Boron Blue
As we have noted many times, typical small OLED devices such as smartphones and tablets operate using RGB (Red, green, blue) sub-pixels to create color. The RGB process differs from large panel OLED manufacturing, which coats the substrate surface with a combination of OLED materials that create white light, which is then passed through a color filter, essentially a sheet of red, green, and blue dots, to create color. The RGB process is more complex, involving separate process steps for each color and has limitations on the size of the substrate, but the color filter in the WOLED process reduces the amount of light that reaches the user while the RGB stack does not. The red and green (and yellow/green in the case of WOLED) OLED emitters are phosphorescent materials, which simply put, generate much more light than fluorescent materials, such as the blue emitter material used in both instances, as a commercial blue phosphorescent emitter does not exist…yet.
There are a number of large companies involved in R&D to develop a blue phosphorescent OLED emitter as its use would vastly improve the characteristics of the OLED stack, but, as opposed to red and green OLED emitters, the energy levels of blue emitters makes them unstable and limits their lifetimes. Universal Display OLED) the primary supplier of phosphorescent OLED emitters to the industry spends ~$20m/quarter on R&D, and while not all of that goes toward the development of blue phosphorescent emitters, we expect a large portion of that budget does. Of course, OLED panel producers, the buyers of phosphorescent OLED materials, have a particular interest in the development of a blue phosphorescent OLED emitter, both from the standpoint of improving the efficiency and quality of their OLED display products, and from a competitive standpoint. The quality side is easy to understand but owning the IP to such a material, as does UDC for red and green, would be an enormous asset and would allow the owner to license (or not license) or sell (or not sell) the material to other OLED display producers.
All OLED producers test emitter materials, both the emitters themselves and host materials in which the emitters are ‘doped’, looking for, in the case of blue, a phosphorescent material that is ‘deep blue’, has a high efficiency, and a long lifetime, but as manufacturers their job is to produce OLED panels, not research new OLED materials, and most do not have the resources to do so, however Samsung Display (pvt), the largest producer of small panel (RGB) OLED displays and affiliate of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the largest producer of OLED smartphone, does. In our 8/26/22 note, we mentioned that the CEO of Samsung Display indicated that it expects to move from using fluorescent blue emitter material to using blue phosphorescent or blue TADF emitter materials. While we believe all OLED producers have the same plans ‘eventually’, when a commercial blue phosphorescent emitter is developed, we expect SDC or SDC and a partner will be the first to commercialize such a material.
SDC has applied for a number of patents, both in Korea and in the US that relate to blue OLED materials, particularly those that have a Boron component along with the more typical heavy metal ligand structure that most phosphorescent materials are based on. By substituting Boron and Nitrogen for Carbon in some of the molecular ring structures, the IP filing states,
“The organometallic compound…may emit blue light having an emission wave-length of about 450nm or greater and less than 490nm. When the organometallic compound…is included in the emission layer of an organic light-emitting device, formation of an eximer and exiplex with a host may be suppressed. Accordingly, the colorimetric purity and lifespan of an organic light-emitting device including the organometallic compound may be improved.”
What that means is that by changing the molecular structure of the blue phosphorescent emitter material, some of the pesky ‘byproducts’ of phosphorescence that reduce lifetime can be removed, and while the IP noted here did not give an indication as to the lifetime of such substitutions, the indication was that the blue emitter material’s characteristics improved. We note that given the 161 pages of potential molecular structures in the SDC IP we reference, the specifics as to whether SDC is just covering its bases by listing almost an infinite number of possible chemical combinations and structures that would help it build a case for an IP lock on any blue phosphorescent organometallic Boron-based material that might come to market, or whether it is purposefully obscuring a specific material structure that it believes would have commercial value, is a question we cannot answer.
We note that other R&D teams have made many similar broad claims as to improvements in blue phosphorescent material characteristics, although the industry still lacks a commercial blue phosphorescent OLED emitter material. UDC has given a loose timeline for commercial production in 2024, with industry specs met by the end of this year and TADF material developers have promised a commercial blue as far back as 2020 but have been unable to meet those goals. That said, Samsung recently purchased Cynora (pvt), one of the few TADF developers that have been working toward the commercialization of a blue OLED emitter with phosphorescent characteristics, but actually only purchased the company’s IP, more likely as a way to cover a broader swath of potential blue material development than it would have had as an investor.
