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Micro LED Development Status and Trends

Conference Paper · January 2019

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 Micro LED Development Status and
Trends

January 18, 2019

Paul Schuele
pschuele@eluxdisplay.com

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 1

 Outline

◼ Development of display technology

◼ Introduction to µLED display
◼ Basics of fluidic assembly
◼ Fabrication and test of µLED displays
◼ µLED color gamut and RGB
◼ The future of display technology?

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 2

 The Progress of Display Technology
1990 2010 2020

LCD OLED MicroLED

Color Filter
Organic Solid
Liquid Crystal
LED State
LED
Back Light
Unit
▪ Self-emitting ▪ Self-emitting
▪ Non self-emitting ▪ Thin and curved ▪ High brightness, outdoor use
▪ Light utilization rate <7% ▪ Medium Energy consumption ▪ Low power, thin and curved
▪ Only for slightly curved display ▪ Short lifetime and burn in ▪ Long lifetime and stable
▪ Market leader ▪ Color change with time ▪ New technology

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 µLED Display

◼ µLED display has many benefits over LCD and OLED

◼ Simple structure
◼ Higher brightness
◼ Higher efficiency and contrast compared to LCD
◼ Better reliability and environmental range than OLED
◼ Leverage conventional LED and backplane manufacturing
◼ However we need to assemble a few million µLEDs
◼ 8K: 7680 × 4320 (99 million µLEDs)
◼ 4K: 3840 × 2160 (25 million µLEDs)
◼ HD: 1920 × 1080 (6 million µLEDs)
◼ Buyer does not care if your technology is cool
◼ Better than ppm defectivity at low cost

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 Which µLED?
◼ Vertical microrod LED for light source
◼ Why: More emission area, m-plane for red
◼ How: Vertical wire core with radial LED
◼ Who: glo AB, Aledia, Sharp ATRL, Sharp Labs

◼ Microdisplay
◼ Why: Very high ppi for wearable or VR/AR
◼ How: Direct transfer of µLED array on Si driver chip
◼ Who: LuxVue (Apple), VueReal, X-celeprint, Lumiode

◼ Direct emission large display

◼ Why: Bright, efficient
◼ How: Pick-and-place µLED on glass or PCB
◼ Who: Sony CLEDIS, Samsung Wall and many others
Sony CLEDIS
◼ Low cost direct emission display
◼ Why: Low cost, bright, efficient
◼ How: Fluidic µLED assembly on glass
◼ Who: eLux

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 µLED Constraints
◼ Epitaxial wafer limits
◼ Wafer size 200 mm or less
◼ MOCVD process variability
◼ MOCVD process yield

◼ Micro display
◼ Mass transfer and direct bonding
◼ Limited size of Si driver chip
◼ Only VR or watch size

◼ Direct emission large display

◼ Mass transfer or pick- place µLED
◼ Pick-place difficult for small LED
◼ Pitch enlargement is hard for mass transfer

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 µLED Assembly Strategies

◼ Deterministic (mass transfer)

◼ Pick-place is relatively slow for large area (long throw)
◼ Small devices are hard to hold and orient
◼ Variable pitch is a challenge for mass transfer
◼ Devices can be binned by selective pickup
◼ Laser driven transfer can adapt for pitch and yield
◼ Stochastic (fluidic assembly)
◼ Massively parallel assembly can be very fast
◼ Fluidic assembly tools are very low cost
◼ Low force on µLED (especially important for red LEDs)
◼ Need high quality µLEDs to use all of MOCVD wafer

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 Si-NW Fluidic Assembly
V+ >

Fluid
V- > flow

V+ >

V- >

V+ >

◼ VLS grown Si nanowires 100 nm diameter by 50 µm

◼ Gate all around TFT from Si/SiO2/n-poly Si structure
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 Micro-rod LED

5X50 µm LED rod µLED ink E-field align

◼ 5 µm scale µLEDs work well

◼ Fluidic assembly is a viable parallel assembly technique
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 µLED Disc Array Construction
Disc in well

THV
Well on Glass

High Brightness µLED Substrate Engineering Fluidic Assembly Color Conversion

◼ Make µLEDs from commercially available LED wafers

◼ Harvest µLED disks into an ink for fluidic assembly µLED Array
◼ High speed oriented fluidic assembly to position µLEDs in array
◼ Simple, low cost high volume manufacturing

◼ µLED assembly is the critical processing technology

◼ Motion: Distribute µLED over the backplane to trapping points
◼ Trapping: Position and hold the µLED precisely to make array LTPS TFT driven µLED
◼ Orientation: Orient 100% of µLED diodes for forward bias ~600,000 µLEDs at 167 ppi

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 10

 µLED Performance

▪ High brightness blue LED wafers by conventional

GaN MOCVD process on sapphire
▪ 40 µm diameter planar µLEDs
▪ Harvested by laser lift off
▪ Performance similar to general lighting LEDs

