flat panel displays in south korea – present and future · iljin seoul adrc in kyung hee...

GLOBAL WATCH MISSION REPORT

Flat panel displays in South Korea – present and future

DECEMBER 2003

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Global Watch MissionsThe UK government Department of Trade andIndustry (DTI) Global Watch service provides funds toassist small groups of technical experts from UKcompanies and academia to visit other countries forshort, fact finding missions.

Global Watch missions serve a number of relatedpurposes. These include establishing contacts withoverseas organisations for the purposes ofcollaboration; benchmarking the current status of UKindustry against developments overseas; identifying keydevelopments in a particular field, new areas ofprogress or potentially disruptive technologies; studyinghow a specific industry has organised itself for efficientoperation or how governments, planners or decisionmakers have supported or promoted a particular area ofindustry or technology within their own country.

Flat panel displays inSouth Korea –

present and futureDECEMBER 2003

1

Bill Milne Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentJeremy Burroughes Cambridge Display TechnologyTerry Clapp Dow CorningRichard Miller QinetiQBill Taylor Printable Field Emitters

CONTENTS

Executive summary 3

1 Introduction 41.1 Mission aims 41.2 Mission members 41.3 Organisations visited 5

2 Introduction to flat 6panel displays (FPDs)

2.1 Markets and applications 62.2 Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) 92.3 Organic/polymer light-emitting 11

diode (OLED/PLED) displays 2.4 Field emission displays (FEDs) 132.4.1 Status of global FED 14

programmes2.5 Plasma display panels (PDPs) 142.6 Three dimensional (3D) displays 162.6.1 Parallax barrier 3D displays 162.6.2 Lenticular array 3D displays 172.7 Electronic paper displays 18

3 Display technologies in 19South Korea

3.1 LCD overview and analysis 193.1.1 Competitive threat 203.1.2 Manufacturing perspectives 213.1.3 Flexible substrates 233.1.4 Backlights and 23

ancillary technology3.2 OLEDs/PLEDs 243.3 FEDs 253.3.1 Backlights for large LCD TV 283.3.2 FEDs: summary 293.4 PDPs 303.5 3D displays 303.6 Electronic paper displays 31

4 Overview and 32 recommendations

4.1 General impressions 324.2 Potential for collaboration 334.3 Research opportunities for UK 344.4 Recommendations 344.5 Suggestions for future missions 35

5 Conclusions 36

Appendices 37A Acknowledgments 37B Mission members 38C Embassy seminar 47D Meeting notes 52E Glossary 68F List of tables and figures 71

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FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS IN SOUTH KOREA – PRESENT AND FUTURE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Despite a huge downturn in the technologymarket over the past few years, worldwidesales of flat panel displays (FPDs) rose by~60-70% last year, and sales of the traditionalcathode ray tube (CRT) dropped by ~5%. Dueto the arrival of South Korea and Taiwan in themarketplace, the price of FPDs hasplummeted, and although still significantlymore expensive than CRTs, it is predictedthat within 5 years, liquid crystal displays(LCDs) in particular will be cheaper thanCRTs, and the perceived wisdom is that by2006, FPDs will capture the majority of thedisplay market. The market will continue toincrease year on year, with current forecastsbeing that by 2007 the total display marketwill be US$100 billion of which US$70-75billion will be for flat panels.

Due to the continuing importance of this FPDmarket, a DTI Global Watch Mission teamvisited 10 companies/research organisationswithin South Korea to explore and identifypotential opportunities for cooperation withinthis area. Currently Korea is seen to be themarket leader in flat panel technologies.

The display technologies discussed wereLCDs, both active and passive, polymer andsmall molecule light-emitting diode (LED)based displays, plasma display panels(PDPs), field emission displays (FEDs) andthree dimensional (3D) displays. Electronicpaper, new material systems includingvarious low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS)processes, novel polymers and phosphorswere also discussed.

There is no doubt that Samsung and LG areleading the way in flat panel technologies atpresent and will continue to do so for thenext 5-10 years, when competition fromTaiwan will begin to challenge their position.The Korean FPD manufacturing base is verypowerful: Samsung and LG each holdapproximately 20% of the global market forFPDs. Their position is secured at this time bythe investment in manufacturing capacity.With Generation 5 (Gen 5) plants already infull production and Gen 6 and 7 plants soonto be completed, LG and Samsung can eachtake glass sizes up towards 2 m2 and expertopinion concurs that the FPD television (TV)market will fall to LCD at all sizes up to 42-inch diagonal.

However, this strength does not imply anabsence of competitive threat. The Koreansevidently see the major challenge emergingfrom Taiwan and China. As the total marketgrows it seems certain that the Koreanmarket share will decline as these otherplayers grow, but both LG and Samsungseem prepared to invest in China to maintaina competitive position.

Outside of industry the Korean government isvery aware of the need to sustain a strongtrading position secured from its industrialexports. In consequence it commits asubstantial portion of its R&D expenditureinto joint programmes with industry. Mostprominent amongst these is the 21st CenturyResearch Programme. This programme ishaving a very powerful influence upon R&Dcommitments within Korea and significantstrategic planning is being influenced.

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Aims

The primary aims of the mission were as follows:

1 To enable UK academics and industrialists to meet those in Koreaengaged in formulating policy and R&Dgoals in flat panel displays (FPDs) and todetermine what lessons can be learned inhelping to form future UK policy.

2 To evaluate scientific R&D in universitiesand national research institutes.

3 To evaluate commercial productinnovations in corporate laboratories.

4 To evaluate commercial andentrepreneurial spin-offs from laboratories.

5 To foster secondment of research staffboth to and from Korea.

6 To evaluate new and emerging FPDtechnologies.

1.2 Mission members

The members were chosen to represent UKinterests at the university and both the globaland small to medium enterprise (SME)industrial level. The members’ expertise basecovered most of the current FPDtechnologies including organic/polymer light-emitting diode (OLED/PLED) devices, novelmaterial systems, field emission displays(FEDs), active matrix liquid crystal displays(AMLCDs), three dimensional (3D) displaysand electronic paper.

Brief details of the mission members andtheir areas of expertise are as follows –further details are provided in Appendix B.

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Mission Members: left toright, Richard Miller, TerryClapp, Bill Milne, Bill Taylor,Jeremy Burroughes andHong Hai Seeto

Bill Milne (Mission Team Leader)Head of Electrical EngineeringCambridge UniversityFEDs and AMLCDsT 01223 [email protected]

Jeremy BurroughesCTOCambridge Display Technologys (CDT)Light-emitting polymers (LEPs) and polymer, thin-film transistors (TFTs)T 01223 [email protected]

Terry ClappScientistDow CorningLiquid crystals, OLEDs & PLEDsT 01223 [email protected]@dowcorning.com

Richard MillerTechnical LeaderQinetiQ3D displays, e-inkT 01684 [email protected]

Bill TaylorDirectorPrintable Field Emitters Ltd (PFE)FEDsT 01235 [email protected]

Hong Hai SeetoDTI International Technology Promoter (ITP)for South KoreaPera Innovation [email protected]

1.3 Organisations visited

Visits to the various companies and researchcentres were arranged in discussion with theBritish Embassy in Seoul. We visited/haddiscussions with 10 companies/researchcentres including universities, majorcompanies and the government fundedElectronics and TelecommunicationsResearch Institute (ETRI).

A seminar was also held at the BritishEmbassy in Seoul on 9 December andinvolved presentations from each teammember and others from the major displaycompanies in Korea. There were over 120attendees including representatives from over70 Korean companies involved in FPDactivities. For a list of attendees and theseminar programme, see Appendix C.

December 8

Embassy Briefing Seoul21Century Frontier SeoulResearch Group (in Embassy)LG-Philips Anyang

December 9

Seminar at British Embassy SeoulLG-Elite (in Embassy) Seoul

December 10

SAIT SuwonSamsung SDI R&D SuwonSamsung Electronics Suwon

December 11

LG Chemical DaejonETRI Daejon

December 12

Iljin SeoulADRC in Kyung Hee University Seoul

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2 INTRODUCTION TO FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS (FPDs)

The flat panel display (FPD) industry, althoughrelatively young (really only starting in theearly 1970s), is evolving at such a rapid pacethat it is very difficult to predict with certaintyfuture directions. From the early watch andcalculator applications these have now spreadto personal computer (PC) notebooks, cellphones, camcorders, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), automobiles and,increasingly, consumer TV. The simple passiveaddressed liquid crystal display (LCD) hasnow also led to a plethora of different FPDtechnologies. The aim of this chapter is toprovide an overview of the markets andapplications for FPDs and then a brief reviewof current FPD technologies.

2.1 Markets and applications

The display market will continue to increasein size until at least 2007, growing 19% byrevenue and 8% by volume, coupled with a10% increase in the average selling price asFPDs displace cathode ray tube (CRT)applications. Current forecasts suggest thatby 2007 the total display market will beUS$100 billion of which US$70 billion will befor flat panels. Figures 1 and 2 below showpredicted growth to 2007 for total displayand FPD revenues.

Growth is being driven by thin-film transistor(TFT) LCD, plasma display panel (PDP) andorganic light-emitting diode (OLED)technologies as replacements in thecomputer monitor and television (TV) marketswhilst mobile telephone and public displayapplications are both forecasted to enjoydouble digit growth.

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Figure 1 Total display module market Figure 2 FPD market(Source: Display Search) (Source: Display Search)

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Display modules

Growth

FPDs

Growth

US

$ b

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Figure 3 FPD market by technology(Source: Display Search)

Figure 4 FPD market by application(Source: Display Search)

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The market is dominated by amorphoussilicon (a-Si) TFT LCD which is forecast togrow very significantly due to furtherpenetration into the desktop and TV markets.

A full analysis of the application markets forFPDs is beyond the scope of this report but itis perhaps worthwhile to look a little closer atthe forecast markets for flat screen TV. FromFigures 3 and 4 it can be seen that by 2007TFT LCD will dominate the market forconsumer TV, and that TV will become thesecond largest market for FPDs, just behindthat for desktop monitors.

In May 2003, at the Society for InformationDisplay (SID) annual meeting in Baltimore,the talk of the show was the new largescreen LCD TV, with screen sizes of 40-inchand greater being shown. As LCDmanufacturers move to next generationfabs, they can manufacture up to eight 40-inch panels per mother glass, so drivingdown manufacturing cost and approachingacceptable consumer price points.

Dr Kyuha Chung, VP of Samsung Electronics’Flat Panel Display R&D Team, gave anintriguing insight into the manufacturing andcost dynamics responsible for theseremarkable predictions. In his presentation tothe mission he commented that their goalfor LCD TV was ‘low cost and higher qualitythan CRT, with sizes larger than 40 inch, fullHDTV at wide UXGA (1,920 x 1,080),response time <5 ms, brightness at 800cd/m2 and with a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 –this is our goal, but it is very challenging’.Their Gen 7 line capable of manufacturing 8-up 40-inch TV panels will be running by 2005with a capacity of 60,000 units per annum.He gave the mission the cost predictionshown in Figure 6.

At these manufacturing levels, the cost tomanufacture 40-inch LCD TVs will fall belowthat for PDPs in 2006.

Figure 5 TV market by technology(Source: Private Disclosure, Ross Young, President Display Search Dec ’03)

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The predictions suggest the manufacturingcost for 40-inch LCD TV will fall to US$800 by2007, 32-inch to US$500. Using DisplaySearch’s ratio of 1:2.5 to calculate high streetselling price from manufacturing cost, thisindicates high street selling prices ofUS$2,000 for a 40-inch panel and $1,250 for a32-inch model.

From the Display Search analysis in Table 1,given during the FPD Taiwan meeting in August2003, it can be seen that Korean companiesdominate the large LCD arena as well as havingthe strongest commitment to LCD.

Korean companies also dominate the LCDmarkets, with Samsung Electronics and LG-Philips each holding around 1/3 of globalmarket share. They are also strong in PDPmanufacturing and have significant strengthsin R&D and pilot line infrastructure.

The core of the above section is based on apresentation given by Ross Young, President ofDisplay Search, Austin (Texas), at the DisplaySearch Taiwan FPD International Conference inAugust 2003. The authors acknowledge thiswork and thank Display Search for the right toreproduce the data and charts.

2.2 Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)

Liquid crystals (LCs) are fluid materials inwhich the constituent molecules tend toalign themselves relative to each other.Some LC materials are optically active andthey align themselves with an applied field.This principle is utilised in liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs).

Leadership/capacity/technology Japan Korea Taiwan

First mover to new substrate sizesCreates standard panel sizesScaleLarge-area capacitySmall/medium capacityTotal capacityCompany sizeTFT LCD capital spendingIndustry commitmentBundling other componentsSmall/medium know-howTV know-howR&D linesLTPSAMOLEDs

2nd, 3rd, 3.5, 6th#2#3#3#1#3#1#2#3Yes#1#1Yes#1#1

4th, 5th, 7th#1#1#1#3#1#2#3#1Yes#3#2Yes#3#3

#3#2#2#2#2#3#1#1No#2#3

Some#2#2

Figure 6 Samsung Electronics LCD TV manufacturing cost (Source: Dr Chung, 10 December 2003)

Table 1 Leadership in LCD areas (Source: Display Search)

In a twisted nematic (TN) type display, a thinlayer of LC material is sandwiched betweentwo glass plates. The glass plates are‘rubbed’ at right angles to each other(essentially microscratches are made to theinside of each plate) and the LC moleculesalign to the direction of the scratches. Oneach side of the structure, polarisers arepostioned. When no voltage is applied, theLC molecules twist to align the molecules tothe rubbing directions on the opposite sidesof the cell. When light passes through (from abacklight unit, typically), the first polariser istwisted, due to the twisted molecules,through 90o, and it can then pass through thesecond polariser on the opposite side. TheLCD is in the on-state. When a field (typicallya conducting electrode on the glass ischarged up to a few volts) is applied, themolecules untwist and align with the appliedfield, so the light is prevented from passingthrough and the LCD is in the off-state. Pixelsare produced by patterning one of theelectrodes, and colour is generated byregistering colour filters with the pixels asshown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 Cross section of AMLCD (From: Sang SooKim, Information Display, August 2001 Vol. 17, No 8,pp22-28)

The light transmission depends upon the rmsvoltage applied to the cell, and grey scalescan be produced by applying intermediatevoltages between the fully on and fully off-state voltages. The simplest addressingtechnique is to use row and columnelectrodes on the top and bottom plates. Thisaddressing scheme is called passive matrixaddressing, and a pixel can be selected byapplying a voltage to the appropriate row andcolumn lines – see Figure 8(a).

Figure 8 (a) Passive (b) Active

However, TN cells cannot be multiplexed, soto make higher resolution displays an activematrix addressing scheme – Figure 8(b) –must be adopted. In this scheme, eachindividual pixel has its own addressing switch,which is typically a TFT, as shown in Figure 9.The most commonly used TFT active channelmaterial is a-Si:H but for small high resolutiondisplays polysilicon is also used.

Both data lines are now on the bottom plateand the top plate is typically grounded. Therow lines are connected to the gates of theTFTs and the column or data lines addressthe drain. The TFT is only turned on when gateand drain volts are applied simultaneously.When the scanning pulse is applied to a givenrow all the transistors on that row can becharged to the data voltage applied to therespective column. All other rows are isolateddue to the high off-state resistance of theTFTs – cross talk is thus eliminated.

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Problems at present being addressed arecontrast improvements, viewing angleimprovements and, for some applications,speed of response.

2.3 Organic/polymer light-emitting diode (OLED/PLED) displays

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) canbe divided into two classes of materials, thesmall molecular and the polymer. Smallmolecular materials (SMF) are deposited bythermal evaporation whereas light-emittingpolymers (LEPs) are deposited fromsolution. Within the LEP field, newersolution processible materials known asdendrimers are also becoming of interest,but within this report they will not bementioned further.

Both technologies involve current drivendiodes, which only emit light when driven inthe forward direction. Figure 10 shows atypical characteristic for an LEP device.OLEDs have the following characteristics:

wide emission colour range, low voltageoperation (SMFs slightly higher than LEPs),wide viewing angle (Figure 11), very fastresponse time (<<1 ms), good efficiencyand increasingly long lifetime. SMFs havebeen around for about 10 years longer thanLEPs and were first demonstrated in thecurrent form in the early 1980s by Kodak.

