A research team of The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed a new light-emitting material which combines quantum dot with a polymer medium filled with popcorn-like air bag. The new material, compared to conventional pure quantum dot films, perform 21 times better luminous intensity and 45% better durability. (Image: KAIST) The study was published online in September on Nano Letters, titles “Order-of-Magnitude, Broadband-Enhanced Light Emission from Quantum Dots Assembled in Multiscale Phase-Separated Block Copol...

As display technology continues to progress, worldwide big names have launched innovative displays that the resolution has evolved from full HD to 4K. Nevertheless, without high contrast, the refined display performance of high resolution would not be fully presented. High contrast intensifies the brightness and darkness of images and videos on TVs and gaming monitors and enables AR wearables or automotive displays to deliver clear picture under sunlight. Thus, the demands for high contrast display keep rising. LEDs, with its self-emitting feature, can be adopted to various ...

Hyundai Mobis announced its partnership with Velodyne Lidar for mass-producing level 3 autonomous driving LiDAR system. Hyundai Mobis will also invest US$50 million in Velodyne to reinforce business cooperation in LiDAR commercialization. (Image: Hyundai Mobis) The two companies will collaborate on new LiDAR system supply by integrating Velodyne’s latest LiDAR sensors with Hyundai Mobis’ cognitive software. Hyundai Mobis’ cognitive software will process the outside vehicle environment data gathered by LiDAR sensors which means tha...

People become more and more aware of how lighting can affect human well-being and are paying attention to the quality of lighting. For enhancing light quality, researchers found out people have different perception of light sources depending on their age and highlighted the importance of taking age factor into consideration when designing white LED lighting. A study published in The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Express investigated the perception variability related to short-wavelength effects and confirmed that the perception of white LEDs is affected by the view...

Chemistry company BASF announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with EMDE Development of Light (EMDE), a Germany-based innovative lighting design company. Under the agreement, EMDE will distribute BASF’s innovative LED Sunvue® lighting products in Europe. In addition, the lighting company will adopt BASF’s color conversion technology to design new lighting products and solutions. (Image: BASF) BASF’s proprietary Sunvue technology is developed to optimize blue LED light for different applications. The te...

Google launched its latest smart phones Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL on October 15, featuring advanced camera functions, motion sensing and face unlock. The new features of Pixel 4 are supported by sensing technology specialists including Infineon and ams. (Image: Google) Google created Motion Sense to detect users hand motions based on its technology from Project Soli. The technology allows user operate the device simply by swiping or waving hands in front of it Instead of touching or holding the phone. This function was achieved thanks to Infineon’s radar chip. T...

ON Semiconductor and AImotive have jointly announced that they will work together to develop prototype sensor fusion platforms for automotive applications. The collaboration will help customers explore highly integrated solutions for future generations of sensor data conditioning hardware platforms. The companies plan to develop a series of hardware platform demonstrators, combining ON Semiconductor’s latest HD camera and radar sensor and pre-processor chipsets and expertise with AImotive’s AI-based perception algorithms, hardware acceleration and simulation ca...

Specialized in facial recognition, the U.S.-based company StereoVision Imaging (SVI) announced that it won eight patents related to Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR technology. Conventional FMCW LiDAR systems are typically limited in various aspects of operation. For example, these conventional systems are not able to provide range and/or range rate information instantaneously based on the target signal or unambiguously determine distance and velocity. These limitations may be exacerbated by various operating conditions such as, for example,...

City College of New York (CCNY) announced their research breakthroughs in the realm of photonics, the researchers successfully demonstrated an LED based on half-light half-matter quasiparticles in atomically thin materials. According to CCNY, this is also the first successful test of an electrically driven light emitter using atomically thin semiconductors embedded in a light trapping structure. (Schematic of a half-light- half-matter quasiparticle based LED developed in Vinod Menon's group using atomically thin materials. Image credit: Visakh Menon) The ...

Microdisplay solutions provider Compound Photonics (CP) announced its partnership with Plessey, the UK-based Micro LED technology builder, for developing the world’s smallest 1080p (1920x1080 pixel) GaN-on-Silicon Micro LED based microdisplay solution suitable for integration into AR and MR smart glasses. Under this partnership, Plessey will bond CP’s high speed digital low-latency backplane silicon wafer with Plessey’s proprietary GaN on Silicon monolithic Micro LED array wafer. In turn, CP will utilize its deep experience in microd...