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 11

 Passive Matrix µLED Evaluation
Voff = -2.5 V Von = 3.5 V compliance = 0.0003 A Vf at 36.46 uA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 0 red
24 * * * * * * * * * * * * 24 0 green
23 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 23 309 blue
22 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 22 1 lkg LED
21 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 21 0 hi R LED
20 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 20 1 short
19 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 19 0 leakage
18 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 18 2 open
17 * * * * * * * * * * * * 17
16 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 16
15 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 15
14 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 14
13 * * * * * * * * * * * * 13
12 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 12
11 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 11
10 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 10
9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 9
8 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 8
7 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 7
6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 6
5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5
4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 4
3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3
2 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2
1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

◼ 312 site passive matrix is used to evaluate µLEDs

◼ Standard wafers have large variability with λ range ~7 nm
◼ µLED display needs more MOCVD uniformity than lighting 24x13 passive
◼ We can not use binning to remove shorts and outliers matrix

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 12

 µLED Suspension
10 µm 100 µm 1 mm 10 mm

fat
hair
pollen
dust sand

fog mist rain

µLED mini LED CSP SMD

10 µm 100 µm 1 mm 10 mm

The hydrodynamic diameter of a 42 µm LED is 18.9 µm

µLEDs are sized between red blood cells and fat cells

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 13

 Fluidic Assembly Trapping Forces

1.E+00 ◼ Capillary estimated from Adamson and

1.E-01 Gast, Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, 1997
1.E-02 ◼ Fluidic pressure calculated for
1.E-03 ◼ [0.01 atm, 1 atm] Vacuum strength
1.E-04 ◼ [30 µm, 40 µm] dia. thru hole via
1.E-05 ◼ Gravity calculated for
Force (N)

1.E-06 ◼ [50 µm, 100 µm] dia. x 5µm GaN

1.E-07 ◼ Optical from Nilsson et al. (Analytica
1.E-08 Chimica Acta 2009)
1.E-09 ◼ Magnetic estimated from Morris et al.
1.E-10 (Micromachines 2011)
1.E-11 ◼ Dielectrophoresis from Nilsson et al.
1.E-12
(Analytica Chimica Acta 2009)
◼ Stiction of GaN from MH Lin et al.
(Nanoscale res letters 2010)

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 14

 Fluidic Assembly IP
Mechanical Trap Solder Trap Hydrophobic Trap

US 5,545,291 Univ. Calif. (1998)

US 7,727,788 Samsung US 7,774,929 Univ Minn. US 9,913,371 nth Degree

(2010) (2010) (2018)

Delectrophoresis Trap

US 6,606,079 Alien Technology (2003)

US 7,968,474 Nanosys/Sharp (2011)

US 9,329,433 Sharp ATRL (2016)

US20170133558 eLux
US 20170317228 PSI

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 Brief Fundamentals of Fluidic Assembly

◼ Primary goal is fill = 1

◼ µLEDs move and trap C1 ≠ 0
◼ µLEDs do not detrap C2 = 0
◼ Secondary goals
◼ Speed
◼ Utilization

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 16

 µLED Fluidic Assembly
Video courtesy of Po Ki Yuen Oscillating flow
▪ Substrate features capture µLEDs at
precise positions
▪ Oscillating flow yields many capture
attempts
▪ Excess µLED disks are recycled

Good oriented filled with p-GaN up

▪ >99.9% fill
▪ >99.9% correct alignment
Dark circles are 50 µm diameter µLEDs ▪ Rate > 50 million µLEDs/hr on a 12-in
Light circles are 55 µm diameter wells tool

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 17

 Brief Process Flow for Fluidic Assembly
TFT Efficiency
Electrode Yield
µLED site Substrate Dispense µLED Ink

Yield
Clean Recycling Assembly
Speed
Low loss

Remove
Clean-off Residual µLED
Contaminants
Metrology Fluid

Mature Good
Core tech Bonding
contact
Integration

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 18

 In-situ Control of Fluidic Assembly
First assembly yield loss %

Assembly after parameter tuning

Automated identification

◼ Full display can be monitored during processing

◼ In-situ tuning of assembly parameters
◼ Improved fill yield and assembly speed
◼ Decrease residual µLEDs on surface
9 defects, 2 residual ◼ End point control for completed assembly
Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 19
 µLED Yield Metrology

◼ DSLR image of µLED emission

◼ FOV > 45 cm2 in less than a second
◼ Yield feedback for fabrication
◼ Repair map and Mura correction (next)
Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 20
 µLED Display with LTPS TFT
12”

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 RGB for µLED

3 color µLEDs (not display) QD color display

◼ Good efficiency and color gamut ◼ All blue µLED simplifies assembly
◼ Green GaN FWHM and lower efficiency ◼ Lower efficiency for conversion
◼ Red µLED are AlGaInP >>> different ◼ QD passivation and lifetime
◼ Three step assembly ◼ Blue leakage

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 22

 µLED Color Gamut

FWHM

blue leak

◼ These are examples that are not fully tuned

◼ Pixel by pixel Mura correction will be necessary
◼ µLED can nearly meet requirements of REC 2020 color gamut

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 23

 What is the future of µLED?
◼ Search on December 4, 2018
◼ High interest in technology
◼ Market projections are large
◼ $20B in 2025
◼ $10.7B in 2022
◼ $286.38M in 2026
◼ 80% CAGR
◼ etc.