GateSelection

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20v

- 5v

- 5v

Off Off Off

V2-

OnV1+

On

Off Off Off

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On

V1+ V2- V3+

Figure 9 Line by line addressing in AMLCDs

Figure 10 Current density and light emission behaviouras a function of bias voltage for a LEP device

Gn- 1

Gn

Gn+ 1

Figure 11 Comparison of LCD and OLED viewingangle (The OLED display was fabricated bySanyo/Kodak)

SMF materials are of sufficiently lowmolecular weight that they may be thermallyevaporated. This process does mean thatpurification is relatively straightforward, andtherefore high purity films and hence devicesmay be relatively easily fabricated.

Traditionally, patterning to produce colourdisplays is done by shadow masking.Although this is a simple process toimplement at the R&D level, high yields inmanufacturing have been difficult to achieveeven for relatively small production glasssizes. Despite this, various companies arenow in production including Samsung SDI,Kodak (Figure 12) and Pioneer.

LEPs can only be deposited from solution asthe molecular weight is too high to allowthermal evaporation. This means thatconsiderable work has had to be done onsolution purification in order to achieve goodefficiencies and lifetimes. However, depositionof the polymers may be done usingconventional printing techniques (Figure 13).

So far most of the developmental work hasbeen done using ink jet printing, and althoughno colour LEP displays are currently inproduction, Philips have announced that theywill start shipping ink jet printed LEP displays inQ2 2004. Being able to print the materialschanges the whole cost structure of production

and allows displays to be produced on muchlarger glass size (currently Gen 6 ink jet printersare being developed).

OLED displays may use both passive andactive matrix driving as described above. Forpassive matrix (PM) driving, the limitation ondisplay size is set by the maximum allowablepower consumption, and because of inductiveand capacitive losses, which dominate higherscan line counts, this is considered to bearound 100 scan lines. Thus PM displays areseen to have only limited market penetration.Active matrix (AM) display circuits aredifferent from LCD circuits in that typicallymore TFTs are required per pixel to allowconstant current drive and to compensate forthreshold variance in the TFTs.

Of interest to the community is that it nowappears that the use of a-Si TFTs may bepossible after all. This means that the largemother glass lines being built by Koreancompanies could in principle be converted toOLED lines at some stage at a relativelysmall capital cost.

So why switch to OLED, when LCD is goingso well? Full colour LCDs require colour filtersand backlights which adds significant cost andalso increases the thickness of the display. AsOLEDs are self emitting, they need neithercomponent. So provided that a-Si TFTtechnology can be used and that Gen 5 orhigher glass can be processed, most majorLCD players see an opportunity to reduceproduction costs significantly. Most estimates

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Figure 12 First active matrix OLED display,manufactured by Sanyo/Kodak for a Kodak digital camera

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fall in the range of between 25% and 50%cost reduction. Added to which the displayswill be even thinner, and for TV applicationsespecially, lower power consumption.

2.4 Field emission displays (FEDs)

The field emission display (FED) has receivedsignificant industrial, government and venturecapital attention throughout the 1990s andinto the current millennium. This is becausethe FED is essentially a thin, flat cathode raytube (CRT) and so in principle offers the manyadvantages of the CRT – lambertian viewingcharacteristics, best colour gamut, highbrightness, acceptable contrast, no motionartefacts on video and a potentially lowermanufacturing cost than LCD or PDP.

In this section we will seek to provide ahistorical context for FED development, todescribe briefly the current global status ofFED technology and programmes, and then inthe next section we will describe the KoreanFED programmes in this context.

As early as the 1960s, Ken Shoulders atStanford Research Inc (SRI), the not-for-profitresearch institute in Palo Alto, described thepossibility of using sharp metal tips,operating in a high electric field, to generatea source or sources of electrons usingFowler-Nordheim quantum mechanicaltunnelling – a source of electrons from a coldsubstrate. Such a cold cathode had been the

‘Holy Grail’ of the electron devices industrysince the turn of the previous century andoffered the possibility of a flat, thin TV.

The practical realisation of such a devicebecame a reality following the invention byDr Charles (Cap) Spindt, also of SRI, of aremarkably clever and elegant method ofmanufacturing the micron-sized tips in asuitable triode structure that would allowmodulation of the electrons using affordablelow voltage drivers.

As stated above, the FED operates on thesame principle as a CRT where electrons areused to excite a phosphor screen to generatelight but instead of having one electron gun ithas an x by y array of individual electronsources (see Figure 14).

Figure 14 Field emission display (Wayne Cranton,Nottingham Trent University, Displaymasters moduleon emissive technology)

The CRT is bulky because depth is needed toallow the single electron beam to raster acrossthe phosphor screen. The FED utilises anarray of individual electron emitters at eachpixel which can locally scan different areas ofthe phosphor, so the depth is eliminated.

There is another major difference betweenthe CRT and FED in that the electronemission process is different. In the CRT theelectrons are emitted thermionically from aheated coil. In the FED we have fieldassisted cold cathode emission. In order toaid the emission efficiency, low workfunction materials are utilised, and to further

Figure 13 17-diagonal full colour ink jet printer LEP AMdisplay (The resolution is w-XGA)

aid the process they are usually in the formof sharp tips that cause field enhancement.Several different emitting materials havebeen used, including Mo, W and Si .

In parallel to the tip based community, it hadbecome clear to some that thin films ofdiamond or diamond like carbon might beused as flat or planar electron emitting films,and significant resources were committed toresearch in this area. In the mid 1990s, Canonannounced their planar surface conductionemission technology, Hitachi were active withMIM based structures, and PFE in the UKdescribed MIMIV composite materials for thefirst time. Similarly it was believed that carbonnanotubes (CNTs) could be screen printed ordeposited by chemical vapour deposition(CVD) over large areas. See Figure 15.

Figure 15 Broad area CNT emitters in triode structure(Cambridge University)

All of these latter approaches use one typeof broad area emitter structure or another (oras one of the report authors dubbed them,‘2nd generation FEDs’) and they had mainlychanged market focus – increasingly lookingat large area TV. This change in focus arosedue to the realisation that large TV requiresrelatively large pixels which can utilise screenor ink jet printing, so promising low cost andoffering the motion quality needed for TV.

The FED is potentially an excellent displaywith high brightness and a wide viewingangle. However, its disadvantages stillmean that there are no FEDs in themarketplace at present, althoughCanon/Toshiba have announced that theyare currently building a production facilitywhich should be on line in 2005.

More efficient, low voltage phosphors are stillneeded, and uniformity and emitter lifetimesare still seen as problems.

2.4.1 Status of global FED programmes

Despite the commercial failure of most 1stgeneration tip based programmes,significant know-how was developedregarding system design and performanceissues, including spacer design andmanufacture, and a cadre of FED engineerswas created. This has allowed 2ndgeneration programmes to make relativelyrapid progress, and as well as the companyand national initiatives described in Tables 2aand 2b, many universities and researchinstitutes maintain FED R&D programmes.

2.5 Plasma display panels (PDPs)

A plasma display panel (PDP) is essentially amatrix of sub-millimetre fluorescent lampswhich are controlled in a complex way byelectronic drivers. The initial PDPs weremonochrome displays where Penning Ne-Armixtures (typically 0.1% Ar in Ne) were usedand the light emitted by the discharges wasdue to the characteristic red-orange emissionof neon. Research on colour PDPs started inthe mid-1970s, and the first commerciallyavailable colour displays appeared in the late1990s. In colour plasma displays, the gasmixture (Xe-Ne or Xe-Ne-He) emits ultraviolet(UV) photons which excite phosphors in thethree fundamental colours.

Each pixel is therefore associated with threemicro-discharge cells. The plasma in each cellof an alternative current (AC) PDP isgenerated by dielectric barrier discharges(DBDs) operating in a glow regime in a raregas mixture (typically 500 torr, 100 µm gap).The AC voltage is rectangular, with frequencyof the order of 100 kHz, and rise time ofabout 200-300 ns. In the on-state, a currentpulse of less than 100 ns duration flowsthrough the cell at each half cycle.

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15


Company Technology StatusSamsung (Korea) CNT 38 inch HDTV CNT device completed

at SAIT and transferred to SDI for

production

Sony (Japan) 20 inch tip line 20 inch tip device prototype line

CNT CNT R&D under way

LG Electronics (Korea) MIM Programme running for 5 years – but

CNT confidential and no devices shown

Mitsubishi (Japan) CNT NEDO/METI funded collaborative R&D

programme – TV & stadium display

Hitachi (Japan) MIM NEDO/METI funded collaborative

CNT R&D programme

ISE Noritake (Japan) CNT NEDO/METI funded collaborative R&D

programme – TV & stadium display

Teco (Taiwan) CNT Government part funded collaborative

CNT R&D programme with ERSO

cDream CNT Committed to CNT 5 inch mono CNT

device looks similar to PFE

supported by Sanyo and Kyung Hee –

ex LG & Candescent staff

PFE (UK) MIMIV 5.7 inch mono device shown for TV

SI Diamond (Texas, USA) CNT 20 inch CNT sealed panel video

shown at IDW 03 NASDAQ listing

Matsushita EW (Japan) Ballistic Emission BSD cathode – 2 inch colour devices

Display (BSD) 7 Inch planned

Table 2a Status of global FED programmes – industry

Government Activity CommentsJapan (NEDO/METI) Funding CNT Government department in charge of national

CNT programme disappointed with progress

Singapore (EDB) Funding infrastructure / OLED programme underway

pilot line capability

UK (DTI) Smart & Link funding for Supporting university and industrial collaborative

industry & academia FED projects as part of nano initiatives

European Union 5th & 6th Framework Takoff, Prindis & Canadis projects all recently

supporting all major display completed. MIMIV, Spindt and CNT

technologies including FED all supported

Taiwan Funding FED pilot line at Government department in charge of national

ERSO and CNT R&D into TV CNT programme

displays and LCD backlights

South Korea Funding CNT backlight project See discussion on 21st Century Lab

at Iljin. Rumoured to have elsewhere in this report

provided $10 million funding

to SAIT for CNT FED R&D –

but not confirmed

Table 2b Status of global FED programmes – government

A simplified view of a plasma display isshown in Figure 16. It consists of two glassplates separated by a gas gap of about 100 µm filled with a rare gas mixture capableof emitting UV photons. Arrays of electrodesare deposited on each plate. The electrodearrays are covered by a 20-40 µm thickdielectric layer. The standard electrodegeometry in commercially available AC PDPsis the coplanar (ACC) electrode geometry.The ACC structure is by far the mostdeveloped electrode structure nowadays. Inthe ACC electrode configuration (see figures)a discharge cell is defined by threeelectrodes: two parallel electrodes on oneglass plate (front plate), and one electrode,orthogonal to the two coplanar electrodes,on the opposite glass plate.

Figure 16 PDP structure and operation (J B Beouf, J Phys D Appl Phys 36 (2003) R53)

PDPs have recently achieved goodperformance and their image quality can nowcompete with that of CRTs. PDPs of up to76-inch diagonal have been demonstrated,some with high resolution. According toStanford Resources more than 300,000 PDPswere sold worldwide in 2001 and the marketshould grow to 6 million units in 2007.

2.6 Three dimensional (3D) displays

Ever since the renaissance, with thediscovery of perspective techniques in art,our understanding of how we see the worldaround us and how to represent its true 3Dnature has presented us with tremendouschallenges. With the advent of photography,cinema and electronic displays, the trendtowards greater realism in images continuedunabated. Early forays into 3D technologiesstarted over a hundred years ago (1903) withthe invention of parallax barrier systems byFE Ives. Some five years later the lenticulararray system was first developed and iswidely seen in children’s toys and cerealpacket free gifts. Both of these techniquesare referred to as autostereo systems sinceleft and right images are automaticallydirected to left and right eyes.

2.6.1 Parallax barrier 3D displays

The parallax barrier technique is perhaps thesimplest autostereo 3D image system. In theoriginal technique an array of slits in an opaquescreen is arranged between a diffuseillumination source and a photographictransparency on which the left and right imagesare recorded. The two images are spreadacross the photograph in alternating slices witha periodicity equal to the array of slits.

When a viewer observes the photographfrom the correct position, a line from the lefteye through a strip of the left image is inline with a slit and the left image isilluminated for the left eye. At the sametime, a line from the left eye through a sliceof the right image is in line with a section ofthe opaque screen so the left eye, doesn’tsee the right image. The opposite happensfor the right eye, and over the whole screenthe correct eyes see the correct images.

However, an obvious drawback with thistechnique is that the user’s head has to be inthe correct position for the 3D effect to work.

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If the head is moved to one side then the leftand right images will invert and the user cansuffer disorientation.

Adapting this technique for use in LCDs,where there are red, green and blue (RGB)pixels adjacent to each other is relativelysimple, as can be seen in Figure 17. In thiscase the right and left RGB pixels arealternated to give the 3D image. This reducesthe resolution of the display.

The most notable advance in this area hasbeen the introduction by several companies,including Sanyo and Sharp in Japan, of theswitchable parallax barrier allowing a displayto be switched between 2D and 3D modes.This has proved to be amazingly popular withconsumers. It has been reported that thelaunch of the NTT DoCoMo SH251iS cellulartelephone in Japan in 2002, incorporating theswitchable Sharp parallax barrier, led to thesale of more 3D displays in the first weekthan the estimated number of dedicated 3Ddisplay systems previously ever sold. So theSharp display has truly become the first evermass market 3D display.

The real beauty of these systems is that theuser can switch off the parallax barrier anduse the device as a conventional 2D displaywithout loss of resolution. Also the extracomponents required for these displays don’tadd significant cost. This trick is in essenceperformed by adding an in-plane switchingnematic device providing a half wavelengthretardation. When striped regions of the cellare turned on then they rotate the plane ofpolarisation of the light and so the light isblocked by the output polariser.

2.6.2 Lenticular array 3D displays

The lenticular array system is slightlydifferent from the parallax barrier system andin general is more light efficient. This leads toits most common application in reflectivepicture configurations.

Figure 17 3D FPD based on the parallax barriertechnique of Ives

In this device an array of cylindrical lenses isplaced in front of a picture, roughly at adistance of the focal length of the lens.Behind each individual lens is placed anumber of strip sections of the differentviews required. For example, if there are fourdifferent views of the 3D scene required,numbered 1 to 4 from left to right, then theimage of each view is split into vertical stripsand the leftmost strip in each image is placedbehind the leftmost lens in reverse order, 4 to1, and so on for each set of strips and lenses.Each lens in the array then projects the lightfrom each strip in the image in a specificdirection towards a distant focal point butbecause of the arrangement of picture stripsthese correspond to different directions andin effect different eyes of a viewer.

In Figure 18 an example is shown where thereare only two views but these are subdividedinto RGB pixels, as in an LCD. The three RGBpixels are merged together by the eye, due totheir small size and the eye’s limited resolution.This type of 3D display design has also beenadapted to give a switchable 2D/3D display byOcuity Ltd in the UK. By index matching thelenses to a liquid crystal they can be made toact like a plane sheet of glass. Switching theliquid crystal then changes the effective

refractive index and causes the lenses tofocus light, creating the 3D effect. This devicewas launched in February 2003 at the 3GSMCongress in Cannes.

In demanding applications such as computeraided design, where high quality images arerequired, simple systems such as the parallaxbarrier and lenticular array do not providesufficient quality. Consequently, a number ofmanufacturers produce dedicatedstereoscopic displays where the left and rightimages are provided for the eyes by someinteraction between the eye and glassesworn by the user. More recently, autostereosystems, not requiring glasses, are becomingavailable to address these high-end markets.

Figure 18 3D FPD based on the lenticular array

Unfortunately, many of these technologiesstill force their users to suffer eyestrain ordisorientation. Also their cost makes itunlikely that they will make the mass marketin the near future. The parallel barrier andlenticular array techniques have theirdrawbacks but have the benefit of low costand thin construction. The development ofswitchable versions has not gone unnoticedby South Korean manufacturers.

2.7 Electronic paper displays

Electronic paper displays is a catch-all phrasedesigned to capture a wide range oftechnologies that some see as holding thepotential to satisfy a perceived requirementfor displays with better readability, very lowpower and light weight. These displays canbe seen as attempts to bridge the gapbetween modern FPDs and the printed page.

