Welcome and opening remarks

MicroLEDs are reaching escape velocity

Eric Virey Principal Market and Technology Analyst Yole Intelligence (France)

Apple put micro light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the map when it acquired Luxvue. Display makers were initially skeptical but now believe that, while challenging, microLED displays might be credible contenders in some applications. As a result, money and resources are flowing into microLEDs, fueling a virtuous circle with faster developments, and improving prospects that are attracting further investments. Liquid crystal displays or organic LED (OLED) displays did not take off until high volume manufacturing equipment became available. Equipment makers are now offering microLED-dedicated tools, and, although hindered by a lack of standardization in processes, some are developing one-stop solutions, including transfer, inspection, and repair. But for microLED displays to be economically viable, microchip transfer and assembly technologies with micron-scale accuracy, and throughputs at least five orders of magnitude higher than traditional pick-and-place and bonding equipment are required. We review their status and more in this talk.

Eric Virey is a Principal Market and Technology Analyst within the Photonics, Sensing & Display Division at Yole Intelligence, part of the Yole Group. Eric contributes daily to the development of display activities at Yole with an extensive collection of market and technology reports on display technologies, quantum dots, microLEDs, TFT backplanes, and multiple custom consulting projects: business strategy, identification of investments or acquisition targets, due diligence (buy/sell-side), market and technology analysis, cost modeling, technology scouting, etc. Eric has spoken at more than 50 industry conferences worldwide over the last ten years. In addition, he has been interviewed and quoted by leading media throughout the world, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, CNBC, Bloomberg, Financial Review, Forbes, Technology Review, etc. He is also a regular contributor to various display industry media and organizations. Previously Eric has held various R&D, engineering, manufacturing, and business development positions with the Fortune 500 Company Saint-Gobain in France and the United States. Eric Virey holds a Ph.D. in Optoelectronics from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble. He is currently based in Portland, OR.

Stacked-RGB micro-LED micro-displays for AR and MR

James Kim Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sundiode (United States)

We present the ongoing development of micro-LED micro-displays having vertically stacked multi-junction micro-LED pixels for application in AR/MR devices. Specifically, the micro-displays utilize RGB micro-LED subpixels that are stacked vertically in a single pixel, yet fully independently controlled, and thus allows full-color emission from essentially the entire area of the pixel. Stacking RGB subpixels in a single pixel eliminates the need for pixel-transfer processing entirely and reduces the pixel footprint to make single-panel, full-color micro-displays with high pixel density suitable for AR/MR devices, and offer improved color gamut from point-like RGB pixels. In addition, the Stacked-RGB micro-LED pixel design encompasses a novel concept in a CMOS drive scheme which significantly enhances the utilization of the small pixel area of a micro-display.

James Kim is Co-Founder and CEO of Sundiode. He holds a PhD degree in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and brings 20+ years of optoelectronic industry experience including LEDs and numerous patents. With many years in the LED industry and together with the team at Sundiode with similar experiences, Dr. Kim is working to bring the current development of InGaN-based micro-LED micro-display technologies to fruition for powering the next generation displays for AR and MR.

Single wafer platform for micro-LED displays

Matthew Hartensveld CTO and Co-Founder Innovation Semiconductor, Inc. (United States)

Innovation Semiconductor's technology supports improved micro-LED display resolution, efficiency, and scalability. In place of mass transfer or other proprietary processes, Innovation uses a monolithic material system allowing fabrication of complete micro-LED displays on one wafer using only common process steps available in commercial foundries. Innovation has also developed novel color tunable micro-LEDs that emit light from 640 to 425 nm and can act as single LED pixels. Sizes from 500 µm to 2 µm have been demonstrated and maintain performance.

Matthew Hartensveld is the CTO and Co-Founder of Innovation Semiconductor, Inc., an early-stage company pursuing novel solutions for the next generation of displays. He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology, earning a BS in microelectronic engineering and a PhD in microsystems engineering. He currently is an inventor on 6 granted or pending patents and is the author of 16 publications in peer reviewed journals.