◼ Large players like Sony,

Samsung, Apple, AU, INX are
working on the technology

◼ However

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 24

 µLED versus incumbents
eLux USA Sharp Guangzhou Gen 10.5 LCD fab

◼ Incumbent technologies have significant business advantages

◼ Revenue and learning stream based on mature technology
◼ Established infrastructure and supply chain
◼ Reliability and performance from iterative improvement over large volume
◼ µLED investment is very small compared to LCD or OLED
◼ Customers do not care if your technology is cool
How does µLED make the transition to production?
Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 25
 µLED Path from Research to Prototype
◼ Large investments required to make µLED display products
◼ Current LCD and OLED fabs cost more than $3 Billion
◼ There are many examples of promising technology that did not
produce a viable business

◼ µLED display competitors need a product foothold

◼ Prototype volume to develop yield and reliability
◼ Develop the specialized tool set for µLED manufacture/test/repair
◼ Establish a reputation for high performance

◼ Where are the best opportunities for µLED?

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 26

 Display Product Requirements
Very Extremely Not
Hard Harder
Hard Hard Impossible?
Info display auto CID television watch phone VR/AR
brightnesss
1000-4000 600-800 400-1000 300-500 300-500 ?
(nits)
display size 6-24 10-15
32-108 1-2 5-6 3-4
(in) tiled conformal
PPI 15 150-250 40-100 300 300-800 500-2000
µLED size
50 20 40 10 5 2-3
(µm)
Pixels
~500K 100K 8-99M <100K 4-8M 10M?
(#)
◼ Very high brightness requires a lot of power (heat)
◼ Tiling and conformal displays add complexity and reliability risk
◼ For television yield (cost) is difficult especially at 8K
◼ µLED size below 10 µm raises difficulty (resolution) and lower efficiency
◼ Small pixel size may require silicon drivers rather than TFT on glass
◼ Difficulty is a predictor of time to market
Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 27
 Potential µLED Products
◼ µLED display competitors need a product foothold
◼ Prototype volume to develop yield and reliability
◼ Develop the specialized tool set for µLED manufacture/test/repair
◼ Establish a reputation for high performance
◼ Television
◼ Technology advantage: Brightness and color gamut
◼ Disadvantage: ~$10B to make a production fab
◼ Not enough resources to challenge the competition directly
◼ Automotive
◼ Technology advantage: Environmental stability, efficiency and brightness
◼ Disadvantage: Need to establish reliability history
◼ Large Information Display
◼ Technology advantage: Brightness and reliability (no burn-in)
◼ Large pixel pitch and relatively high ASP

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 28

 eLux Display Cost Advantage

Sony CLEDIS
◼ Pixel pitch: 1.25 mm →
$42k/m2 → $126k HD display
◼ Reported cost for Sony Display
is >$1M ($60K for 23”)

Samsung The Wall

◼ 146 and 219” versions shown
◼ 146” price reported >$100,000

◼ eLux µLED technology is suitable for smaller pitch size (0.2 mm – 1.0 mm)
◼ µLED display by fluidic assembly is much cheaper than LED display using pick-and-place

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 29

 µLED Summary
Strengths Weaknesses
▪ Uses mature backplane and LED ▪ Large area assembly still in development
technologies ▪ µLED uniformity is a challenge
▪ Fluidic assembly cost comparable to LCD ▪ eLux focus is on 20 to 100 µm µLED
▪ Orientation control for diode assembly
▪ High brightness, HDR, and color gamut
▪ Lifetime and environmental stability

eLux µLED
Opportunities Threats
▪ µLED can supersede OLED as dominant ▪ Sony CLEDIS has been demonstrated
technology due to improved since CES 2012
performance, lifetime, and ▪ Improvements to OLED lifetime and
environmental stability burn-in
▪ Cost for µLED is potentially lower than ▪ Time to market
competing OLED/LED technologies

Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 30

 Prospects for µLED Display

◼ When will µLED products be available?

◼ I don’t know (most accurate answer!)
◼ If all goes well 2-3 years from now

◼ Will there ever be µLED products???

◼ Clear advantages over other technologies
◼ Many alternate approaches are in development
◼ Large area PID will probably be first (route to TV)
◼ Wearable displays will probably be second (route to VR)

Yes!
Display NEPCON Japan 2019 1/18/2019 | eLux PROPRIETARY | 31
 Thank You!
Jongjan Lee, Paul Schuele, Changqing Zhan, Kurt Ulmer, Kenji Sasaki,
Yuhao Lu, Shu-han Yu, Eden Huang, Hazel Chen, Weiyuan Ma

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