It is clear that the advent of computers onevery office desk has led to the generation ofmore printed pages and the use of more paperin offices than ever before. This phenomenonhas to be in part due to the small size, lack ofportability and low resolution of currentstandard computer monitors.

In some cases these displays use flexiblesubstrates and in others they consist ofreusable sheets on which an image isupdated by a ‘printing’ machine. There hasbeen a lot of interest around the world inthese types of displays, exploitingtechnologies from electrophoretics andelectrochromics to MEMS devices andbistable nematics. Many of these devicesshow lambertian scattering like paper,improving the readability, and most showsome sort of image stability, giving lowpower operation. Particularly high profileexamples include E-Ink and Gyrocon, both inthe US, while many of the Japanesemanufacturers have reported variousprototype devices.

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3 DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTH KOREA

3.1 LCD overview and analysis

The Korean displays industry currently has asignificant presence in the LCD sector. Twomajor players, LG Philips LCD and SamsungElectronics, are representative of globalcorporations with a huge investment andconsequent strength and depth in thistechnology. From these two companies andalso the other research centres and universityinterests we met, the mission gained anexcellent insight into this industry.

Amongst the consistent messages that werepresented to us was the evolution that isoccurring in the development of displayperformance. This is resulting in somefundamental changes at the technology levelthat are detailed throughout this document. Inthis section the focus is upon the LCDmarket, with the technology presentationrestricted to common or consensus viewsthat we heard.

In terms of the basic liquid crystal (LC)physics and chemistry, the most significantchallenge being faced is the evolution ofdisplays for improved colour fidelity andresolution. In particular this seems to bedriving changes to explore new LCs and newoperational principles. For example, the ‘liquidcrystal operating mode’ current STN andsimilar displays are being displaced byvertically aligned nematic (VAN) and in-planeswitching (IPS). Major drivers for this changeare the achievable resolution, viewing angleand speed.

When questioned regarding aspects of thematerials evolution there seemed to be twomessages. The current changes areevolutionary (although profound) in that they

adhere to the use of nematic phases andrelatively simple changes instituted on existingmanufacturing platforms. However, theconsistent message that the evolution isprogressive and will exceed the performanceachievable from these systems leaves a clearintent to migrate or switch to other LC modes.Questioned about ferroelectric LC (FLC), theanswer was consistent that it would beexplored. It was also clear that the market driverwould need to be sufficient to warrant a newmanufacturing paradigm (and attendant capitalexpenditure) or the development would need tofit upon the existing lines with minimal changes.(See also the brief mention of Iljin below.)

The industry clearly wishes to continuouslyimprove colour fidelity, and acknowledged theneed to get ever-higher bandwidth. LG-Philips, inparticular, are very aggressive in respect of theircopper bus technology for the backplanes. BothSamsung and LG have major efforts in colourfilter and polariser films (large manufacturingsamples were shown to us at LG-Chemical).Similarly we were informed that they were veryactively engaged in LC (and other displaysrelevant) materials development. Once againFLC seemed to be part of their agenda but thefocus was clearly upon near term requirements.In common with developments of themanufacturing platform, from Gen 5 onward, theviscosity and filling issues have requiredformulation expertise as well as new materials.

This combination of technical development andbase materials evolution is a very clearindication of the presence of significant ‘trade-secret’ intellectual property (IP) that is not in thepublic domain. In several of our visits it wasclear that whilst our hosts were very polite andopen in discussion, we were not being admittedto areas where we could see production.

In terms of broader manufacturing technology,the TFT issues are critical. They would reallylike to have higher mobility in their TFTsemiconductors but see no prospect fordisplacement of current practice unlessdramatic improvements are proven.

They are employing a variety of techniques tore-crystallise the silicon to get high mobility(>500 cm2/V s), with cw laser looking todisplace the current pulsed laser processes. Aprocess called SLS was cited several times.Inter-digitated gate structures were illustrativeof research efforts to significantly improveperformance at a cost to mask and lithographiccomplexity. At the research level, activity hasproven techniques based on inclusions of nickelto catalyse re-crystallisation. This is derivative ofwork done in Kyung Hee University (and inCambridge amongst others) on field enhancedcatalysed growth of domains (variousacronyms under the broad umbrella of metalinduced crystallisation, MIC). There was asuggestion that the work in Korea may haveused nano-dispersions of metal, but this couldnot be confirmed.

3.1.1 Competitive threat

We were given a clear vision of the FPDbusiness and intent in both Korean industryand via government initiative but it wasapparent that they were not keen to discussthe competitive threat their industry faces.However, in several discussions the subjectwas broached most often in reference todevelopments elsewhere in Asia.

Japan’s FPD industry is clearly still verypowerful, and from several obliquereferences to it we were given an insight thatthis was seen as a ‘normal’ marketcompetitor to be respected but ‘beatable’.

However, in respect of China and Taiwan thesituation was very clearly seen as a twinopportunity and threat. Several remarkssuggested that the growth of China’s hightechnology sector was seen as capable ofdisturbing Korea’s market position. At thesame time the Koreans are clearly investingin manufacturing activities within China and‘exploiting’ the opportunity.

Within the briefings from the embassy andthe seminar presentations we were given astrong impression of the strategicsignificance that the government places onKorean industrial strength in this sector. TheCentury 21 initiative and major investment bythe government are having a strong impactupon the quality and competence of R&D inthe university and technology centres. With5% of budget going into research spendingthis is very clearly a declaration that KoreaPLC expects to maintain a strong industryand know-how to achieve that goal. Alreadysuccessful, the UK must take note of theextraordinary contrast this offers with the UKposition. Similarly, the commitment shown tothe vision is evident in the time frame overwhich planning and funding is scheduled…over 10 years and longer.

Representing the government coordinatedstrategy in advancing the LCD sector, Dr HeeDong Park and associate (representatives ofHanyang University Research Centre) met usafter the seminar at the embassy on 9 December. This was particularly helpfulbecause Hee Dong Park is Director of theCentury 21 Display programme, andendorsed the vision that was delivered fromthe UK presentations to the seminar. The‘roadmap’ that he presented, from theperspective of the Korean displays industryand government initiatives, was very much arational medium term view, balanced withrespect to the polarised views we were tohear from the principal industrial figures wemet throughout the mission.

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Dr Hee Dong Park’s group have $185 millionunder the Century21 initiative that derivesfrom government ($85 million) and industry($100 million). ‘Aim: for Korea to lead in nextgeneration FPD’. His role appears to be tocollate input (hence the roadmap) andcoordinate research actions funded fromthese funds. He is actively seekinginternational collaboration. Effort will bedirected at emissive and non-emissivedisplays. His world-view is clear… LCD willdominate, with plasma a poor and decliningsecond, OLED and/or other technology willcome on stream but clearly it will be sometime before major sector development occurs.

Interestingly, the threat from projectiondisplay systems was not mentioned by LGPhilips LCD nor by Samsung (possibly due tothe FPD focus) but it was brought up by LGElite and at Iljin. Dr Sung-Tae Kim of LG Elitewas very forthright, indicating that hebelieved that liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS)technology had a very large market future. Inother matters though, he concurred with allthe other messages we heard in respect ofthe FPD market.

3.1.2 Manufacturing perspectives

A huge, and ongoing, investment inmanufacturing has seen both LG andSamsung building capacity with Gen 5 and 6plants. Samsung have already committed intoGen 7, and LG are similarly intent. Bothcompanies have LCD panels >50 inch, and allobservers agree that LCD will secure themarket at least up to 42 inch. We were givena vision of roadmaps for the manufacturingbase that extended beyond Gen 8. It was arepeated remark that they achieve 95% yieldon their display lines at Gen 5 and expect tosustain this through subsequent lines.

A seminar presentation was given in theBritish Embassy by Dr Sunghoe Yoon, seniormanager at LG Philips LCD. The businessfocus is on large panel development, with the

Gen 6 facility at Gumi expected to come on-stream in Q4 2004. They are already planningtheir Gen 7 facility and associatedmanufacturing ‘park’. Since September 2003they have manufactured 2 million panels permonth. The focus of development effort is totake current twisted nematic displays anddisplace with in-plane switching modedisplays. Using this they have realised 13 mswith direct drive and can approach 8 ms withoverdrive circuits.

Other technology challenges included themanufacturing of the backplanes, backlights,polarisers, filters and sundries that constitutethe display panel.

We were given an overview of the LCD R&Dcentre (where we were being hosted) as wellas a presentation of the business plans. Inessence, the immediate goal is to consolidategrowth of the current manufacturing plantsthat encompass 3 x Gen 5 plants, a Gen 6plant coming on stream (the 6th manufacturingline), and plans that extend beyond this tocreate a new manufacturing centre with plantsat Gen 7 and higher capability. They are bullishthat they can go to Gen 9.

They currently hold about 20-22% of theworld market for LCDs with about $5 billionannual sales of TFT-LCDs.

Seminar attendance from Samsung wasquite good, and Dr Kyuha Chung (VicePresident of Samsung Electronics)presented a challenging perspective on theFPD global business. The market growth inAMLCDs appears to be around 20% CAGR.For the current market, TFT-LCDs basedupon the amorphous silicon manufacturingprocess will continue to dominate.

He gave what he described as an overview ofthe mega-trends in LCDs. His primary threadwas to drive cost down for TFT-LCDs to whathe described as ultra-low-cost. However, hisroadmap also illustrated flexible, OLED, FED

and a variety of mobile niches. He saw aneed today for LTPS for AMOLEDapplications. His prognosis for LTPS in TFT-LCD was that it would be linked to ambitionsto create ‘sheet computers’ (all on a display…a sort of flexible tablet PC). The goal is forflexible and rugged displays. For standardAM-TFT-LCD he saw major drivers inevolution of the driver circuits, advances inLTPS and also in re-crystallisation technology,and most compelling (as it was the target ofhis roadmap for the industry) the advent ofsoft lithographic patterning and printed‘organic-TFT’.

Samsung Electronics gave us a clear viewthat, as with LG, they expect to see LCDdominate at every size of screen up to 60”being achievable now. They will bring Gen 7facilities on-stream in early 2005. It isexpected that the screens will be QXGA.However, they also are very bullish about themarket for smaller displays, particularly inmobile applications. They see a need fordisplays with 200 dpi and 65% colour gamutin this market. This seemed to be linked withambitions in flexible substrates and in newmanufacturing paradigms such as softlithography and polymer circuits.

They see plenty of room for price erosion inthe large FPD market and predict thatmanufacturing cost for 40” screens will breakthe $1,000 barrier in 2005.

Within the R&D facility of LG Philips LCDthey pursue research relevant to all aspectsof the LCD business, inclusive of amorphoussilicon, LTPS, LC materials, organicelectroluminescent materials etc. They havemade a 55” high definition LCD and shownthat yields at Gen 6 can still be maintained at95%. Filling times have been overcome atthe current and next generation. They aretrying to evolve nematics and have achieved~5 ms responses.

When asked, they responded that they haveno intention to introduce FLC at this time butthey do have some work in this area. Thiswas further questioned in respect of theneed to do higher colour fidelity and framesequential addressing schemes… they wereunwilling to be drawn but we sensed thatthis might be where the work they weredoing on advanced nematics (and possiblyFLC) was targeted.

With LTPS they are utilising plasma enhancedchemical vapour deposition (PECVD)deposited materials but acknowledge a fiercedebate with respect to amorphous. It isdesirable to have a higher stability, highermobility and greater uniformity but at thistime amorphous is the choice for AMLCD formanufacturability reasons. They were ratherreticent about flexible displays but it seemedthey were suggesting that they felt it wouldnot challenge their market for the currentLCD. They would not be drawn on weight orrobustness but responded that at present the(up to nearly 2x2 m) glass seemed sufficientfor manufacturing yield. They do not seem tofeel e-book would be a sufficiently largemarket to attract their attention.

They are very active in trying to developimproved filters. They also referenced workon light sources and reiterated a message,from the seminar, that the backlightrequirements are becoming more demandingin respect of performance. In particular, highbrightness, excellent uniformity and lowerpower are demanded.

They were also very keen to observe thatsystems issues are a large part of thetechnology, and cited data processing as oneaspect where they are very active.

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3.1.3 Flexible substrates

Flexible displays are seen by the Koreans asan inevitable development but not necessarilyimpacting the current TV marketplace. Theyappear to regard the advent of flexible as anecessary enabler for new marketopportunities where weight, robustness orother beneficial attributes are key.

The mission members, who are eachcompetent in aspects of these issues,discussed this and agreed that we had beengiven several messages that suggested a‘hidden’ motivation… we felt that it might bethe need for curved screens in home cinema(home ‘IMAX’)! This has merit within acontext of home cinema and professionalenvisaging systems as numerous human-factors studies have shown how important itis to have peripheral vision filled by an imagein order for a complete immersion andsuspension of ‘reality’.

None of the companies we spoke withaverred on the need for flexible and theylinked it to both LCD and OLED futures (seeelsewhere for OLED). We presented data onboth flexible substrates and barriertechnology and this was very well receivedboth at the seminar and with the companiesand academics face-to-face.

Questioned about flexible displays and softlithography, Dr Sunghoe Yoon (LG Philips LCD)commented that they had a great interest inthe barrier technology. At the research centre,however, we had been told that they did notsee flexible technology displacing the currentagenda in respect of glass substrates. In fact,Budi Sastra (CTO of LG-Philips) was quiteemphatic that flexible substrates or newmanufacturing paradigms were not a target forthe large screen or Gen 7+ plants in planningnow. This internal contrast in LG, coupled withthe different messages we heard from LG andSamsung, seemed to be indicative of bothdebate and deliberate differentiation betweenthe two companies.

3.1.4 Backlights and ancillary technology

We felt it useful to bring this topic intoprominence; we were repeatedly exposed to avigorous debate that seems a major technologychallenge to this industry… how to get asufficiently bright, uniform and controllablebacklight for the large screens and low enoughpower for mobile applications? A companiondebate appears to be whether LEDs canprovide a well polarised bright source. We wererepeatedly reminded that white LEDs arebecoming available. Suggestions that RGB maynot be sufficient were made and certainly atleast one reference to 5+ colour and better‘daylight’ sources was also mentioned (see alsoSection 3.3.1).

Several related topics were also alluded to orrevealed in passing. In particular, considerablework is being essayed to improve reflectivefoils for screens as well as polarisers andcolour filters. LG-Chemical were most bullishin respect of the market need and prospectsfor these and related products seen asenabling of the technology. In many senseswe were given an unusual insight into whatmay be one of the most lucrativeopportunities in this global market.

It is also definitely worth reiterating thatprocessing of the backplanes was seen asevolutionary within the context of themanufacturing track being pursued currently.However, it was repeated frequently, very oftenvia prompting from Jeremy Burroughes, thatflexible, and/or low temperature, presumablyorganic semiconductor-based, backplanes willhave to be developed to erode the cost base ofthe technology and enable some of the marketsegments as yet not developed.

Display developments are also forcing the paceof design rule evolution, with lithography needsdemanding 0.4 µm in contrast to the current 4 µm! Similarly there is a strong push to putoperational ICs onto the glass (see commentsby Samsung above). Materials requirements aresignificant here, as well as the platform needs.

3.2 OLEDs/PLEDs

All of the laboratories we visited indicated, atthe very least, interest in this technology.Most of the work concentrated on thedevelopment of small molecule baseddisplays but all the major players are keepinga watching eye on PLED developments.

LG Electronics are working publicly on smallmolecule OLED and are developing displaysusing transparent cathode or eventransparent cathode and anode. They are nowconcentrating on active matrix OLED(AMOLED) development rather than passivematrix. Because of this they see it is asessential to use a top emitting structure asthis gives a higher fill factor thus improvingdisplay lifetime and efficiency.

Quoted fluorescent material lifetimes:

Red @ 300 nit 220 khr @ 5 cd/AGreen @ 500 nit 210 khr @ 14 cd/ABlue @ 200 nit 90 khr @ 5 cd/A

They have also tested red and greenphosphorescent (triplet emitter) materials, butonly get about 15 khr lifetime. In the main,however, lifetimes are very impressive, andthey claim this is in part due to a processchange. They expect to completedevelopment of a full colour 1.x” AMOLEDdisplay by Q2 2004.

