Merck opened a new OLED technology center in Shanghai. The new center will provide local customers with tailor-made solutions to enable innovative OLED application development.
Merck says that the new center offers a range of state-of-the-art equipment and clean room facilities that enable OLED device fabrication and characterization.
Last month CSoT (TCL) announced plans to establish a 11-Gen LCD+OLED TV fab in Shenzhen, China. Details on the OLED part of that fab were not given, but now we have some updates following the company's investor day.
The new fab will use Oxide-TFT backplanes, and it turns out that the OLED part of the fab will also use the 11-Gen substrates (which may be cut for the actual OLED front plane deposition). Out of the entire capacity of 90,000 monthly substrates, the OLED line will use 20,000 substrates. The fab will start mass production in 2021.
DSCC lowered its OLED material revenue forecasts, saying that the market is expected to grow at a 25% CAGR from $773 million in 2017 to $2.35 billion in 2022 (down from its previous estimates of $2.56 billion in 2022). The fastest growing (51% CAGR) OLED application will be OLED lighting, which will grow from $12 million in 2017 to $95 million in 2022.
DSCC also published the material stack for Samsung's latest OLEDs (used in the Galaxy S9), which you can see above.
In September 2017, Merck, OLEDWorks, OPVIUS and Kolon launched a new textile-based OLED lighting and OPV installation (called "Do we dream under the same sky") at the first Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.
Merck now brought the same installation to Frankfurt during the Light + Building 2018, and the company also gave us more details about this interesting installation.
Ten Germany-based companies established a new OLED lighting alliance, called the "OLED Licht Forum" that aim to develop and promote OLED lighting technologies through dialogue and expert exchange. The forum will also organize conferences, lectures and institution visits.
The forum was founded by OLEDWorks, OSRAM, Merck, BASF coatings, EMDE, Fraunhofer, Hema electronic, Irlbacher, APEVA and WALO-TL. One of the first activities will be to create an OLED showroom in Germany that will be open to the public.
Germany launched a new project led by Merck to develop quantum materials as light emissive sources. The three-year project is called "Exploration of quantum materials New paths to realizing innovative optoelectronic components" (ELQ-LED) and it is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and led by Merck with an aim to conduct basic research on quantum materials as light emitting sources. ELQ-LED is a three-year project that will end on the summer of 2020.
Merck hopes that ELQ-LED materials will enable ultra-pure colors, higher energy efficiency and lower production costs compared to current OLED emitters. The focus of this project will be on cadmium-free quantum materials but the partners will also develop supporting components, processes, transport materials and ink. All components developed in this project will be printable, and the project will test its developments in display prototypes and automotive tail light demonstrators.
Many OLED producers believe that Ink-Jet printing of OLED emissive materials is the best way to achieve lower-cost OLED TV production, and to enable OLEDs to compete in the medium part of the TV market. Ink-Jet printing is an efficient process (less material waste compared to evaporation) and it can be very quick as well. The main drawbacks of inkjet are the limited resolution and the need for soluble emissive materials which are less efficient compared to evaporation ones.
A Kateeva OLED ink-jet printing system
These challenges are being overcome, and it seems that at least four groups (in Korea, Japan and China) are charging forward towards mass production of ink-jet printed OLEDs. Ink-jet printer makers and soluble material suppliers are also optimistic ink-jet printing commercialization will soon be here as the material performance gap is diminishing.
Merck, OLEDWorks, OPVIUS and Kolon launched a new textile-based "façade" concept that combines OLED lighting panels and OPV (organic PV panels). The new structure was launched as part of the first Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.
The façade, in which the structure is made from Bamboo, was designed by architects Nikolaus Hirsch, Michel Müller and artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. The same installation will also be delivered to more exhibitions in Germany and Thailand during 2018.
The phosphorescent OLED emitter market is currently dominated by Universal Display who owns the basic patents to phosphorescent OLED emitters. All the major OLED makers (including Samsung and LGD) are using UDC's materials in order to achieve higher display efficiencies, beyond what is available from fluorescent emitters.
Universal Display holds over 4,000 issued and pending patents, but some of its basic phosphorescent patents are set to expire by the end of 2017. Honestly, it is very difficult to know exactly what effect this will have on the market - some analysts believe that it will carry very little effect while others say that this will open the door for other companies to sell competing phosphorescent emitters.
Merck is going to discuss its latest soluble OLED material performance at SID DisplayWeek 2017 next month. Merck will detail the printed device efficiencies, voltages, and colors.
According to Merck, the efficiencies of its soluble OLED emitters are now comparable to state-of-the-art vapor-processed devices. Merck will also suggest a move from an evaporated blue common layer device architecture to a printed blue.