Apple just won another Micro LED related patent with other 63 patents issued on October 8, 2019, reported Patently Apple. The patent, titled “Optical Verification System of verifying Micro Device Transfer,” focuses on mass transfer process, which has been one of the most challenging issues that slow down Micro LED commercialization. (Image: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) In the patent, Apple described an optical verification method and mass transfer system which includes optical imaging and inspection for monitoring Micro LED transfe...

Micro LED specialist glō is going showcase its Micro LED display at the CEATEC show from October 15 to 18 in Chiba, Japan. glō has cooperated with Kyocera and introduced a 1.8-inch Micro LED display at Display Week 2019. The Micro LED display based on LTPS backplane achieves a resolution of 200 ppi and brightness up to 1 million nits. The product will be demonstrated in Japan during the CEATEC show targeting smart wearable applications. (Image: glō) glō’s technology creates Micro LED with InGaN for RGB pixels without...

Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP partnered with Freie Universität Berlin and Technische Hochschule Wildau to work on a research project for developing a novel 3D printing process that enables easier and more efficient production of three-dimensional components using UV-LED-curable reactive resins. This allows printing times to be reduced compared to conventional additive manufacturing processes. According to the researchers, the new project, named BUERMa, standing for "Belt deposited, double UV-cured materials for 3D engineerin...

Plessey announced that it has successfully achieved native blue and green color emission on the same epitaxy wafer with its GaN-on-Silicon process. (Image: Plessey) To form RGB Micro LED displays, typical approaches are to use a pick and place process to transfer discrete R, G and B pixels or to use Native Blue LEDs as the light source for subsequent color conversion, to Red and Green. But the tiny chip size makes the placement process and conversion very difficult. Plessey’s latest patented growth approach simplifies the color conversion process by c...

Patently Apple published a new article noting that Apple was granted another Micro LED related patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent is titled “Micro LED mixing cups,” describing the integration of different layers in Micro LED. The mixing cups structure, according to the patent description, includes “a diffuser layer adjacent the LED, an angular filter directly over the diffuser layer and the LED, and an overcoat layer directly over the angular filter and the LED.” These layers are designed to integrate differen...

In April, an Apple rumor pointed out that the company would have launched Mini LED backlight product in the second half of 2019 and Mini LED iPad as well as Macbook since the end of 2020. In June, we have seen Apple presented its Pro Display XDR based on LED backlight display which is similar to Mini LED backlight technology but not the same. Now, Apple was said again that it will launch iPad and MacBook adopting Mini LED displays. The rumor said that the Mini LED based iPad and MacBook will use about 10,000 LED chips that are smaller than...

Mikro Mesa Technology announced a breakthrough in Micro LED mass transferring and bonding which successfully transferred Micro LED chips sized 3µm to manufacture a 4-inch display. (Image: Mikro Mesa) Mikro Mesa’s technology is capable of transfer chips sized 2 to 5 µm and can produce display with a resolution of 1,800 ppi with millions of Micro LED chips, enabling large size applications including TVs above 55-inch. In addition, the technology is featured with low temperature and press-free bonding for better yield. The low temperature process ...

Plessey announced the launch of a Micro LED Direct-Drive display platform and development kit, based on its proprietary monolithic GaN-on-Silicon technology. According to Plessey, the Direct-Drive displays provide OEM’s and product developers with a solution to retrofit current products or develop new concept designs. Sized smaller than 5x5mm, the display can deliver a brightness of 2 million nits with an input power of 250 mW. (Image: Plessey) The Direct-Drive displays are designed to presents symbolic content with pixel capabilities for 2µm. Du...

Researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Ghent University (UGent) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a dynamic reprogrammable material whose structure chances under green LED light. The new dynamic material, developed by the international research team, was formed with naphthalenes and the coupling molecules triazolinediones (TADs). Once placed under shining green LED light, the material would remain stable and strong. When the light is off and the material remains in darkness, the chemical bonds of the network struct...

Several LED manufacturers in the industry have turned their business focus to automotive applications targeting the progressing automotive and electric vehicle development. The German high-tech company Osram, as one of the leading automotive LED producers, announced that it is starting a new chapter in multi-pixel solutions for car headlights. Osram released the idea of the first hybrid LED "Eviyos" two years ago and is progressing the second generation of Eviyos featuring 25,600 pixels on a single LED chip, with pixel pitch of 40 µm. According to Osra...