There was not much discussion on OLEDactivity at LG-Philips although they do haveone. They observed, however, that if a-Si TFTscan be made to work with OLEDS, thiswould have a big impact on the marketpotential for TFT-OLEDs.

Essentially, LG-Philips is keeping a watchingbrief on OLEDs, waiting for when they areready to meet their requirements.

On the other hand, LG-Chemical have forsome time been working on small moleculedevelopment and have probably beensupplying LG-Electronics with their materials.They have recently started a light polymeractivity as well. Of more significance is thatthey intend to move up the value chain andproduce displays. To companies like CDT inthe UK this is probably the most significantpiece of information we gained in this area asthey now become a potential licensee.

They have been growing their R&D capabilityat an extraordinary rate and expect toincrease staff by 20% this year and next,reducing to 10% growth in the following twoyears. We were shown around their newOLED device fabrication facility. It wasn’tcomplete, but will make a very good researchand early development laboratory.

Samsung SDI have been concentrating onpassive matrix small molecule OLEDs, andthese are already in production. They are nowmoving into active matrix (using lowtemperature poly-Si TFT) OLED displays and sofar are demonstrating good lifetime test data.They have already developed a prototypedisplay that uses a transparent cathode ratherthan transparent anode and claim to obtain asmall optical enhancement from the structureas well as significant colour tuning. Thus theemission characteristics of their blue is verygood (CIEy ~0.05-0.07). They also gave somepanel lifetime numbers for bottom and topemission and, as expected, top results inlonger lifetime (Table 3). These data suggestthat the decay law for their materials follows apower law with exponent around 1.35.

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They have been working on polymer OLEDas well, but acknowledged a lack of progressin the field. This work is being done in theGerman research laboratory which is a bitout on a limb. For encapsulation of thetransparent cathode they are using theFutaba transparent getter.

Samsung Electronics, in direct contrast tothe work ongoing in LG, are developingLTPS for OLED using technologytransferred from Columbia Universitywhich, they say, results in more uniformTFT characteristics. At the moment theythink that OLED displays are limited toabout XGA resolution and 10” size. This isdue to the shadow masking issues. LikeLG-Philips, their main display activity is LCDwith a big push for LCD-TV markets. Theydid however appear to be less confidentthan LG-Philips about whether theresponse time could be reduced sufficientlyto make an AMLCD TV that looks like aCRT. There is no doubt that whilst in-planeswitching can lead to response times ofjust a few milliseconds they need to get tomicroseconds before they can have aperformance similar to that of the CRT.

We had a relatively short visit to SAIT. Whatwe did learn was that not only do they havean activity on developing polymer materialsbut they are also developing an ink jet headto be used in the OLED, LCD and FEDdisplay industries.

In summary, most of the major displaycompanies in Korea have an OLED activity.They all see small molecule as the wayforward in the short term but if polymerlifetimes (especially the blue) and brightnesscan be improved then the benefits gainedfrom the cheaper (ink jet) manufacturingprocesses would make PLEDs an extremelyattractive proposition.

3.3 FEDs

Korean companies, institutes and universitieshave had a long involvement with FEDtechnologies. Samsung’s SAIT, Orion Electric(in collaboration with Ajou University) wereboth regular presenters at both field emissiontechnology and display R&D conferences andshowed full colour 1st generation tip baseddisplays of 5 or 6-inch size. LG Electronics hashad a FED programme for some years basedat LG Elite where they initially looked at tip andedge emitters and more recently MIM andCNT based systems.

The mission found that currently there is apolarised view on FEDs between Samsung’sSAIT and SDI on the one hand – enthusiasticsupporters – and LG Electronics who take theview that there is no place left for FED in thedisplays market. This view can be understoodonce one analyses the product andtechnology portfolio for each company.

Bottom emission Top emission100 nit white 10,000 hr 15,000 hr200 nit white 4,000 hr 6,000 hr200 nit TV 30,000 hr 45,000 hr

Table 3 Panel lifetime for bottom and top emission of Samsung SDI’s AMOLED display

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Samsung SDI has CRT and PDPmanufacturing but no in-house technology formaking FPDs at sizes smaller than 42 inch. Asreported elsewhere, their sister companySamsung Electronics expects to have lowermanufacturing cost than PDP by 2006. SDI’sCRT activity is already under pressure fromthe new flat panel entrants and this pressurewill grow. As LCD costs are driven down, thisalso offers medium term significant threats totheir PDP business.

Samsung SAIT replaced their tip programmewith a CNT approach, and at one point had 60researchers at SAIT and 60 researchers at SDIworking on this programme. Displays ofincreasing size and performance wereregularly shown in public until Summer 2002,after which only video clips were shown. Thelast publicly shown CNT FED was a 32-inchfull colour display shown at the InternationalVacuum Microelectronics Conference (IVMC)in France, Summer 2002 (Figure 19).

Figure 19 SAIT 32-inch CNT FED, IVMC 2002

The SAIT CNT technology programme wastransferred from SAIT to SDI in summer 2003and SDI continue to develop a 38-inch fullcolour CNT FED panel.

The visit to the SDI Central Research Lab wasvery rushed and so it was not possible to gainadditional information regarding theirtechnology status and plans. However, theydid confirm the potential to scale FED up to80-inch diagonal. Advantages over PDP includea 30% lower manufacturing cost compared toPDP as well as lower power consumption.

The SDI programme was described in somedetail by Dr C G Lee of Samsung SDI’sCorporate R&D Centre, Giheung, during theDisplay Workshop at the Embassy on Tuesday9 December. Dr Lee described the history ofFED, microtips, CNT (Samsung, ISE, Sonyand Mitsubishi as major corporate players),MIV (PFE), surface conduction emission (SCE– Canon, Toshiba) and ballistic emissiondisplay (BSD – Matsushita Electric Works).

Printed CNTs can be processed at 450oC andhave a size capability up to 70-inch, whereasCVD deposited CNTs need processtemperatures of ~500oC and are limited insize to 20 inch – why they are working withprinted CNTs. After ageing these materials ina diode configuration they can obtain currentdensities of 184 µA/cm2 with a 1/2,000 dutycycle and at vacuum pressures of 5 x 10-6 torr– giving good uniformity over a 7-inchdiagonal diode.

High purity CNTs can provide 656 µA/cm2 atelectric field strengths of 5 V/micron.

They have tried various triodeconfigurations for their devices – remotemetal mesh grid, standard and undergatestructures. Remote metal grids can extractup to 1 mA/cm2 current densities at 65 Von the grid and with a 35 V modulationvoltage. During the question and answersession, Dr Lee confirmed such deviceshad an efficiency <10%.

Standard gate structures have triode vias 10 micron in diameter with a 5 microndiameter photo-patternable CNT layer at thebottom of the via. In 2001 they wereachieving 240 cd/cm2 with an anode voltageof 2 kV and a voltage swing of 70 V.

However, they prefer to use an undergatestructure as the 100-micron features are easyto fabricate. Early 7-inch devices delivered270 cd/cm2 with an anode voltage of 3 kV,modulation voltage of 130 V and a duty cycleof 1/500. By 2002 they had achieved a

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uniformity of < +/- 15%. Their undergatestructure (Figure 20) now delivers 1 mA/cm2

with turn on at ~50 V and a modulationvoltage of 70 V. Anode voltage tests between3 kV and 5 kV show the best brightnessresults were obtained using a 600 angstromaluminised phosphor. 2003 devices are 38-inch diagonal 1,290 (RGB) x 768undergated structures delivering 100 cd/cm2.Video images of this device were shown.

On questioning, Dr Lee told the audience thatremaining issues were life, spacers and lowvoltage driving. CNT prices are expected todrop from the current $50/g to $2/g in 2007.He would not be drawn on how manygrammes of material would be needed perdisplay. From Dr Lee’s presentation it can beseen that the current densities they canachieve in sealed devices are somewhat lowand it must be assumed that with abrightness of only 100 cd/cm2 that they arealso limited in their ability to operate at highanode voltage.

Although the mission was met by a very highlevel delegation at SAIT it was not possible todetermine the nature of the FED activitiesremaining at SAIT following the transfer oftheir CNT technology to SDI. Amongst theSAIT delegation was Dr Jong Min Kim, formany years almost synonymous with FEDs inKorea. Whilst we did not discuss the FEDprogramme per se, we were subsequentlytold by Kyuha Chung, VP of SamsungElectronics, that SAIT are looking at CNTbacklights for LCDs. We were told that theyare also actively developing white LEDs forLCD backlight and that they estimate that themarket in Samsung would be worth $3 billionand in Korea some $6 billion to $7 billion.

Within LG Electronics and LG-Philips LCDthey have both LCD TV and PDP TV flat panelactivities (as well as the CRT activity in LG-Philips Displays). Taking a group perspective itis clear that LG feel that they have all of themarket bases covered by their existingtechnology portfolio. LG-Elite is the CorporateR&D Laboratory for the LG Group. Dr Sung-Tae Kim, Director of the Devices & MaterialsLab in which their FED work is currentlyundertaken, was very forthright in his viewson FEDs. In his opinion, as LCDs have gotbigger in size and better in performance, andPDP quality is now acceptable for TV, hebelieves that the window for FEDs hasclosed. The LCD/PDP boundary will move upin size to 45-inch and 50-inch.

They originally undertook research into tipsand edges, switched to MIM with Hitachi,and then dropped this in favour of theircurrent CNT activity. Their current dilemma iswhether to kill the FED activity – which theyseem to keep going because of the ongoingFED programmes at Samsung and Sony. Heclaimed that Samsung had uniformity issuesassociated with their CNT FED and that therewere some vacuum issues, but efficiencywas good.

Figure 20 PFE gate structure (top), Samsungundergate structure (bottom)

A representative from Orion PDP attendedthe display presentations at the embassyand confirmed that neither Orion PDP northeir former parent company has any FEDactivity, the former Orion FED engineershaving been transferred to an OLED projectwithin Orion Electric.

The Electronics and TelecommunicationsResearch Institute (ETRI) have pioneered anactive matrix addressed FED using screenprinted CNTs as the electron sources. Theyhave reported a 3” diagonal display at SID in2003 with 96 x 64 pixels with anode voltageof 400-500 V and a spacer height of 300microns. The switch is an a-Si:H TFT and thetubes are single wall as the turn-on voltage islower. The a-Si:H drivers are produced at theADRC in Kyung Hee University (see later).

The logic for using active matrix driving is thatthey do not need to make a triode structurebut can drive a diode using the active matrixTFT to control the emission current. Theapproach requires four mask steps.Incorporating a ballast layer would need afurther three deposition layers. However, theydo suffer from instability and life problems,and their FED project will close at the end of2003. They do not see a large marketopportunity except for perhaps highresolution high brightness applications in, forexample, medical markets.

They commented that Canon-Toshiba isexpected to manufacture 30,000 37-inch SCEFEDs per month from the factory that hasrecently been announced.

The Advanced Display Research Centre(ADRC) at Kyung Hee University wasestablished to provide a support facility forKorean and overseas industry – both largecompanies and SMEs. The laboratory cansupport materials, process and devicedevelopment across display technologyplatforms – TFT LCD, AMOLED and FED witha 6-inch substrate capability.

As mentioned above they have collaboratedwith ETRI, having supplied the TFT for ETRI’sactive matrix FED. They have also had acollaboration with California CNT FED start-upcDream, resulting in a colour 5.4-inch CNTsealed FED panel being demonstrated. Thiscase study illustrates the value of such aninfrastructure facility for the SME community.By collaborating with the ADRC, cDreamwere able to show such a device within atwo year period and with a reported totalinvestment of only US$3 million.

The publicly reported investment into UKstart-up Printable Field Emitters (PFE) wassignificantly larger than that needed bycDream, and it took PFE four years beforethey were able to show video images in asealed panel. It is clear that the infrastructureand know-how existing at ADRC allowedcDream to develop quicker and with lowerprivate equity investment than PFE.

3.3.1 Backlights for large LCD TV

Somewhat to the surprise of the missiondelegates, we heard from ADRC, SamsungElectronics and Iljin about the difficulty thatlarge area LCD TV faces regarding acceptablebacklight quality and that a FED backlightmight be the solution to this.

Current technology utilises cold cathodefluorescent lamps (CCFLs) which incorporatemercury (Hg), and so may be anenvironmental issue for the future. However,this is not the case today. Also, as LCD TVgoes to larger size, it becomes more difficultto achieve the brightness and uniformity levelsthat are needed. For large LCD TV, heating canbe a problem and affect the liquid crystalperformance. For mobile applications thereare concerns regarding power consumption.

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Samsung Electronics told the mission thatthey are looking at a white LED, wafflestructure mercury containing plasma (a bitlike a PDP lamp) and a FED backlight, thislatter work being done in conjunction with Dr Jong Min Kim at SAIT.

Professor Jin Jang at ADRC told us that aFED backlight for TV should have a brightnessof 10,000 cd/m2, but there may be somephosphor life issues. In his view, LEDs areonly suitable for smaller portable LCDapplications.

Figure 21 shows a standard FED structure fora TV application, but Iljin told us that they havejust begun work on a CNT FED backlight. Theywere not prepared to discuss details of theproject. However, they did tell the mission thatthey were prepared to look at other emittermaterials and third party collaborations.

Figure 21 Iljin CNT triode structure

Typical life requirements for CCFL backlightsare 50,000 hours to half brightness, andCCFLs operate at efficiencies of up to 50lumens per watt. This compares with typicalcathodoluminescent phosphor efficiencies ofaround 20 lumens per watt at the anodeoperating voltages that might be needed (5to 10 kV).

Assuming that a FED LCD TV backlightsystem could be designed with acceptableperformance (perhaps phosphor life ratherthan emitter degradation could be the limitingfactor), we were told by Samsung Electronicsthat they expect to purchase some $3 billionof backlights per annum; LG-Philips LCDwould require a similar amount.

At present the price point for a 32-inch LCD TV backlight module including CCFLs,inverters and light guides is around US$300,with the price expected to come down by atleast 50% over the next two to three years.Competition is from improved CCFL systems(contains Hg), white LEDs, inductivelycoupled plasma (ICP – contains Hg), wafflestructure plasma (contains Hg).

It is too early to say whether FED lamps couldcompete for the LCD TV backlight requirementbut it is clear that there is a market need for animproved backlight technology, that the marketwill become very large, and that some majorKorean companies believe that it is worthwhileto undertake R&D in this area.

We recommend that UK companies andinstitutions involved in electron emitter, coldcathode and phosphor R&D should considerthis opportunity.

3.3.2 FEDs: summary

Samsung has one of the world’s largest FEDprogrammes for large area TV applications,but further work is still needed and thereforethere are potential opportunities forcollaboration in all areas of FED technology.

SAIT continues FED R&D into backlights asa minimum and is probably still undertakingR&D into CNT FEDs for TV in support ofSDI’s programme.

The Advanced Display Research Centre (ADRC)is open for collaboration with SMEs and couldalso act as a location to demonstrate UK displayrelated academic research. Their 6-inch x 6-inchsize capability coupled with AMTFT LCD,AMOLED and AMFED capability would allowthe demonstration of new display technologiesor materials at sizes that are large enough toconvince major manufacturers of their validity.

Backlights for large LCD TV might represent alarge, closer to market business opportunitythan large area FED TV.

3.4 PDPS

All the companies visited seem to think thatPDPs will meet the needs for TVs at sizesgreater than that currently achievable usingLCDs. Of course, as the LCDs get bigger(currently approx 55” diagonal), then thePDPs will lose the lower end of the market.

LG Elite have recently announced a 76”diagonal full colour PDP with 800 cd/m2

brightness, a contrast of 1,500:1 and a depthof 86 mm. They would not comment onpower consumption but did say that ‘burn in’is still a problem, which makes PDPs muchmore suitable for moving image applications.They state that they feel that the boundaryfor PDPs with respect to AMLCD TVs is atpresent about 35-40” but this will move to45-50” as time progresses and AMLCD TVsget ever bigger. The crossover point will bedriven in the main by cost. LG in generalfavour PDPs and AMLCDs for large area andsee no market for FEDs.

Samsung SDI on the other hand indicatedthat FEDs are much more interesting forlarge area TVs because of potentialmanufacturing cost savings (60-70% of PDPcosts). The other major interest in PDPs wasin the pursuit of better phosphors withreduced ‘burn in’.

