News: LEDs
6 January 2023
MICLEDI demos red AlInGaP micro-LEDs at CES, completing portfolio of RGB micro-LEDs
MICLEDI Microdisplays B.V. of Leuven, Belgium – a fabless developer of micro-LED display modules for augmented reality (AR) glasses that was spun off from nanoelectronics research center IMEC in 2019 – has produced its first demonstration units of red µLEDs on aluminium indium gallium phosphide (AlInGaP) starting material. The newest addition to its portfolio of R, G and B µLEDs follows the firm’s strategy of optimized display module performance and is manufactured in a CMOS-compatible flow, free of arsenide. Demonstration units of both red gallium nitride (GaN) and red AlInGaP are being shown in booth #54946 in the Venetian Expo at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023) in Las Vegas.
MICLEDI’s strategy is to enable true consumer AR glasses by making the best individual color-performing µLEDs which, when coupled with the firm’s proprietary micro-lenses, can be integrated into the highest-performing full-color 3-panel µLED display module. Different applications (true consumer, industrial, automotive, and others) require different optimal performance parameters. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution for AR glasses,” notes CEO Sean Lord. “This achievement, with our previously announced blue, green and red GaN µLEDs, opens the door to a broader offering of display module performance parameters which enables MICLEDI to serve customers developing AR glasses from medium to high resolution and medium to high brightness,” he adds.
Picture: MICLEDI’s new red AlInGaP is Ferrari-red, free of arsenide, CMOS compatible, and designed with a new structure compared with standard GaN micro-LEDs.
“Using advanced photolithography available in world-class 300mm wafer fabs assures that µLEDs made by MICLEDI will achieve lowest defectivity, highest process control and repeatability, and capitalizes on the symbiosis in manufacturing that comes from building our µLEDs in the same fabs and fab processes that advanced ASICs for µLED control and driving are made,” says co-founder & chief technology officer Dr Soeren Steudel. “Through partnerships with world-leading developers of starting materials and our healthy collaboration with IMEC and other fab partners, we will demonstrate at CES µLEDs with excellent color performance across the full range of drive currents for many different types of AR glasses appliances in blue, green and two optimized versions of red.”
MICLEDI’s first red on GaN is solidly in the red range with wavelength centered at 620nm and good full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of <50nm. This newest announcement of red on AlInGaP achieves 653nm wavelength at extremely narrow FWHM of <9nm. MICLEDI’s newest addition to its portfolio of colors is Ferrari-red, free of arsenide, CMOS compatible, and designed with a new structure compared with standard GaN micro-LEDs.
MICLEDI says that its 3-panel approach to µLED full-color displays is uniquely positioned to achieve the highest performance standards in AR glasses. AR glasses for indoor or semi-darkened light settings can be less efficient, less bright, and deliver less overall performance compared with outdoor sunlight settings. Best-in-class AR glasses with transparent lenses, for use all the way from low indoor light to bright outdoor sunlight, is a must before high-volume consumer adoption of AR glasses will commence, says the firm. By optimizing the chemistry and physics of each individual color, MICLEDI says that it enables the highest brightness of any of the alternative solutions in the market currently.
MICLEDI demos 50nm-FWHM 630nm red GaN micro-LEDs
IQE partners with MICLEDI to develop micro-LEDs for AR products
MICLEDI collaborating with GlobalFoundries on manufacturing micro-LED displays for AR glasses
