Smartkem demos OTFT microLED display
Display Week demo used a sapphire wafer with 96x96 arrays of patterned microLEDs planarised with Smartkem’s materials
Smartkem, a UK company that makes organic semiconductor polymer transistors, has just debuted its first demo of a microLED display using its proprietary OTFT materials at Display Week 2024 in San Jose.
Smartkem’s demo was a sapphire wafer with 96x96 arrays of patterned microLEDs which had been planarised with Smartkem’s materials. Vias were then formed down to the device contact pads using photolithography and etching, and finally a metal layer was sputtered and patterned to form the anode and cathode contacts to the microLEDs. The metal connections were made selectively to generate the patterned images shown.
These types of samples are subsequently further processed to deposit Smartkem’s organic thin-film transistors (OTFT )materials and direct drive connection is replaced with a connection from a drive TFT which can then be addressed in a matrix format to make an active matrix display.
SmartKem's patented TRUFLEX semiconductor and dielectric inks, or liquid electronic polymers, are used to make a new type of transistor that can be used in a number of display technologies including microLED, miniLED and AMOLED displays for next generation televisions, laptops, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets, smartwatches and smartphones.
The company develops its materials at its R&D facility in Manchester, UK, its semiconductor manufacturing processes at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) at Sedgefield, UK and retains a field application office in Taiwan.