LG Chemical have a major interest in thisaspect, and as part of the 21C FrontierDisplay programme they are trying toimprove the MgO layer. They are trying toenhance the luminescent properties undervacuum ultrviolet (VUV) excitation and also toimprove each of the colours. Red suffersfrom colour purity problems, green has poordecay time and needs a high dischargevoltage, and blue suffers from thermaldegradation and colour shift. Powerconsumption of course is also a worry, andone of their main aims in this programme isto reduce the current 500 W for a 55” screendown to 300 W for a screen >80” by 2012.

3.5 3D displays

A number of Korean display manufacturers,universities and research institutes have low-key research efforts into 3D displaytechnologies. Particularly strong in publicationshas been the Korea Institute of Science andTechnology (KIST), with interests in autostereorear projection systems, lenticular systemsand true holographic systems. Unfortunatelywe did not get to talk to them.

The Electronics and TelecommunicationsResearch Institute (ETRI) were involved withthe broadcasting of 3D TV during the lastworld cup and they demonstrated some ofthe footage on our visit. This was displayedon a traditional 3D projection system usingtwo polarised projectors and polarisingspectacles worn by the audience, such ascan be seen in 3D shows at IMAX cinemas.This was found to be a very uncomfortableexperience by some due to one of theprojectors only working intermittently.

Outside of the government funded institutesand universities it is only really the two bigdisplay manufacturers, LG and Samsung,who have any active programmes in 3Ddisplays. The first of these reported at LGElite that they had a small group working on3D display technologies but unfortunately

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they couldn’t give us any more information.Another branch, LG Philips LCD, reported thatthey were very interested in 3D but theyweren’t actively working in the area. Theynoted that all the 3D displays they had seenhad failed on user comfort and that this plusaffordability had to be key drivers for theadoption of 3D displays.

Samsung, on the other hand, were able toprovide a little more information on theiractivities. Samsung Advanced Institute (SAIT)of Technology has an interest in 3Dholographic displays but whether they havean active programme in this area was notclear. Samsung SDI had noted the popularityof the autostereo phone displays in Japan andthey are developing their own equivalentswitchable 2D/3D display to address the newmarket requirement. Samsung SDI is alsoinvestigating rear projection autostereo andhave presented results from prototypesystems at the SID‘02 meeting in the USA.Samsung Electronics appear to have no active3D programme.

As can be seen, the Korean display industryhas some small-scale programmes in 3Ddisplay technologies. However, it is clear thattheir main interests lie in conventional 2Ddisplay technologies. Also, they are willing torespond when they see a market opportunityopen up.

3.6 Electronic paper displays

From Korea the only reports of electronicpaper devices presented at displaysconferences in recent years have been byETRI. During the mission we discussedelectronic paper technologies with the Koreanmanufacturers and it seems that none ofthem have active programmes in this area.

Some of the representatives we met saidthat the low power aspects were good butcolour is a problem (21st Century DisplayResearch). Some said that displays like E-Ink

are nice to read but the colour, quality andversatility cannot really compete with TFTLCD so they couldn’t see an obviouscustomer need (LG Philips LCD).

LG Elite admitted to having spent a couple ofyears looking at electrochromic devices butdecided they were not worth pursuing. Theyhad also looked at electrophoretic but thiscan’t do video rate or colour. They said it wasan issue of knowing what the application is.In their experience, consumers demandcolour and moving images, which theelectronic paper technologies can’t supply.However, they also volunteered that theremay be niche markets.

Finally, ETRI suggested that the cost of manyof the electronic paper displays, like E-Ink,would be too high because of the requiredactive matrix. ETRI set a target cost of about1/10 of the current LCD cost. Ideally an A4sheet of electronic paper would be rollable,display 200 dpi and sell for about $10. Someof the re-usable sheets onto which imagescan be ‘printed’ by a machine may yetachieve this target.

4 OVERVIEW ANDRECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 General impressions

An immediate impression from both theembassy briefing and the seminar is thatSouth Korea has achieved a coherent visionfor development in the FPD sector. Thecoordinated activities of both governmentand industry sponsored research areensuring that Korea maintains a competitiveposition with respect to this growth market.

This vision encompasses a projection ofcurrent business, eg LCD TV, as well as othersector interests, eg PDAs, with planning outto 2012. They clearly are intending that theirFPD developments are directed across avery diverse set of applications. The businessfocus is leading with large marketopportunities. As an example, the FPD TVmarket seems likely to exceed US$100 billion in this time frame, and bothmanufacturing investment and committedgovernment R&D funding is supporting thedevelopment of the capability.

Over the past several years, South Korea hastaken over as the major manufacturer ofFPDs worldwide. Samsung have the largestflat panel market share globally, and the LG-Philips 20.1 UXGA LCD with copper busbarsrecently won the SID display of the yearaward for 2003. Both LG and Samsung havePDP capability in excess of 70” diagonal, andboth recently announced >50” diagonalAMLCD TVs. They see the main competitioncoming from Taiwan and, no doubt in thenear future, mainland China.

As stated above, the South Koreangovernment see FPDs as a major opportunity,and as an indication of their commitmenthave set up the 21C Frontier R&D

programme, a substantial part of which is directed to FPD technologies. This iscoordinated from HanYang University andinvolves 26 companies, 5 research institutesand 10 universities. The project commencedin 2002 and is to run for 10 years with a totalbudget of US$185 million, of which $85 million comes from the government andthe remainder from industry.

The Advanced Display Research Centre(ADRC), set up in 2002 in Kyung HeeUniversity, is a superb example of thecommitment that government and industryare showing towards the rapid translation ofnovel concepts into prototypes. It alsoprovides a centre for the training anddevelopment of skilled individuals. Thisfacility, as well as serving as a trainingground for future display professionals,provides the ideal incubation facility forseveral SMEs based on and around theuniversity campus. From personalexperience the mission leader can confirmthat this Centre has been developed from atypical university research lab into anoutstanding facility over a period of lessthan three years.

Samsung and LG dominate, with Samsungespecially impressive overall, but the LGpicture quality is outstanding and they viewthemselves as the No 1 LCD manufacturer inthe world. AMLCD TVs consisted of about2% of the total market in 2003. Estimates bySamsung indicate that the 1.8 million AMLCDTVs shipped in 2002 will grow to 12 million in2005, 22 million in 2007 and 56 million in2010. They see the future market in AMLCDTVs in the 30” – 42” range.

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The investment in AMLCD is huge, withSamsung having a Gen 6 plant already online, with Gen 7 (plate size 2.2 m x 1.85 m)planned for completion in 2004. LG have aGen 6 ready to go later this year. LG-Philipsquoted for all their LCD plant a yield >90%,which is due to their production facilitiesbeing housed in high quality class-100 cleanrooms. We were assured that planning wasbeing progressed to take LCD manufacturebeyond Gen 9. The overall feeling is that Gen7 may be the limit to manufacturingpracticality but…

Where do PDPs fit in here? All the companiesvisited seem to think that PDPs will meet theneeds at sizes greater than that currentlyachievable using LCDs. Of course, as theLCDs get bigger (currently approximately 55”diagonal) then the PDPs lose the lower endof the market.

Samsung and LG have totally divergent viewson FEDs. Samsung are very supportive – hopeto get their CNT based FEDs out into marketin 2005 where they see the 45-50” size to beoptimum. LG see no benefits unless the costgoes down significantly, then the powersaving over the PDP and the cost saving overthe AMLCD may make it attractive.

There is a lot of interest in small moleculeand polymer OLEDs in Korea. Samsung SDIare leading the way, as they are in productionwith passive matrix small molecule OLEDdisplays and are demonstrating active matrixtop emitting displays. Both SamsungElectronics and LG-Philips’ interest will beincreased further if the use of a-Si TFT driversis proved possible. Companies such as LGElite and LG Chemical are working on smallmolecular OLEDs, with LG Elite reportingvery impressive results. LG Chemical are nowdeveloping polymer OLED materials and alsoexpressing interest in moving up the valuechain and making simple displays.

The Koreans seem to be reticent toacknowledge competitive threat from backprojection or other LCOS schemes. Therereally did seem to be little observance ofpossible ‘disruptive’ propositions. It seemsvery improbable that such commerciallyaggressive and successful companies do nothave a very good viewpoint upon thecompetitive threats. We therefore concludethat they were not prepared to discuss thesematters with the mission.

There is a general feeling of confusion inKorea as to why the UK, given their record ofinnovation in this area, has essentially zeromanufacturing capability. Most of thecompanies visited, however, do have a verygood appreciation of the R&D work ongoingin the UK, and many are interested incollaboration – some topics are highlighted inthe next section.

4.2 Potential for collaboration

We had specific invitations from 21CFrontier Display who have been directed tobegin interactions with overseas centres ofexcellence. The implication was that the IPownership for such projects would reside inKorea. ADRC also indicated that they wouldbe keen to interact with anyone who has anoriginal/novel idea that they would like totest using their facilities. In this case it wasclear that they sought a more general setof collaborations inclusive of semi-commercial prototyping. ETRI were alsovery keen to initiate overseas collaborativeprojects and already have several suchinteractions ongoing.

As a consequence of the mission, severalenquiries have already been received by themission members.

Indications of specific collaborativeopportunities are provided at the end of eachmeeting note in Appendix D.

4.3 Research opportunities for UK

The mission team produced a series ofquestions that were sent to each organisationprior to our meetings. Based upon theanswers to these questions and on thediscussions we had during the meetings, thefollowing topics came up as being the mostimportant to concentrate upon over the nextfew years:

1 Novel process technologies – ink jet ofspecial interest, large area – eg roll-to-rollor novel substrates.

2 Flexible displays in general – new organicmaterials needed, especially blue polymer,organic TFT, work needed on barrier layers,soft lithography, contact nanoprint etc.

3 Low temperature processing – alternativelow temperature processes for a-Si:H andmicrocrystalline Si to improve stability, andnovel low temperature routes to poly Si forlarge areas.

4 Large area glass.There must be a markethere for eg Pilkington as Samsung movetowards Gen 7 and LG to Gen 6.

5 Higher functionality on backplanes, dieattach, higher mobility circuitry…

6 Although, apart from the push fromSamsung, there seems to be little interestin field emission (FE) displays, there isundoubtedly a major interest in novelbacklight technologies. Several companiesare working on various alternatives,including LEDs etc, but those based on FEseem to be prime candidates, eg carbonbased technologies for emitters for FEbacklight units are being considered byseveral of the companies and labs wevisited – Iljin are especially interested incollaborating in this area.

7 There is still much work to be done onoptimisation of phosphors both for PDPsand FEDs and also for use in backlights –low voltage phosphors for FEDs ofspecial interest.

8 3D displays – work at SAIT clearlyindicated they were looking at datamanagement and paradigms for achievingrealistic 3D presentation.

4.4 Recommendations

1 A strong industry/academic partnershipscheme should be set in place in the UKwith a strategic goal of enablingdemonstration of key technologies for futuredisplays and manufacturing platforms.

The key recommendation therefore fromthe mission is that a display prototypingfacility similar to the ADRC at Kyung HeeUniversity should be available in the UK. Thebenefit to universities and SMEs in beingable to try out their ideas and to get veryquick turnaround on a manufactured device,as opposed to having to build up their ownmanufacturing base, is immeasurable.

2 The UK should concentrate their efforts onflexible, robust, possibly organic-semiconductor based technology, andsimilarly support some of the paradigmchallenging investigations, eg phaseimaging (as opposed to amplitudeimaging). Objective assessment of humanfactors in immersive displays, andengagement in the whole supply chainfrom materials through to systemsengineering, should also be conducted.

3 We should encourage Korea (and indeedTaiwan) to send similar missions to the UKso we can sell our combined talents – UKInc should be advertised as a package.

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4.5 Suggestions for future missions

1 The seminar gave us a unique opportunityto present to companies we would notnormally target, because we are all‘bandwidth’ limited. In this report, most ofthese companies were not mentionedbecause we only visited a few of themajor players during the rest of our visit.It therefore now behoves us (or UK Inc?)to follow through with these companiesto ascertain their level of interest.

2 Recommendations for future missiontechnology events:

(i) We think the seminar day should finishwith a couple of hours set aside to mingle and give the attendees the chance to meet the visitors in a more relaxed space and atmosphere.

(ii) We also think the embassy should askthe attendees to complete a small questionnaire on their interests in the seminar, eg in our case FED, LCDetc display technologies. This would help with the follow up, as when thereare 70+ organisations represented, only some can be followed up.

(iii) For the visits, we think the main issue was time. It would be better to visit fewer companies but have at least three hours with each, preferably four hours. By the time theintroductions and the presentations had been completed, there was very little time to ask questions.

3 We think there is an opportunity foranother mission in the very near term toconcentrate on projection displays, withparticular emphasis on LCOS. Thistechnology has recently received a hugeinvestment globally.

4 Given the pace of these evolvingtechnologies, another mission shouldreally be planned to occur at the end of2004. Also, a mission to Taiwan, ifpossible, would be helpful.

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5 CONCLUSIONS

This report has detailed the findings of a DTIfunded Global Watch Mission to South Koreato study FPD technologies.

The investment, effort and ongoingcommitment to FPD technologies in SouthKorea is huge.

The coordinated activities of both governmentand industry sponsored research ensures thatKorea will maintain a competitive position forthe foreseeable future.

Opportunities for collaboration with Koreancompanies and research centres exist inseveral FPD areas.

There is a general feeling of confusion inKorea as to why the UK, given their record ofinnovation in this area, has essentially zeroFPD manufacturing capability.

FPD missions to Korea (and Taiwan) shouldbe held annually in order to build up closerinteractions.

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Appendix AACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Farida Isroliwala forthe initial organisation within the DTI GlobalWatch service here in the UK and of coursethe DTI themselves for giving us all theopportunity of visiting such a diverse rangeof companies and research centres inSouth Korea.

We are especially grateful to Mikyung Park,Youngsun Soh and Jim Thomson of the BritishEmbassy in Seoul for all their help in Korea.

We would also like to thank Prof Jin Jangof Kyung Hee University who helped inthe organisation, and acted as co-chair forthe seminar held on 9 December at theBritish Embassy.

Appendix BMISSION MEMBERS

Cambridge University Engineering Department

Contact William Ireland Milne

Position Head of Electrical Engineering

Address Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentTrumpington StreetCambridgeCB2 1PZUK

Tel +44 (0) 1223 332757

Fax +44 (0) 1223 766207

Email [email protected]

Website www.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/div-b/index.html

Professional BSc Hons in Applied Physics, Univ of St Andrews; PhD and DIC in qualifications Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, London

Platform technologies Low temperature AMLCDs, FEDs

Company description The Electrical Engineering Division of Cambridge University Engineering Department has a wide interest in flat panel displays including work on AMLCDs, 3D TV, field emission displays and OLEDs. They have over 20 years experience in the design and manufacture of a-Si:H TFTs and have worked on instability mechanisms in such devices when used as the switching element in AMLCDs. They also have ~25 years experience in the design, test and simulation of polysilicon based TFTs initially for use in AMLCDs and more recently for application as the drivers in OLED displays in collaboration with the Cavendish Laboratory and Seiko Epson. The Photonics group have >25 years experience in various aspects of liquid crystal display technology and recent appointments have meant that they now have a polymer/liquid crystal materials expert also on board. Currently they are involved incollaboration with Samsung on the application of carbon nanotubes for a novel flat panel display based on field emission. Cambridge Engineering Department is also the hub of the COMIT Faraday partnership, 50% of which is dedicated to flat panel display technology.

Areas for potential AMLCDs, FEDscollaboration

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Printable Field Emitters Ltd (PFE)

Contact William Taylor

Position Director

Address Printable Field Emitters LtdAtlas CentreChilton, DidcotOxfordshireOX11 0QXUK

Tel +44 (0) 1235 445959

Fax +44 (0) 1235 445960


Website www.pfe-ltd.com

Professional BSc Physics, Manchester University; MBA, Durham University; qualifications Diploma in Electronics & Electromagnetics, Open University;

Member of Chartered Institute of Marketing; Chartered Marketer

Platform technologies Field emission displays

Company description PFE is a venture capital funded developer of next generation field emission displays for large area consumer priced TV. The company employs 25 scientists and engineers in private facilities at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory close to Oxford. The company’s technology is based on a novel and strongly patented composite material that emits electrons at low electric field strength. The company has demonstrated video rate monochrome 5.7 inch diagonal devices that operate at 2,000 Cd/m2. However, the company’s target market is full colour HDTV at panel sizes greater than 30 inch. The technology offers the prospect of CRT viewing quality at selling prices equivalent to or lower than those for large CRT TVs (< $1,400 for 42 inch HDTV). The technology is suitable for manufacture on low capital cost plasma panel manufacturing lines – PFE has a licensing business model and is actively seeking development and manufacturing partners.

