Samsung Display OLED MPO and inkjet: FMM-free display becomes clearer for IT and mobility

The Oled market is going through a pivotal period, particularly in the diagonals intended for the computing sectors (monitors, laptops) and mobility (smartphones, tablets, connected watches). According to information recently published by the Korean press (Etnews and The Elec), Samsung Display has begun discussions with its industrial partners to set up new pilot lines. Until now, the production of [abc]Oled[/abc] [abc]RGB[/abc] panels has relied almost exclusively on the use of fine metal masks (FMM). However, this method presents major technical and economic constraints, starting with significant consumption of electroluminescent materials and scalability difficulties. Perfect for small screens, the process is much more difficult to apply to larger sizes To break through this bottleneck, the Korean firm is exploring alternatives. Important point to note: these new MPO and inkjet processes do not concern Oled TV panels (this may change, but like CSOT/TCL, Samsung Display is targeting the computing and mobility markets).

 

Inkjet printing, from QD Oled TV to monitors and laptops Samsung Display is initially building on its immense industrial expertise acquired through the manufacture of its QD Oled televisions. As a reminder, on these, while the blue Oled light source is deposited conventionally by vacuum evaporation, the color conversion filter based on Quantum Dots (quantum dots) superimposed to recreate red and green is printed using an inkjet process. The idea of the screen division of the Korean giant is to apply inkjet printing technology to directly deposit the organic [abc]RGB[/abc] pixels, without the slightest mask. With stabilized production yields, manufacturing costs could theoretically fall by more than 30%. While final commercial applications remain to be confirmed, this technology is primarily aimed at laptop screens and computer monitors.

 

MPO, Samsung's counterattack for watches and smartphones At the same time, the battle is raging on the front of photolithography processes for smaller screens and those with very high pixel density. Samsung Display is unveiling its own technological solution called MPO (Micro Patterned Oled). Put on hold for a time, this development came back into the spotlight last spring after a close analysis, by in-house engineers, of a connected watch panel from Chinese company Visionox using the competing ViP process (also without FMM). While Samsung had anticipated low yields, the examination revealed characteristics surprisingly close to classic FMM. Faced with the offensive from the Chinese industry and that of LG Display (with its FliPP technology), the Korean leader decided to react quickly and forcefully by restarting R&D on this technology.

 

7" MPO prototype, zero-defect etching? Unlike Visionox's ViP method or LG Display's FliPP, which deposit materials over a large surface before removing the unwanted parts by etching, Samsung's MPO process first creates microscopic insulation structures. The organic materials are then formed only within these defined areas. As a result, no subsequent etching step is needed. This clever approach greatly reduces losses and would make it possible to avoid rival patents. Above all, the industrial press reports that this technology is ideally suited to very high-resolution screens, preventing damage to the organic layer when pixels are brought extremely close together. Such precision makes the MPO process particularly suitable for smartphones, tablets and connected watches.