Roadmap to EL-QD
Quantum Dots are almost passe in CE circles, with hundreds of millions of displays using these particles to enhance both LCD and OLED technology. Originally, quantum dots were used in films that took the light from an LED source (usually blue LEDs) and created a broader color source that passed through liquid crystal and a phosphor-based color filter. The QDs converted the blue light into other colors (red & green primarily), which added to the color that was generated when the light passed through the red and green dots of the color filter. Color filters however are subtractive in that a red dot in a color filter allows red to pass through while blocking blue and green, which reduces the overall brightness and forces the set to rely on phosphor formulation for its color purity. QDs convert colors rather than filter them which means less total color degradation when QDs are part of the LCD or OLED stack.
Samsung Electronics was and continues to be a strong promoter of QD technology, first because it differentiated Samsung’s display products, and second because they did not have a non-LED TV technology that could compete with LG Display’s (LPL) WOLED TV technology, which has been promoted as having more vibrant colors than typical LCD TVs. Last year Samsung took QDs a step further and combined them with OLED technology to create QD/OLED displays, that use a combination of blue and green OLED emitter material to generate light, and quantum dots to convert that light into colors, producing an OLED based display that does not use a color filter. When compared to typical WOLED displays, which use OLED materials to create a white light source but use a phosphor-based color filter to create colors, the QD/OLED display is, in theory, brighter, with the QDs (additive) replacing the phosphors (subtractive). Samsung Display (pvt) the producer of QD/OLED displays, has a single production fab for this new technology and is in the process of deciding if and when to expand production, but a bit further down the road is another path for quantum dots, and one that has even more implications for the display space.
While QDs are typically stimulated into operation by light, they also have the characteristic of being able to be stimulated by an electrical charge, similar to the way OLED materials generate light. In this case the QDs are self-emissive or electro-luminescent, and present another alternative to existing and potential EL display technologies, such as micro-LEDs and OLEDs. That said, as QDs are relatively new to display applications, much work needs to be done to design QD materials and driving circuitry to bring EL QDs to market as a competitive display technology, but given the relatively simple production process for quantum dots and what seems to be a simple stack structure, they are particularly attractive as a potentially disruptive display technology.
Nanosys (pvt), the leader in QD technology, and a licensor to Samsung, privately showed a 6” QD EL display at CES, which, while still in development, is a step toward the commercialization of this technology, with the promise that more information about the technology would be shared in a few months by a yet unnamed manufacturing partner. Nanosys was careful to point out that true EL-QD commercialization is still a few years out (2025 -2026 at the earliest), but that the demo was a pure QD EL, using no other materials or filters. Considering that QDs are already being printed in the Samsung QD/OLED process, the production costs for EL QDs, when they are ready for mass production, should be low and applicable to almost any surface, so some of the drawbacks facing other existing and potential display technologies are less of a roadblock to EL-QD commercialization.
All in, while the display and CE industries are not going to change overnight, there are a number of new display technologies vying for the display technology throne and while EL-QDs are still toward the back of the line, recent progress establishes a timeline. In the display space timelines are more often missed than met, but at least there is a finite goal and a technology that does not have to start from scratch today.
Samsung Electronics was and continues to be a strong promoter of QD technology, first because it differentiated Samsung’s display products, and second because they did not have a non-LED TV technology that could compete with LG Display’s (LPL) WOLED TV technology, which has been promoted as having more vibrant colors than typical LCD TVs. Last year Samsung took QDs a step further and combined them with OLED technology to create QD/OLED displays, that use a combination of blue and green OLED emitter material to generate light, and quantum dots to convert that light into colors, producing an OLED based display that does not use a color filter. When compared to typical WOLED displays, which use OLED materials to create a white light source but use a phosphor-based color filter to create colors, the QD/OLED display is, in theory, brighter, with the QDs (additive) replacing the phosphors (subtractive). Samsung Display (pvt) the producer of QD/OLED displays, has a single production fab for this new technology and is in the process of deciding if and when to expand production, but a bit further down the road is another path for quantum dots, and one that has even more implications for the display space.
While QDs are typically stimulated into operation by light, they also have the characteristic of being able to be stimulated by an electrical charge, similar to the way OLED materials generate light. In this case the QDs are self-emissive or electro-luminescent, and present another alternative to existing and potential EL display technologies, such as micro-LEDs and OLEDs. That said, as QDs are relatively new to display applications, much work needs to be done to design QD materials and driving circuitry to bring EL QDs to market as a competitive display technology, but given the relatively simple production process for quantum dots and what seems to be a simple stack structure, they are particularly attractive as a potentially disruptive display technology.
Nanosys (pvt), the leader in QD technology, and a licensor to Samsung, privately showed a 6” QD EL display at CES, which, while still in development, is a step toward the commercialization of this technology, with the promise that more information about the technology would be shared in a few months by a yet unnamed manufacturing partner. Nanosys was careful to point out that true EL-QD commercialization is still a few years out (2025 -2026 at the earliest), but that the demo was a pure QD EL, using no other materials or filters. Considering that QDs are already being printed in the Samsung QD/OLED process, the production costs for EL QDs, when they are ready for mass production, should be low and applicable to almost any surface, so some of the drawbacks facing other existing and potential display technologies are less of a roadblock to EL-QD commercialization.
All in, while the display and CE industries are not going to change overnight, there are a number of new display technologies vying for the display technology throne and while EL-QDs are still toward the back of the line, recent progress establishes a timeline. In the display space timelines are more often missed than met, but at least there is a finite goal and a technology that does not have to start from scratch today.
RSS Feed