Fine pitch display is becoming a trend in the panel market with more and more manufacturers developing advanced display products and technology solutions. GaN-on-Si Micro LED specialist Plessey announced that it has produced a record-breaking 2.5-micron pixel pitch ultra-high resolution Micro LED display for AR/VR wearable applications. Plessey created an ultra-fine, ultra-high resolution 2000×2000 pixel display on a 2.5 microns pitch with its propriety monolithic GaN-on-Si technology. The UK-based company is dedicated to embedded Micro LED technology for...

With Nichia’s LED and driver IC from Infineon, advanced automotive front light with Micro LED enables safer driving and innovative application. The two companies announced that they have started the development of a high-definition (HD) light engine with more than 16,000 Micro LEDs for front light applications. According to Nichia, the Micro LED-based matrix light will offer a resolution about 180 times higher compared to current front light solution, paving the way for improved safety features. For example, HD light can be used to warn the driver of haza...

Plessey, the UK-based optoelectronic technology solutions developer, said that it has transferred its business focus from high-powered solid-state lighting, horticultural lighting and healthcare/ safety sensors sector to GaN-on-Si monolithic Micro LED display technology. The company is disrupting the global display market with a new generation of Augmented Reality (AR) devices and display solutions based on the Micro LED technology. (Image: Plessey) Featured with high brightness, high contrast, lower power consumption, fast refresh time and the capabilities of int...

Shuiji Nakamura, the blue LED inventor and the winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014, visited Taiwan last week and delivered speeches in Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University and Chung Hsing University, as well as in Micro LED company PlayNitride. Nakamura shared his research experiences in Japan and the U.S. on the way of blue LED development and pointed out the trends and potentials of the LED industry. Shuiji Nakamura was invited to PlayNitride Back in the 1990s, ZnSe was the material that the majority believed to be critical for...

The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Germany and Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) announced their cooperation on the development of printed quantum dots (QD) color filters for Micro LED displays. Dr. Youngsam Kim, President of KETI and Prof. Alexander Böker, Head of the Fraunhofer IAP seal the continuation of their cooperation.  Quantum dots are nanocrystals with optical, magnetic or electronic properties. These nanocrystals have a diameter of about 1-10 nm. The small diameter causes so-called qua...

After publishing the research paper demonstrating Micro LED integration with amorphous silicon TFTs, the research team from the University of Waterloo in Canada further revealed its approach of transferring InGaN nanowire LEDs on flexible substrate without degrading optical performance of the LEDs when the substrate bends. Researchers use vertical GaN nanowire LEDs to separate the electrically active region of the LEDs from the bending platform. LEDs are transferred onto flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a “paste and cut” process...

Patently Apple reported an Apple’s patent published in Europe titled “Display with Embedded Pixel Driver Chips” describing the method of fabricating Micro LED display panels with a display integration scheme that embed an array of LEDs on substrates with the front side up. In the description of the patent application, Apple used figures of flexible and foldable display to illustrate how the approach of LED pixel driver chips can be embedded on different display panels. (Image: World Intellectural Property Organization) With the patent app...

iBeam Materials, a U.S.-based company focusing on technologies for crystal-aligned coatings utilizing ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) texturing, announced that Samsung Venture has invested in the company as Samsung’s strategic investments in Micro LED. iBeam pioneers in the development of ion-beam crystal alignment of thin layers deposited on a variety of substrates for optoelectronic devices. Its breakthrough in LED technology enables LEDs to be manufactured on large-area substrates as opposed to the much smaller single-crystal wafers currently used in th...

A research team formed by specialists in photonics, electrical and computer engineering and medicine jointly developed a device which integrated a 10x10 array of glass microneedles with Micro LED to deliver light for stimulating neurons in brains of mammals. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde, University of Utah and Fienstein Institute for Medical Research aim to advance optogenetic studies by connecting neural activities to specific cognitive functions in large mammals. In the study, the researchers combined a glass microneedle array with a custom fabricated...

Lumotive, the Bill Gates-funded startup developing LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles, and Himax Display, a subsidiary of Himax Technologies, announced their collaboration on beam steering technology in LiDAR systems that integrates Himax’s Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) technology with Lumotive’s patented Liquid Crystal Metasurfaces™ (LCMs). With the partnership, the two companies aim to improve the performance, reliability and cost of LiDAR systems for enabling advanced ADAS and automotive vehicle technologies. Lumotive lev...