Epistar to make ‘mini’ LEDs this year…the big sister of micro-LEDs
Micro-LEDs are the talk of the LED trade as they represent an offset to display technologies that are self-emitting, such as OLED and Quantum Dots. Without the need for a backlight in such displays, the LED industry ponders where the portion of the industry that is ‘LED backlight’ oriented will end up. Micro-LEDs, LEDs based on chip sizes of less than .5mm x .5mm, are being touted as a potential home run for the LED industry, once the technology has been proven to be commercially oriented, which it has yet to be. But in the interim, Epistar (2448.TT) is expecting to release ‘mini-LED’ chips that are ~.1mm x .1mm (100μm) later this year. These slightly larger versions of what might be needed for a high density smartphone display (an HD display has a pixel density of between 213 and 240 pixels/inch) would be used in large displays, such as high end commercial signage and product displays, but are not quite at the size needed for HD level displays, which would be between 53μm and 61μm.
Epistar is certainly moving in the right direction and has likely reached the size goals it needs for micro-LEDs in the lab, but translating that into a product that can be applied to mass production will likely take more time. Think about how such small LEDs (see Fig. 1) can be moved and packed into a small space without damage and within a reasonable amount of manufacturing line time, and even more simplistically, the question of micro-LED yields themselves. While Sony (SNE) continues to champion the technology with its TVs based on “Crystal LED Integrated Structure” and even Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), whose TV technology focus is on Quantum Dots, is testing the micro-LED concept on a 445” diagonal Cinema Screen that will be available for theaters in Korea and the US in 2H 2017. As the LED manufacturing space continues to evolve, we would expect yields to improve, now they just have to figure out how to pick and place millions of pollen-sized LEDs on a smartphone-sized device. Very small fingers or bubble gum?
Epistar is certainly moving in the right direction and has likely reached the size goals it needs for micro-LEDs in the lab, but translating that into a product that can be applied to mass production will likely take more time. Think about how such small LEDs (see Fig. 1) can be moved and packed into a small space without damage and within a reasonable amount of manufacturing line time, and even more simplistically, the question of micro-LED yields themselves. While Sony (SNE) continues to champion the technology with its TVs based on “Crystal LED Integrated Structure” and even Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), whose TV technology focus is on Quantum Dots, is testing the micro-LED concept on a 445” diagonal Cinema Screen that will be available for theaters in Korea and the US in 2H 2017. As the LED manufacturing space continues to evolve, we would expect yields to improve, now they just have to figure out how to pick and place millions of pollen-sized LEDs on a smartphone-sized device. Very small fingers or bubble gum?
How Big is a micron? - Source: Applied Image Inc.
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