Areas for potential Field emission displayscollaboration

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Dow Corning

Contact Dr Terry Victor Clapp

Position Scientist

Address 1 Dow CorningCardiff RoadBarryVale of Glamorgan CF63 2YL UK

Address 2 Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentTrumpington StreetCambridgeCB2 1PZUK

Tel +44 (0) 1223 332644


Website www.dowcorning.com

Professional PhD: Chemistry, University College Wales, Aberystwythqualifications

Platform technologies Liquid crystals, OLEDs & PLEDs, polymers, silicon-to-silica via all forms of silicon chemistry

Company description Dow Corning Corporation is a multinational company developing, manufacturing and marketing silicon-based products and services for customers in virtually every industry, from electronics and personal care to automotive and textiles. The company pioneered the development of silicones – a diverse family of materials that combine the temperature and chemical resistance of glass with the versatility of plastics. Now entering its 60th year, it has maintained its position as global leader through innovation and its determination to help its customers succeed in their marketplace.Today, it offers more than 7,000 product and service solutions tailored to meet the exact requirements of its customers. Customer application and research facilities in seven countries help Dow Corning exploit the full potential of silicon atom technology and push the boundaries further, to offer new choices that are as dynamic as its customers’ needs.

Dow Corning was formed in 1943 as a joint venture between Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) and Dow Chemical Company, which continue to own equal shares today. With more than 8,200 employees globally, it operates more than 40 manufacturing and customer service locations worldwide. Its headquarters are in Midland, Michigan, USA. 7,000 products and services are offered to its 25,000 customers.

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R&D investment in 2002 represented approximately 6% of sales, exceeding the industry average. It holds approximately 1,600 active patents in the US and about 4,200 worldwide.

Dow Corning’s sales for 2002 were $US2.61 billion with net income of $141 million. About 62% of the company’s sales come from outside the US.

Dow Corning continually strives to be one of the most respected companies in the chemical industry for environmental, health, and safety performance, using the international Responsible Care® programme to guide its actions.

Areas for potential Advanced LC, novel polymers, gels and elastomers, nano-collaboration technology and supra-molecular sciences

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QinetiQ

Contact Richard Jonathan Miller

Position Technical Leader

Address QinetiQMalvern Technology CentreSt Andrews RoadMalvernWorcestershireWR14 3PSUK

Tel +44 (0) 1684 896099/895097

Fax +44 (0) 1684 896530

Email [email protected] or [email protected]

Website www.qinetiq.com

Professional PhD in Physics from Manchester University 1994, studying chrial qualifications frustrated liquid crystal phases. A member of the Institute of

Physics, a Chartered Physicist, Committee for the British Liquid Crystal Society

Platform technologies LCD physics: OLEDs, embossing, materials processing, LC surface physics, organic electronics, spatial light modulators, photonic materials and application technology, diffractive and adaptive optics

Company description QinetiQ is Europe’s largest independent science and technology business. Profitable, growing, high technology company with approximately 8,500 staff. Turnover approximately £750 million- 80% for Ministry of Defence- Commercial work growing by 30+% per year

Areas for potential LCDs, OLEDs, electrophoretic displays, photonics, SLM applicationscollaboration

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Cambridge Display Technology (CDT)

Contact Dr Jeremy Burroughes

Position Chief Technical Officer

Address Cambridge Display TechnologyGreenwich HouseMadingley RiseMadingley RoadCambridgeCB3 0TXUK

Tel +44 (0) 1223 723522

Fax +44 (0) 1223 723556


Website www.cdtltd.co.uk

Professional PhD: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridgequalifications

Platform technologies Light emitting polymers, diode design, ink jet printing

Company description Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) is a privately held company leading the research, development and commercialisation of polymer technology for flat panel displays, lighting and photovoltaics. CDT’s light emitting polymer (LEP) and dendrimer technologies are targeted for use in a wide range of electronic display products used for information management, communications and entertainment. Features include reduced power consumption, size, thickness and weight, very wide viewing angle, superior video imaging performance and the potential to produce displays on plastic substrates. To date, licences have been granted to Dai Nippon Printing, Delta Optoelectronics, DuPont Displays, Eastgate Engineering, MicroEmissive Displays, OSRAM, Philips, and Seiko-Epson.

Based in Cambridge, UK, CDT was founded by Cambridge University and a seed venture capitalist in 1992 and has subsequently been through a number of investment rounds. In July 1999 the company moved premises in order to support a rapidly growing number of staff and to provide new chemistry facilities. At around the same time, a new investment round was completed that changed the ownership of CDT to the USA. With more than 120 employees globally, it has a head office in Cambridge, UK, a Technology Development Centre in Godmanchester, UK, and offices in both Japan and Taiwan.

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CDT also has a joint venture with Ulvac, one of industry’s leading manufacturing equipment companies called Litrex. Litrex has developed ink jet printing tools using Spectra heads and proprietary drive per nozzle (DPN) technology. DPN not only allows droplet uniformity to be better than 2% (need better than 3%), but also allows droplet uniformity to be maintained as the head ages.

Areas for potential Ink jet printing, transparent cathodes, encapsulation, active matrix collaboration displays (a-Si and LTPS), constant luminance circuits

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Department of Trade & Industry

Contact Hong-Hai Seeto

Position International Technology Promoter – South Korea

Address Pera Innovation LtdPera Innovation ParkMelton MowbrayLeicestershireLE13 0PBUK

Tel +44 (0) 7071 200 180

Fax +44 (0) 7050 685 361


Website www.globalwatchonline.com/itp

Company description DTI Global Watch Technology Partnering is designed to facilitate international technology partnerships. The role of the International Technology Promoters (ITPs) is to provide direct assistance to UK companies in order to raise awareness of, and access to, technology based opportunities with the world’s leading investors in research and development.

The programme assists UK companies in sourcing and acquiring overseas technologies or may involve the setting up of licensing arrangements or assistance in the early stages of a product, process or quality development programme. ITPs understand the social and business cultures of their ‘target’ country and so can help UK companies avoid many of the usual pitfalls and problems associated with international business ventures.

There are currently a total of 16 ITPs focusing on various territories:Japan, North America, Europe, South Korea, China, Russia, Taiwan and Singapore. The ITPs are UK based but travel extensively and have experience of working in their focus countries across a wide range of industry sectors, along with the knowledge of the language and business culture. The ITP scheme is funded by the DTI and managed by Pera Innovation Ltd.

Hong-Hai Seeto is a manufacturing engineering specialist with 20 years of international experience in technology transfer and productand process development with industry, particularly within small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

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With technical and research expertise in design, advanced manufacturing systems and information technology, he is well placed to focus on developments in these sectors in South Korea.Together with the Science and Technology team in the British Embassy in Seoul, he has developed comprehensive access points to all of the leading R&D laboratories of the Korean global corporations and government institutes, and the growing numbers of dynamic high tech venture companies.

He also has professional interest in science and technology policy development – especially in technology transfer and SME innovation. His previous experience encompassed the development of entrepreneurship, commercialisation of research, university spin-offs and venture companies. These enabled him to build an extensive network of industrial and academic contacts in the high technology sectors in the UK.

Hong-Hai Seeto was educated in Singapore and the UK, gaining hisdegree and postgraduate qualification in Edinburgh and London.

South Korea’s strength in manufacturing is built on innovation and the ability to adapt new technologies to products and processes, thereby gaining competitive advantage in the world market. As a leading global player in a number of industrial sectors, South Korea has much to offer UK companies in terms of advanced technologies and best practice, much of which is often complementary to developments in the UK.

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Appendix CEMBASSY SEMINAR

C.1 Flat panel displays seminar programme – Tuesday, 9 December 2003

UK Chair: Professor Bill Milne, Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentKorean Chair: Professor Jin Jang, Kyunghee University

Time Event

09:15 Registration & Coffee

09:45 Welcome address: British Ambassador, Mr Warwick Morris

10:00 Presentation by Dr Terry Victor Clapp, Scientist of Dow CorningProcess Technologies and Advanced Liquid Crystalline Materials for the NextGeneration Display

10:30 Presentation by Dr Sunghoe Yoon, Senior Manager of LG Philips LCD Technical Strategies for LCD TVs

11:00 Questions & Answers

11:15 Tea & Coffee

11:30 Presentation by Professor Bill Milne, Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentCarbon Nanotubes for Field Emission Displays

12:00 Presentation by Dr Kyuha Chung, Vice President of Samsung ElectronicsFPD Industry and its Technology Trend


12:45 Lunch

13:45 Presentation by Dr Richard Jonathan Miller, Technical Leader of QinetiQHigh Performance Display Development at QinetiQ

14:15 Presentation by Dr Jeremy Burroughes, Chief Technology Officer of Cambridge Display TechnologiesUK Organic Electronics and Opto-Electronics


15:15 Presentation by Dr Ho-Kyoon Chung, Senior Vice President of Samsung SDI Recent Advances in AMOLED Technology

15:45 Presentation by Mr William Taylor, Director of Printable Field Emitters LtdImproved Printable Field Emitter Display with Hop-Plate for HDTV

16:15 Presentation by a representative of Samsung SDI on FED


17:00 Discussion

17:15 Chairmen’s Call to close the seminar

C.2 Seminar attendees

No Title Name Position Company Tel

1 Mr Choi, Jun Young Chief ADP Engineering 031-737-9782

2 Mr Bae, Kyung Bin President ANS 031-666-5530

3 Mr Ban, Tae Gon Assistant Manager AVACO 053-583-8150

4 Mr Lee, Gab Hee President Bando 031-431-5001

5 Mr Park, Chang Jung CEO BNL-SOLUCOM 031-322-7788

6 Mr Shin, Dong Heon Assistant Manager BNL-SOLUCOM 031-322-7788

7 Mr Ha, Il-Doo Assistant Manager BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-7308

8 Mr Kim, Eok-Su R&D Engineer BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-8479

9 Ms Kim, Hyun Jin Associate BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-6451

10 Mr Kim, Kwang-Ok Associate BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-8334

11 Mr Lee, Jun-Ho R&D Engineer BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-8479

12 Mr Song, Young-Suk R&D Engineer BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-6961

13 Mr Kim, Chi-Young Assistant Manager BOE HYDIS Technology 031-639-8446

14 Mr Cho, Guk Hyeong General Manager Charm Engineering 031-330-8505

15 Dr Choi, Kyung Hee Deputy General Manager CLD 02-6090-2703

16 Mr Jun, Jae Ho Chief Research Engineer Daewoo Electronics 02-3270-5912

17 Prof Kim, Young Seop Professor Dankook University 041-550-3583

18 Prof Lim, Heung Bin Head of department Dankook University 02-709-2829

19 Mr Lee, Youn Geun Engineer Dongjin Semichem 031-350-5513

20 Dr Lee, Jong-Woo Researcher DPI Solutions 042-865-6911

21 Mr Koo, Ja Poong President EDIRAK 02-563-7963

22 Mr Jung, Han Chief Manager ED-Tech 02-738-2391

23 Ms Cho, Eun Soo Assistant Manager Eliatech 02-3019-8709

24 Mr Park, Jae Hong CEO Epion Corporation 042-864-2471

25 Mr Lim, Sung Kyoo CEO GLD 02-709-2979

26 Mr Park, Jae Yeon CEO Hanback 042-863-5570

27 Mr Hwang, Chanyun Assistant Manager Hankuk Electric Glass 054-468-1439

28 Dr Yu, SeGi Professor Hankuk University 031-330-4938

29 Dr Cho, Jae Eock Principal Researcher Hanwha Chemical 042-865-6698

30 Prof Kim, Hyoung June Professor Hong-Ik University 02-320-1625

31 Prof Kim, Young Kwan Professor Hong-Ik University 02-320-1646

32 Ms Jeon, Ae Kyung Engineer Hyundai LCD 031-639-8323

33 Mr Kim, Sun Woong Associate Engineer Hyundai LCD 031-639-8323

34 Dr Roh, Byeong Gyu Senior Engineer Hyundai LCD 031-639-9323

35 Mr Kim, Hyung Soo CEO IA Korea 02-578-3523

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36 Mr Yeo, Jeong Beom Director ICD 031-217-7141

(Crispim)

37 Dr Park, Hee-Dong Director IDRC 02-2299-1857

38 Mr Han, Sang Woan Managing Director International Technology 02-461-2181

39 Mr Seo, Jae-Hong Manager JSR Corp 2112-4565

40 Dr Jeon, Duk Young Professor KAIST 017-267-9752

41 Mr Ahn, Hee June Graduate student Keimyung University 053-580-5263

42 Prof Ha, Ki Ryong Professor Keimyung University 053-580-5263

43 Mr Jung, Keang Wook Graduate student Keimyung University 053-580-5263

44 Dr Lee, Sang Yong Executive Director Kodenshi Korea 063-839-2102

45 Mr Yoon, Kyoung Keun Project Manager Kolon Central Research Park 031-280-8586

46 Dr Park, Sooyoul Senior Researcher Korea Research Institute of 042-860-7666

Chemical Technology

47 Prof Jang, Jin Professor Kyunghee University 02-961-0270

48 Mr Jung, Chan Ho General Manager LED EXPO 02-783-7979

49 Dr Choi, Hyeon Senior Scientist LG Chem 042-866-2373

50 Dr Kim, Joon Hyung Senior Research Engineer LG Chem 042-866-2537

51 Dr Son, Se Hwan Programme Leader LG Chem 042-866-2534

52 Dr Son, Sehwan Programme Leader LG Chem 042-866-2534

53 Dr Han, Sangcholl Principal Research Engineer LG Chem 042-866-5916

54 Dr Oh, Byungdu Vice President LG Chem Ltd/Research Park 042-866-5900

55 Dr Lee, Young Chul Project leader LG Chemicals 042-866-5831,

56 Dr Hwang, Yunil General Manager LG Chemicals 02-3773-7194

57 Mr Suh, Myung Won Deputy Manager LG Chemicals 02-3773-3443

58 Dr Kim, Kwang-Young Group Leader LG Electronics 02-526-4745

59 Dr Kim, Sung Tae Director LG Elite 02-526-4857

60 Dr Jeong, Hyo-Soo Senior Research Engineer LG Philips 054-460-3326

61 Mr Koh, Nam Je Chief Senior LG Philips 054-460-3545

Research Engineer

62 Dr Yoon, Sunghoe Senior Manager LG Philips LCD 054-478-5855

63 Mr Seo, Hyun Sik Senior Research Engineer LG Philips LCD R&D Center 031-450-7433

64 Dr Yoon, Chul Oh President MC Science 031-206-8645

65 Mr Lee, Kwon Assistant Manager Microeye 031-240-0394

66 Mr Moon, Hun Chan CEO Microeye 031-240-0393

67 Mr Lee, Choong Hoon CEO Modistech 02-3295-1552

68 Mr Lee, Byung Il Senior Director NEMO 043-279-6950

69 Mr Lim, In Gon CEO NEMO 043-279-6901

70 Mr Shin, Hyun Bae Senior Manager Next Instrument 031-379-7740


71 Mr Su, Jee Young Director Next Instrument 031-379-7620

72 Mr Jun, Hyun Branch Manager Orbotech Pacific Korea 031-781-7123

73 Mr Cho, Joong-Hyeob Engineer Orion PDP 02-6678-8532

74 Mr Kim, In-Tae Chief Research Engineer Orion PDP 02-6678-8536

75 Mr Oh, Seung-Sik Engineer Orion PDP 02-6678-8539

76 Mr Kim, Jong Sam Senior Researcher PHICOM 02-3282-7082

77 Dr Kim, Kyung Chae Research Engineer Phoenix PDE 054-467-6630

78 Dr Kim, Kwan CTO Pixel Chips 02-552-9428

79 Mr Um, Gang-Ho Sales & Marketing Pixel Chips 02-552-9428

80 Mr Lee, Hon President PJ KODIVAC 02-3281-2451

81 Prof Lee, Kun-Hong Professor Postech 054-279-2271

82 Mr Choi, Jae Hyoung Q-Land 017-336-0791

83 Mr Yu, Jin Seon Managing Director Rodel Korea 02-598-4881

84 Mr Kim, Kyu Sik Research staff SAIT

85 Dr Park, Young Soo Project Leader SAIT 031-280-9344

86 Mr Song, In Sung Research staff SAIT

87 Dr Kim, Joohan Senior Engineer Samsung 031-209-3633

88 Mr Chang, Young Jin Engineer Samsung Electronics 02-961-0688

031-209-4870

89 Dr Chung, Kyuha Vice President Samsung Electronics 02-760-6015

90 Dr Jung, Jae Hoon Senior Engineer Samsung Electronics 031-209-7802

91 Dr Lee, Nam Seok Senior Researcher Samsung Electronics 031-209-3633

92 Mr Pae, Han Su Engineer Samsung Electronics 031-209-6479

93 Dr Park, Hae Il Senior Engineer Samsung Electronics 031-209-7887

94 Mr Ryu, Min seong Engineer Samsung Electronics 031-209-3490

95 Mr Shin, Keun Woong Assistant Manager Samsung Electronics 031-209-3040

96 Mr Son, ILL Kon Manager Samsung Electronics 031-209-3150

97 Mr Song, Jean Ho Senior Engineer Samsung Electronics 02-879-2284

98 Mr Kim, Sang-Won Senior Manager Samsung Fine Chemicals 02-772-1831

99 Mr Lee, In-Hee Senior Manager Samsung Fine Chemicals 02-772-1830

100 Dr Park, Hyun-Duk Executive vice president Samsung Fine Chemicals 042-865-3720

101 Dr Yoo, Jiuk Team Leader Samsung Fine Chemicals 042-865-3840

102 Dr Kwon, Jang Hyuk Senior Researcher Samsung SDI 031-288-4806

103 Dr Oh, Yoon Sik Senior Researcher Samsung SDI 031-288-4405

104 Mr Park, Tai Jun Staff Samsung SDI 031-288-4428

105 Mr Seo, Dong-Kyun Manager Samsung SDI 031-288-4456

106 Ms Yoon, Min Jae Assistant Manager Samsung SDI 031-28-4412

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107 Dr Lee, Chun-Gyoo Principal Researcher Samsung SDI 031-288-4709

