and PLS panels, brands must find other sources to replace Samsung Display, after the company begins to reduce production. AUO is one of the qualified candidates, and apparently it is receiving more orders from notebook PC brands. AUO, Innolux and other Taiwanese manufacturers and BOE and other Chinese suppliers are all expanding IPS panels to respond to increasing panel requirements.

Silvaco, Inc., a provider of electronic design automation software and semiconductor IP, today announced that Dr. Jin Jang of Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea, has joined the Technical Advisory Board (TAB). Formed in early 2016, the TAB is chartered with providing guidance to Silvaco management and engineering teams on the direction of the company’s technology roadmap, and additional early insight into future technology challenges and breakthroughs. Dr. Jang, an accomplished researcher in information display development, will help the company expand its technology leadership in advanced TFT and OLED displays.

Dr. Jang serves as the Director of the Advanced Display Research Center at Kyung Hee University in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Korea. He actively pursues display research, publishing 20 to 30 SCI-level papers each year and conducting joint research projects with researchers in the US and UK as well as sharing his research findings via international conferences and special lectures. He is credited with establishing the world’s first Department of Information Display at a major university, and is the recipient of numerous academic and industry awards including the Academic Award from the Korean Vacuum Society, the IEEE George E. Smith award, and the Sottow Owaki Prize from the Society for Information Display (SID) for outstanding contributions to the education and training of students and professionals in the field of information display. Dr. Jang was named an SID Fellow in 2006. Dr. Jang received a BS in Physics at Seoul National University and his PhD in Physics from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

“I’m pleased to join Silvaco’s technical advisory board at an exciting time of growth and technical development for the company,” said Dr Jang.  “Creating solutions to the important growing challenges in advanced display development requires close collaboration between industry and academic researchers, and I believe working with Silvaco and the advisory board will accelerate this cooperation.”

“We are honored to welcome Dr. Jang to our technology advisory board,” said David L. Dutton, CEO of Silvaco.  “He is a well-known and highly regarded leader in the information display industry. We appreciate him joining our team and look forward to working closely with him to help us continue our technical leadership in the display segment. His immense knowledge will guide us to align our technology direction to meet the future requirements in TFT and OLED display development.”

Today, at the OLEDs World Summit in San Diego, Kateeva, a OLED production equipment developer, reported that its YIELDjet FLEX system has earned a commanding lead in the key organic layer deposition step in the OLED Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) market. Since the novel inkjet printing solution debuted in manufacturing in 2014, the company has secured the vast majority of available TFE orders. Customers include the world’s largest flat panel display manufacturers located in three key Asia regions.

TFE is a critical step in the flexible OLED manufacturing process. It gives thinness and flexibility to the OLED device, and helps reduce overall manufacturing costs. OLEDs utilizing TFE are revolutionizing the consumer electronics industry by enabling exciting new mobile products that are bendable, foldable and even roll-able. Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system helped catalyze the transition to the new display technology by solving key technical challenges that previously made mass-producing OLEDs with TFE, including flexible OLEDs, economically unviable.

Kateeva CEO Alain Harrus attributed the company’s market momentum to the swift migration to flexible OLED mass production by display leaders. “That fast manufacturing transition speaks to the spirited innovation within the display industry, where leaders are testing the limits of physics, chemistry and engineering ingenuity, and making substantial R&D investments to commercialize revolutionary displays. We’re privileged to partner with these trail-blazing companies, and pleased that our YIELDjet technology is enabling their processes.”

The YIELDjet FLEX tool is the first system to emerge from Kateeva’s YIELDjet platform. The YIELDjet platform is Kateeva’s foundational technology. Introduced in late 2013, it was the first inkjet printing manufacturing equipment platform engineered specifically for OLED mass-production. OLED technology was already transforming rigid smart phone displays with vibrant color and extraordinary image quality. With new high-yield mass-production equipment, OLED technology would enable the next leap—freedom from glass substrates—a breakthrough that would unleash tantalizing new flexible products.

Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system has enabled a rapid transition from glass encapsulation to TFE in new OLED production lines. The company’s precision deposition solution for the TFE organic layer deposition process is fast, offers good planarization, few particle defects, high material utilization, good scalability, and easy maintenance. These advantages deliver dramatically higher TFE yields and lower mass-production costs, making the system a powerful alternative to vacuum evaporation technologies which had reached their technical limits.

Today, barely two years after its debut, Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX tool is the undisputed leader in the industry.

At the OLEDs World Summit, Kateeva technologist, Neetu Chopra, Ph.D. will reveal how YIELDjet technology will soon be applied to mass-produce the RGB OLED layer to enable affordable OLED TVs. Dr. Chopra will present her talk today at 4:35pm.