So as the activity toward a commercial blue material gain momentum, it would seem that Samsung Display is not only using dollars and IP to keep itself in the game, but is also working toward the possibility of an internal development, or one jointly with UDC (the logical choice) or another partner. UDC’s IP and supply contract with SDC will expire at the end of this year, although it can be renewed for two additional years, and while the terms of the contract are not public, we believe the current contract only covers red and green (and similar derivatives) phosphorescent IP, with blue to be negotiated when necessary. It would be difficult to disaggregate a change in contract terms between UDC and SDC that would relate to blue IP, but it is something to watch as we head into 2023.
There are a number of large companies involved in R&D to develop a blue phosphorescent OLED emitter as its use would vastly improve the characteristics of the OLED stack, but, as opposed to red and green OLED emitters, the energy levels of blue emitters makes them unstable and limits their lifetimes. Universal Display OLED) the primary supplier of phosphorescent OLED emitters to the industry spends ~$20m/quarter on R&D, and while not all of that goes toward the development of blue phosphorescent emitters, we expect a large portion of that budget does. Of course, OLED panel producers, the buyers of phosphorescent OLED materials, have a particular interest in the development of a blue phosphorescent OLED emitter, both from the standpoint of improving the efficiency and quality of their OLED display products, and from a competitive standpoint. The quality side is easy to understand but owning the IP to such a material, as does UDC for red and green, would be an enormous asset and would allow the owner to license (or not license) or sell (or not sell) the material to other OLED display producers.
All OLED producers test emitter materials, both the emitters themselves and host materials in which the emitters are ‘doped’, looking for, in the case of blue, a phosphorescent material that is ‘deep blue’, has a high efficiency, and a long lifetime, but as manufacturers their job is to produce OLED panels, not research new OLED materials, and most do not have the resources to do so, however Samsung Display (pvt), the largest producer of small panel (RGB) OLED displays and affiliate of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), the largest producer of OLED smartphone, does. In our 8/26/22 note, we mentioned that the CEO of Samsung Display indicated that it expects to move from using fluorescent blue emitter material to using blue phosphorescent or blue TADF emitter materials. While we believe all OLED producers have the same plans ‘eventually’, when a commercial blue phosphorescent emitter is developed, we expect SDC or SDC and a partner will be the first to commercialize such a material.
SDC has applied for a number of patents, both in Korea and in the US that relate to blue OLED materials, particularly those that have a Boron component along with the more typical heavy metal ligand structure that most phosphorescent materials are based on. By substituting Boron and Nitrogen for Carbon in some of the molecular ring structures, the IP filing states,
“The organometallic compound…may emit blue light having an emission wave-length of about 450nm or greater and less than 490nm. When the organometallic compound…is included in the emission layer of an organic light-emitting device, formation of an eximer and exiplex with a host may be suppressed. Accordingly, the colorimetric purity and lifespan of an organic light-emitting device including the organometallic compound may be improved.”
What that means is that by changing the molecular structure of the blue phosphorescent emitter material, some of the pesky ‘byproducts’ of phosphorescence that reduce lifetime can be removed, and while the IP noted here did not give an indication as to the lifetime of such substitutions, the indication was that the blue emitter material’s characteristics improved. We note that given the 161 pages of potential molecular structures in the SDC IP we reference, the specifics as to whether SDC is just covering its bases by listing almost an infinite number of possible chemical combinations and structures that would help it build a case for an IP lock on any blue phosphorescent organometallic Boron-based material that might come to market, or whether it is purposefully obscuring a specific material structure that it believes would have commercial value, is a question we cannot answer.
We note that other R&D teams have made many similar broad claims as to improvements in blue phosphorescent material characteristics, although the industry still lacks a commercial blue phosphorescent OLED emitter material. UDC has given a loose timeline for commercial production in 2024, with industry specs met by the end of this year and TADF material developers have promised a commercial blue as far back as 2020 but have been unable to meet those goals. That said, Samsung recently purchased Cynora (pvt), one of the few TADF developers that have been working toward the commercialization of a blue OLED emitter with phosphorescent characteristics, but actually only purchased the company’s IP, more likely as a way to cover a broader swath of potential blue material development than it would have had as an investor.
So as the activity toward a commercial blue material gain momentum, it would seem that Samsung Display is not only using dollars and IP to keep itself in the game, but is also working toward the possibility of an internal development, or one jointly with UDC (the logical choice) or another partner. UDC’s IP and supply contract with SDC will expire at the end of this year, although it can be renewed for two additional years, and while the terms of the contract are not public, we believe the current contract only covers red and green (and similar derivatives) phosphorescent IP, with blue to be negotiated when necessary. It would be difficult to disaggregate a change in contract terms between UDC and SDC that would relate to blue IP, but it is something to watch as we head into 2023.
One of the many OLED Molecular Structures in Samsung Display IP Filing - Source: US Patent Office
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