108 Mr Jun, Hyung Jin CEO Semyung Ever Energy 02-443-6834~7

109 Mr Roh, Dong-Ho Director Shinsung Eng 031-788-9362

110 Mr Shin, Jung-Tae Team Manager Shinsung Eng 031-788-9362

111 Mr Yi, Jong Hoon CEO Silicon Image Works 02-554-4453

112 Dr Hwang, Yong Mo CEO SLD 02-2142-0405

113 Dr Park, Heui Jae CEO SNU Precision 02-877-3636

114 Mr Lee, Jae-Eun Senior Manager Sunic System 031-219-1105

115 Dr Soh, Ju-Won General Manager Sunic System 031-219-1106

116 Mr Kim, San Principal Engineer Tomato LSI 02-538-9171

117 Mr Park, Hyung Rae Principal Engineer Tomato LSI 02-538-9171

118 Mr Yu, Yeonyong Deputy General Manager Tomato LSI 02-538-9171.

119 Dr Kim, Soon Sik Managing director Toray Saehan 02-3279-1012

120 Mr Nam, Jung Hwan Engineer Viatron Technologies 02-2107-7025

121 Mr Oh, Moon-Suk Engineer Viatron Technologies 02-2107-7028

122 Mr Park, Franklin CSO Viatron Technologies 02-2107-7022

123 Mr Park, Wang Jun Engineer Viatron Technologies 02-2107-7023

124 Mr Ryu, sung Ryong Engineer Viatron Technologies 02-2107-7025

125 Dr Shin, Dong Hoon Senior Engineer Viatron Technologies 02-2107-7024

126 Prof Choi, Yong Sung Professor Wonkwang Univ 063-850-6349

127 Ms Khang, Hee-Jung Researcher Wooyoung 02-961-3552

128 Dr Woo, Hyung Suk Senior Manager Director Wooyoung 02-961-3551

129 Prof Sah, Jong-Youb Professor Yeungnam University 053-810-2574

130 Prof Noh, Myung Keun Research professor Yonsei Center for 02-2123-3889

Nano Technology

131 Mr Jeong, Dong Soo Manager Young Poong CMC 02-957-2488

132 Mr Kang, Shin Gook Dept Manager ZEUS 02-577-3181

21st Century Frontier Display Research Group

Place British Embassy, Seoul

Date 8 December 2003

In attendance Dr Hee-Dong Park, Director

Summary Dr Park is Director of the Display Group of the Ministry of Science and Technology sponsored 21C Frontier R&D programme – a ten year programme which began in 2002 with atotal budget of US$185 million of which US$85 million is provided by government and US$100 million by private companies. There are 26 companies, 10 universities and 5 research institutes involved in the project. Their display effort is concentrated on three major technologies:TFT LCDsAMOLEDsPDPs

TFT LCDs Reliability and colour filter technology is the main interest. Speed of liquid x-tal material is of interest but they do no work on backlight optimisation. Their roadmap for this technology aims towards cost reduction from the current $25/inch to $10/inch by 2010. One of their main drivers is production of low T polysilicon toenable system integration. Aiming for 300 dpi by 2010.

AMOLEDs Material quality is still seen as being the main problem, and because of the blue lifetime problems with polymers they are concentrating mainly on small molecule material. A big effort is ongoing on organic TFTs – one of their biggest research interests. Currently their mobilities are lower than those obtainable using pentacene and they associate this with the fact that they are still in the development stage regarding material – they use their own and do not buy in from elsewhere.

PDPs Their main drive here is to improve the MgO layer. They are aiming to upgrade the luminescent properties under VUV excitation. They are also trying to improve each of the colours. Red suffers from colour purity problems, green has poor decay time and needs a high discharge voltage, and blue suffers from thermal degradation and colour shift. Currently power consumption is a major worry but they aim to improve from the present 500 W for a 55” diagonal screen to 300 W for >80” screen by 2012.

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Appendix DMEETING NOTES

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Although they have no major interest in FEDs they do have it on their roadmap. They are also carrying out basic research on white LEDs based upon InGaN and standard RGB phosphors or InGaN and down conversion phosphors. They see a $100 billion world market for flat panel displays by 2007.

Mobile displays mid term up to 2007, TFT LCDs including LTPS based TFTsLonger term >2007, OLEDS will take over

Notebook displays TFT LCDsDesktop monitors TFT LCDs

(with OLEDS taking over >2007 possibly)TV displays >40” PDPs will lead until 2006

(then AMLCDS may take over) 30-40” AMLCDs <30” is very much price dependent and difficult to predict

Summary strengths challenges

a-Si:H AMLCDs good infrastructure limited speed poly Si AMLCDs good for small size large sizes/

displays uniformityPDPs large size capability power/resolutionFEDs movie capability lifetime/uniformityOLEDs speed lifetime/uniformitye-paper power consumption colour

Collaborations Contact Dr Park to discuss. He seemed keen to initiate collaborations with UK bodies

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LG-Philips

Place LG-Philips Research Centre


In attendance Mr Budiman Sastra (CTO, Executive V-P)Mr Ki-Yong Kim (1st Group, Senior Engineer)Mr Chang-Dong Kim (2nd Group, Senior Engineer)Mr Woo-Nam Jeong (3rd Group, Senior Engineer)Mr Eui-Yeol Oh (4th Group, Senior Engineer)Mr Sung-Han Park, Manager, R&D Planning and Admin

Summary They view themselves as the world’s No 1 LCD company. They willproduce 10 million units this year which is equivalent to the output of the whole of Taiwan.

They are currently producing in their Gen 5 facility with plate size of 1,110 mm x 1,250 mm. Gen 6 line with 1,500x1,850 capability iscurrently being built and will be on stream later this year. They see no problems in extending to Gen 7 and even Gen 8. In their research centre the pilot fab processes 300 x 350 plates with typical display size of 15” being used. They have a yield of >90%.

Research effort is split into four groups:

Group 1 TFT LCDsGroup 2 a-Si:H, LTPS researchGroup 3 Cell/Optics, LC and LCD researchGroup 4 Display quality, mechanical design and

power management

At present they are not working on FLC material as current speeds of ~10 ms is sufficient for current and immediate future needs. They may decide to investigate FLC in the future. They see no immediate or short term market for plastic backplane displays and no real advantage in flexible displays and have very little customer requirement.

Their interest in AMOLEDs is from the drive circuitry angle. They still think that a-Si:H will win over poly silicon using compensating circuits or maybe using microcrystalline Si. A change in the tool setneeded in order to utilise poly would not be acceptable to them as it currently stands. They think that 3D is still everybody’s ultimate dream but doubt whether there is (or will be near term) an affordable technology and user comfortable display.

Collaborations They currently interact with several universities, mostly in Korea, Japan and in the USA but also with Oxford University. Why should they interact with groups in the UK? What do we offer?

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LG-Elite

Place British Embassy Seoul


In attendance Dr Sung Tae Kim, Director of Devices and Materials LabMr Heung-Kyu Suh, Manager of R&D Planning Group

Summary Seemed to be the LG division that had the broadest view of the display market.

OLEDs Main Interest is in OLEDs – both passive and active matrix displays. In 1998 they were producing 3.8”diagonal QVGA passive matrix. In 1999 they produced 8” VGA passive matrix and by 2002 they had progressed to 1.9” active matrix for cell phone applications.In 2003 they were producing top emission AM 3.8” diagonal displays for PDAs. All based upon small molecule materials.

Currently their R&D effort is on both the material and drive circuitry.They are aiming to increase the efficiency of the emitter and improve lifetime. For the drive circuitry their main aim is to reduce power consumption. At present they are concentrating solely on a-Si:H TFTs and therefore are limited to top emission type displays. They are looking at both phosphorescent and fluorescent material but as the fluorescent material has the highest lifetime this is the one they are concentrating on for TV applications for which they need good quality a-Si:H backplanes. They are happy with the drive capability and only see instability as a problem. a-Si:H TFTs with mobility of 0.7 – 1.0 cm2V-1s-1 are OK. Their aim is to have a 96 x 64 full colour PM and a full colour AM 96 x 96 display for phone applications in Q1 2004.

PDPs They have produced a 76” diagonal full colour display with 800 Cd/m2

brightness, a contrast of 1500:1 with a depth of 86 mm. In 2003 they were also producing 42” VGA and XGA, 50” XGA and 60” XGA displays. They did not respond to a query on power consumption for the 76” diagonal display but pointed out that ‘burn in’ is still the biggest problem with their PDPs which makes them much more suitable for TV applications.They feel that the boundary for PDPs with respect to AMLCDs for TV applications at present is 35- 40” and this will move to 45-50” as time goes by. This will be driven by cost.

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Others They have worked on FE displays for several years going from Spindt tip to MIM and most recently to CNTs as the electron sources. However they see no manufacturing/cost benefits for FEDs over either PDPs or AMLCDs for large area TVs. They did point out (as has also been mentioned by several other companies in this visit) that Toshiba/Canon will announce that they will complete a FED fab sometime in 2005. They have effort also on projection TVs using HTPS, DLP and LCOS. They are concentrating their efforts on improving brightness and contrast.

They are clearly also working on systems and driver issues for all their display technologies.

Collaborations No indication of interest.

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Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT)

Place Suwon


In attendance Dr Jong-Min Kim, V-P and Samsung FellowDr Key H Kim, Executive Vice President and CROMr Park Yongo, Director Dr Byung-Ki Kim, Technology Leader, Mats and Devices LabMr Soyoun Park, Researcher, Global Collaboration Office

Summary SAIT are a most impressive laboratory. They are the biggest private research institute in Korea. There are 950 researchers (10% of which are non-Korean – mostly Russian). Current annual budget is US$212 million. Parent company Samsung have 175,000 employees worldwide and have a current value of US$116.8 billion with net earnings last year of $8.9 billion. Samsung overall R&D investment is US$2.9 billion with 20,400 research personnel. They grew by 15% in 2003, and aim to repeat this in 2004.

Research areas covered included digital, opto, nano/MEMS, energy and bio. We were given a briefing on all of these areas which unfortunately left little time for discussion on the main display areas which were of course our major interests. Nonetheless we were given every courtesy and the tour of their exhibition was most impressive although somewhat rushed.

A screen displayed a simulation of a ‘girl-band’ dancing and this was a very impressive piece of pseudo-reality animation (rather after the style we would acknowledge Pixar or one of the other studios master of). This was interesting, but the real power was, that as a single user of this system, changing one’s viewing perspective relative to the screen, for example by crouching to look up, caused the image’s perspective to alter appropriately. All of this was achieved in ‘real-time’ and with a very high level of graphical fidelity. The rendering of the image, given its size and detail, must have been a phenomenal piece of signal engineering. We would estimate that in excess of 10 GB/s of data would be required, quite apart from some very elegant image processing to relate the viewer’s actions to an appropriate response from the system. It is possible that the full data-set was being accessed from stored frames, since otherwise the computational load would have been without reasonable platform capacity, but it nevertheless was stunning. The demonstration illustrated a converged computational and visual display system that presented a graphically compelling vision of what such systems are/will be capable of delivering. The discussions we held with a groupof key technical people were much more enlightening… engineers’ discussions, one-on-one and in debate.

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The exhibition is designed to impress with the depth and breadth of Samsung’s technology base and market penetration. The holistic message is that this is a company that has embraced the ‘Information Age’ and is driving to become a dominant force in every aspect of the delivery of products to a converged telecommunications and data communications marketplace.

Digital In their multimedia lab they cover data compression and colour image processing. Communications and networking are another priority area, and user interface including both hearing and vision are also key.

Opto/Photonics Lab The main interest here is in laser diodes and LEDs. The laser diode work is geared towards HD storage, displays and of course for telecommunications. The LED research is aimed towards displays and they have a special interest in backlighting for AMLCDs produced using their LEDs. They expect there will be a US$3 billion market in this area for Samsung alone and of order US$5-6 billion for Korea. Room lighting, and dashboard and indoor lighting in automobiles, are other application areas of interest for this technology.

MEMS/Nano Energy They cover all aspects of MEMS/NEMS. Fluidics and optical Labs MEMS are a prime interest but inertial sensor work, RF MEMS

(wide band and high isolation RF) and health applications are also high on their priority list. They also cover most aspects of materialsand device research as applied to displays etc. They have major efforts in fuel cells, rechargeables, thin film packaging and polymers and other semiconductor materials for their various display applications. The core materials investigated are conjugatedpolymers, CNTs and LCs and they are also investigating nanodevices and novel patterning and processing techniques including screen printing and ink-jet, nano electro-magnetics, spintronics etc.

Bio Work here is mainly on a combination of biochips, genomics and bioinformatics.

Collaboration SAIT already has collaborative projects in place with over 120 universities and research institutes worldwide. Their New Innovation Team (NIT) was launched in 2002 to identify and fund innovative ideas globally.

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Samsung SDI

Place Suwon


In attendance Dr Ho Kyoon Chung, Senior V-PMr Deok-Hyeon Choe, Principal Researcher

Summary This was a very short meeting as we were trying to squeeze three meetings into one day.

FEDs/PDPs They see definite markets for FEDs (in contrast to LG!) from large to small displays. They, in collaboration with SAIT, have produced a CNT based 38” FED and plan to scale up to ~80” diagonal because of power consumption savings. Interest in FEDsis because of potential cost saving (present estimate is FED will be 60-70% of PDP cost). They were asked if they felt that PDPs will survive against the growth of AMLCDs and they said that cost will always mean that there will be a market. The main benefit of FEDs versus the other two is that they will be the cheapest and have the lowest power consumption.

AMLCDs Presently operating at Gen 6 level, and see no problem in expanding to Gen 7 with 2.2 x 1.85 m plate size. They feel that Gen 7 may be thelimit to processability. They are interested in flexible substrates but need a better barrier layer and plastic substrate.

