Harry Williams
New member
Recently, Kim Gong-min, Executive Director of the Technology Strategy Team at Samsung Display's R&D Center, announced during the "Deep Tech Forum 2023" event that Samsung Display has begun the development of LEDos technology for AR devices. He also revealed that the size of the Micro LED chips can be reduced to a few micrometers.
Kim Gong-min pointed out that one of the challenges currently faced is the wafer technology on the backplane. While existing semiconductor processes can shrink the size of Micro LED chips, achieving ultra-high-resolution displays can lead to characteristics significantly different from LEDs used for illumination. When the LED size is smaller than 20 μm or 10 μm, the characteristics deteriorate substantially, making it difficult to ensure the expected functionality. Overcoming this issue and achieving the desired functionality remains a challenge.
In the field of micro-displays, major technologies include Silicon-based Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS), Silicon-based Micro OLED, Silicon-based Micro LED, DLP displays, and laser scanning mirrors. For optical display technologies, the majority of AR products currently adopt the more mainstream Micro OLED technology, with only a few utilizing Micro LED technology.
In June of this year, Apple made a significant splash with its first MR headset, the Vision Pro, which utilizes two custom silicon-based OLED screens. However, for AR devices to match the brightness of the surrounding light and project virtual images into the real world, higher-brightness displays are required. Therefore, the industry believes that Micro LED technology is more suitable for AR device applications compared to OLED.
In fact, besides Samsung, companies like Apple, Meta, Google, and others also see great potential in Micro LED micro-display screens for AR applications. They have been collaborating with Micro LED manufacturers through acquisitions and other forms of cooperation. With further advancements in Micro LED micro-display technology, it is expected to be more widely integrated into various AR devices in the future.
Kim Gong-min pointed out that one of the challenges currently faced is the wafer technology on the backplane. While existing semiconductor processes can shrink the size of Micro LED chips, achieving ultra-high-resolution displays can lead to characteristics significantly different from LEDs used for illumination. When the LED size is smaller than 20 μm or 10 μm, the characteristics deteriorate substantially, making it difficult to ensure the expected functionality. Overcoming this issue and achieving the desired functionality remains a challenge.
In the field of micro-displays, major technologies include Silicon-based Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS), Silicon-based Micro OLED, Silicon-based Micro LED, DLP displays, and laser scanning mirrors. For optical display technologies, the majority of AR products currently adopt the more mainstream Micro OLED technology, with only a few utilizing Micro LED technology.
In June of this year, Apple made a significant splash with its first MR headset, the Vision Pro, which utilizes two custom silicon-based OLED screens. However, for AR devices to match the brightness of the surrounding light and project virtual images into the real world, higher-brightness displays are required. Therefore, the industry believes that Micro LED technology is more suitable for AR device applications compared to OLED.
In fact, besides Samsung, companies like Apple, Meta, Google, and others also see great potential in Micro LED micro-display screens for AR applications. They have been collaborating with Micro LED manufacturers through acquisitions and other forms of cooperation. With further advancements in Micro LED micro-display technology, it is expected to be more widely integrated into various AR devices in the future.