OLEDs Concentrating on small molecules at this point but they are also trying to develop their own polymer materials. For large area applications they still see a-Si:H TFTs as the way forward but are worried about low performance and hence are also looking at LTPS alternatives. For their small displays they are using LTPS and 375 mm x 400 mm plates. They think for larger areas poly silicon uniformity is a technological problem and therefore there willbe a solution in the longer term.

3D TV They have an interest in 3D and are focusing on mobile 3D displays and hope to then extend to larger sizes. They are convinced there is a future for 3D TV.

Collaboration Specifically mentioned interest in novel barrier layers for flexible substrates.

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Samsung Electronics

Place Suwon


In attendance Dr Kyu-Ha Chung, Vice PresidentDr MunPyo Hong, Principal Engineer, Group LeaderMr Hyun Joi KimMr Woojae LeeMr Ameen SafirMr Jianpu WangMr J-H ChoiMr B-S Kim

Summary This is essentially Samsung’s R&D centre for AMLCDs.

AMLCDs They are currently operating a Gen 6 line (1,100 x 1,300 mm plate size) and ramping up a Gen 7 facility which will be ready in 2005 (this will be based on a new site to the north of Seoul close to the South/North Korea border in Tang Jung). Gen 7 line will be 52% larger than Gen 6 with plate size 1,870 x 2,200 mm. It will be oriented towards TV production – 22”, 26”, 32”, 40” and 46” diagonal TVs.

Their product line at present chronologically is:

1999 2001 2003Notebook 12.1”-13.3”-15.0” 15” UXGA 17”

14.1” SXGAMonitors/TVs 14”-15”XGA 30” XGA 22”-46”

17” SXGA

They see AMLCDs to be useful for all applications from 1” to 57” diagonal screens. Flat monitors will replace CRTs. Large AMLCD TVs will compete with PDPs at the 30”-50” size. In mobile applications, AMLCDs will compete with OLEDs (under 10’ diagonal).

Technology trends Notebook PCsThey are looking to produce displays with higher resolution, wider viewing angle and larger size:From 12 – 14.1” up to 15.4 – 17.1”XGA-> SXGA-> UXGATN mode: PVA and IPS to improve viewing angle

MonitorsAiming for >20” SXGA and UXGA and seeking higher performance for multimedia applications. At present, LC speed of order 16 ms with 72% colour gamut, and aiming for 7 ms with 80% gamut.

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TelevisionsAiming for higher quality, lower cost (most important aspect from consumer viewpoint!) and larger size (>40” diagonal with higher resolution – full HDTV spec).

Mobile displaysNeed higher resolution (200 dpi) and higher performance (65% colour gamut and 16M colours).

BacklightsThey see next generation backlights will be based upon PDP-like lamps (Hg based?) If CNT FE based backlights can be made to work uniformly then there is a significant power consumption advantage

Future displaysGen 7 line to come onstream with the aim to break the US$1,000 barrier for a 40” AMLCD sometime in 2005. At present, manufacture cost for a 40” TV is of order US$8,000. They estimate cost to build in 2005 for 32” will be $500, for 37” $750-800 and for the 40” $1,000. Presently such TVs sell at 5 x built cost. They predict that when companies like Dell and Seagate get into the market, the selling price will be 2.5 x manufacture cost. Presently a42” AMLCD is approximately 1.9 times as expensive as a PDP to manufacture. Their best forecast is that this differentiation will continue to fall until in about 2006 they will be approximately equally priced. After 2006, PDP cost will remain essentially the same because of electronics cost but AMLCDs will continue to reduce in price.

Collaboration Best potential for collaboration is in 3D, flexible displays and OLEDs. They have no interest in FE displays, seeing that as being done by Samsung SDI and SAIT.

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LG Chemical

Place LG Chemical Research Park in Daejon


In attendance Dr Jong-Ki Yeo, PresidentDr Jin-Nyoung Yoo, Director, V-P Corporate R&DDr Jeong Su Yu, V-P Information and Electonic MaterialsDr Se Hwan Son, Pricipal Scientist, Organic Micro ProgMr Tae Hyun Kwon, Principal Researcher, Info and Electronics Mats

Summary Started in 1947 and is one of the oldest companies in LG.They had an annual budget of US$4.6 billion in 2002 with an estimated budget of US$5.3 billion in 2003 and global workforce of order 10,000. They focus on four major areas:

Industrial Materials 33%Performance Polymers 27%(polycarbonates etc)Petrochemcials 30%New Materials for IT and Electronics 10%(since mid 1990s)

Strategic goals They aim to increase the New Materials for IT and Electronics section to 30% of total by 2008. By that time they estimate a total annual revenue of $14 billion. R&D investment is currently running at 3% but by 2010 the aim is to invest 7% of internal revenue on research.

Materials for IT and Currently the focus is on low k dielectric materials for the electronics semiconductor industry. For displays the main interest is in

photosensitive material development, polariser optimisation, optical films and phosphors.

For energy storage applications they are interested in Li-ion batteries, Li-polymer batteries and fuel cells.They see their major expansion in this area in organic TFTs and organic solar cells. Biocompatible materials are also of interest. In order for such new business ventures to succeed they need potential sales of >US$100 million within five years with at least a 15% return on investment.

Other new areas they are beginning to pursue are new plastic substrate materials, improved phosphors for PDPs (they are not working on phosphors for FEDs), new small molecules and polymers. They say the lifetime of their new polymers is especially encouraging. They have also begun work on flat backlight lamps using OLEDs, but power efficiency at present is too low. They find also that shorts are still a major problem.

Collaboration There were no indications that they were interested in collaborations.

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Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI)

Place Daejon


In attendance Dr Bun Lee, Vice PresidentDr Soon Ho Chang, DirectorDr Kyung Soo Suh, Team Leader (OTFT)Dr Jin Ho Lee, Team Leader (LTPS)Dr Yon Ho Song (Project Leader (OLED)Ms Hye Yong Chu, Project leader (FED)

Summary They have 1,976 staff members of which 30% are at the doctorate level with a further 60% at Masters level. They cover a broad range on interests including nano-integration, bio, wireless, optical communications and IT components. The IT components work includes interest in displays, batteries and storage. They are looking at supercapacitor electrode technology, high ion conduction polymers with an aim of achieving high performance rechargeable batteries with 300 Wh/kg and 500 Wh/L by 2005 and 500 Wh/kg and 800 Wh/L by 2010. Storage aims are to increase from the present 100 Gbit/in2 nano-optical disc technology to Tb/in2 by 2010 using new technologies which are as yet undecided. Their main interest in the display area is in flexible displays but they also have a programme dedicated to FEDs.

Flexible displays They have 40 research members including 20 PhDs working in this area. Work is ongoing in OLEDs (white OLED and top emission), electronic paper, organic TFTs, plastic back planes and LTPS (SLS) processes for flexible display applications. Currently they can produce 2” flexible passive matrix addressed PM OLEDs and whiteOLEDs with an aim to producing 3” AM flexible displays by mid 2004 with a 5,000 h lifetime @ 100 cd/m2 going towards 10,000 h @ 100 cd/m2 by 2008 for PDAs. Their core technology focuses on substrates, large area and high definition and high efficiency and long lifetime. As regards substrates they are looking at resins for plastic films, gas barriers and trying to solve water and oxygen permeability problems. Lithography trends are from the current photolith through to screen printing and thence roll-to-roll. They are also considering several OLED patterning techniques including RGB/shadow mask, white OLED with colour filters and PLED usingink jet. They cover most of the switching technologies, a-Si:H TFTs, LTPS and OTFTs. To improve efficiency and lifetime they are investigating novel materials, optimising interfaces and looking specifically at top emission.

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They feel in the longer term that the polymer materials are a betterbet and if the ‘blue’ continues to improve are convinced that polymers will overtake small molecules.

FEDs They have pioneered an active matrix addressed FED using carbon nanotubes as the electron sources. They have reported a 3” diagonal display at SID in 2003 with 96 x 64 pixels with anode voltage of 400-500 V and a spacer height of 300 microns. The switch is an a-Si:H TFT and the tubes are single wall as the turn-on voltage is lower. However, they do suffer from instability problems.

Collaboration They are very keen to initiate collaboration and already interact with7 companies and 20 universities. Their current budget from government is US$8 million per annum.

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Iljin


Place Seoul

In attendance Dr TJ Shin, CTO of Iljin DiamondMr HH Hwang, General Manager Business DevelopmentMr YW Nah, FE and LC specialistMr HJ Chun, Carbon and Coating Engineer

Summary Iljin consists of 10 companies with interests as diverse as broadcasting, finance and investment, copper foil for PCBs and also efforts in diamond and carbon nanotubes. The Display group which employs 250 is part of Iljin Diamond which was founded in December 2000. In displays their interests span the driving circuitry, the optics, HTPS, LCOS, and CNTs. They concentrate on HTPS as they cannot compete with Samsung and LG in the LTPS market. Their other main interest lies in the use of carbon nanotubes as the electron sources in FE based backlights.

HTPS/LCOS They are using their HTPS process in the manufacture of 0.9” XGA and 0.7” SVGA (their flagship products!) for projection displays using a micro lens arraying technique. They also use LCOS based devices in reflective mode. They use standard TN based LC materialas the speeds they can achieve with these (1 ms) is sufficient for their requirements at present. They have also begun a joint venture (with whom they did not say) using LCOS for HDTV – due to be completed in 2005.

FE backlights They also have a major effort in field emission but not for displays per se – the interest is in producing a uniform backlight unit based on CNTs (and other materials) as the electron emitter. They use white phosphors which is similar to that used in displays but needsa lower voltage and at present they buy them from Samsung and LG. They are also considering the use of this technology for room lighting but feel that there will have to be a significant increase in lifetime and reduction in costs before this is feasible.

Collaboration They are interested in alternative electron source materials for their backlight and do currently fund several universities, most of which are in Korea.

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Advanced Display Research Centre (ADRC)

Place Kyung Hee University in Seoul


In attendance Prof Jin Jang, Director of ADRC

Summary ADRC is a government funded research centre, which was openedin June 2001 to provide a display manufacturing and process service. Initial funding was for 5-6 years after which it has to be self-financing. US$10 million was given to build up the equipment base and US$1 million for the 300 m2 clean room. They have the capability of processing 6 x 6 inch glass panels through from the backplane depositions to the final display. Display systems currently investigated are TFT-LCD, AMOLED, E-Ink and FEDs.

They offer a prototyping service for Korean SMEs and at present six start-up companies are based alongside the centre and use the centre’s facilities.

AMLCDs As well as offering the standard a-Si:H TFT capability on glass they also have a plastic compatible process which has a maximum process temperature of 150 C. They have successfully produced a 2.26” diagonal flexible TFT-LCD using this process with resolution of 93 dpi (128 x RGB x 160). The substrate used was PES with a thickness of 0.2 mm. They are also currently working with a major US company to investigate the use of low k dielectrics in large areadisplays to enable high aperture ratio operation.

Their polysilicon TFT effort is biased toward alternative LTPS processes. They were one of the first groups to investigate metal induced crystallisation (MIC) and using this process they produced polySi TFTs with field effect mobilities of 124 cm2V-1s-1, with a maximum process temperature of 500 C. They have also investigated sequential lateral crystallisation of a-Si:H using a Nd:YVO4 laser and have recently successfully produced arrays of poly Si TFTs on stainless steel backplates with mobilities of order 80 cm2V-1s-1.

Organic TFTs Thus far they have concentrated their efforts on bottom gate pentacene based TFTs. They get mobilities of order 0.4 cm2V-1s-1, which given that they are using 5 micron gate lengths defined by the source-drain contacts is quite impressive.

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Other displays They are working, in collaboration with Softpixel, on low T MIM-LCDs, with a maximum process temperature of 120 C. Such a MIM array has been utilised in a panel 71.52 mm x 53.64 mm with a pixel number of 320 x (240 x RGB) using PES as the backplate and pentacene as the emitter. They are the group who produced the HT a-Si:H TFT array that ETRI use in their carbon nanotube based AM FED. Finally they also work on the low T deposition of CNTs (T <450 C) for CNT based FED panels in collaboration with a small company in California (cDream).

Collaboration Prof Jin Jang indicated that they would be keen to interact with anyone who has an original/novel idea that they would like to test using the facilities available in ADRC.

Appendix EGLOSSARY

µA microamp(ere)µm micrometre (micron)2D two dimensional3D three dimensionalA amp(ere)AC alternating currentADRC Advanced Display Research Centre (Kyung Hee University, Seoul)AM active matrixAMLCD active matrix LCDAMOLED active matrix OLEDAr argona-Si amorphous siliconC CelsiusCAGR compound annual growth rateCCFL cold cathode fluorescent lampcd candelaCDT Cambridge Display Technology (UK)CIE Commission Internationale de l’Eclairagecm centimetreCNT carbon nanotubeCRT cathode ray tubeCVD chemical vapour depositionDBD dielectric barrier dischargedpi dots per inchDTI Department of Trade and Industry (UK)ETRI Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (South Korea)FE field emissionFED field emission displayFLC ferroelectric liquid crystalFPD flat panel displayg grammeGen GenerationHDTV high definition TVHe heliumHg mercuryhr hourHz hertzIC integrated circuitICP inductively coupled plasmaIP intellectual propertyIPS in-plane switchingITP International Technology Promoter (DTI)

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khr kilohourkHz kilohertzKIST Korea Institute of Science and TechnologykV kilovoltLC liquid crystalLCD liquid crystal displayLCOS liquid crystal on siliconLED light-emitting diodeLEP light-emitting polymerLTPS low temperature poly-siliconm metremA milliamp(ere)MEMS micro-electro-mechanical systemsMETI Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan)MgO magnesium oxideMIC metal induced crystallisationMIM metal-insulator-metalmm millimetreMo molybdenumms millisecondNe neonNEDO New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (Japan)nit = 1 cd/m2

ns nanosecondOLED organic light-emitting diodePC personal computerPDP plasma display panelPECVD plasma enhanced CVDPFE Printable Field Emitters Ltd (UK)PLED polymer light-emitting diodePM passive matrixPMLCD passive matrix LCDPMOLED passive matrix OLEDQ1 first quarterQ2 second quarterQ3 third quarterQ4 fourth quarterQXGA quantum extended graphics arrayR&D research and developmentRGB red, green, bluerms root mean squares secondSAIT Samsung Advanced Institute of TechnologySCE surface conduction emissionSi siliconSID Society for Information DisplaySLS strained layer superlatticeSME small or medium enterprise

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SMF small molecular materialsSTN supertwist nematicTFT thin-film transistorTN twisted nematicTV televisionUK United KingdomUS(A) United States (of America)UV ultravioletUXGA ultra extended graphics arrayV voltVAN vertically aligned nematicVUV vacuum ultravioletW (1) watt; (2) tungstenXe xenonXGA extended graphics array

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Appendix FLIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables

1 page 9 Leadership in LCD areas2a page 15 Status of global FED programmes – industry2b page 15 Status of global FED programmes – government3 page 25 Panel lifetime for bottom and top emission of Samsung SDI’s

AMOLED display

Figures

1 page 6 Total display module market2 page 6 FPD market3 page 7 FPD market by technology4 page 7 FPD market by application5 page 8 TV market by technology6 page 9 Samsung Electronics LCD TV manufacturing cost7 page 10 Cross section of AMLCD8a page 10 Passive matrix LCD8b page 10 Active matrix LCD9 page 11 Line by line addressing in AMLCDs10 page 11 Current density and light emission behaviour as a function of bias voltage

for a LEP device11 page 12 Comparison of LCD and OLED viewing angle12 page 12 First active matrix OLED display13 page 13 17-diagonal full colour ink jet printer LEP AM display14 page 13 Field emission display15 page 14 Broad area CNT emitters in triode structure16 page 16 PDP structure and operation17 page 17 3D FPD based on the parallax barrier technique of Ives18 page 18 3D FPD based on the lenticular array19 page 26 SAIT 32-inch CNT FED20 page 27 PFE gate structure (top), Samsung undergate structure (bottom)21 page 29 Iljin CNT triode structure

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The DTI’s Global Watch service provides asuite of programmes dedicated to helpingBritish businesses improve theircompetitiveness by identifying and accessinginnovative technologies and practices. The suite includes:

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First published in March 2004 by Pera Innovation Limited on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry

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flat panel displays in south korea – present and future · iljin seoul adrc in kyung hee...

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