[단독] Samsung Display,’JY 13 trillion project’ QD-OLED mass production countdown… Additional carry-in of core equipment

Input 2021.02.25 10:51 | Revision 2021.02.25 11:16

Additional inkjet printers brought into the Q1 line in Asan, Chungnam
Printing, a core process to replace the existing’deposition’
Industry “Last stage for mass production”
Started production of mass production prototypes… Customer interest↑

It has been confirmed that Samsung Display added an inkjet printer to Q1, a large-scale quantum dot organic light-emitting diode (QD-OLED) production line Q1 in the 8.5th generation (2200×2500mm) of Asan campus in Chungnam.

Inkjet printers are equipment used in the core process of QD-OLED, and the industry interprets that the addition of this equipment has reached the end of mass production. Samsung’s ultra-large project’QD Display’ with a total investment of KRW 1.3 trillion has entered the countdown.

According to the display industry on the 25th, Samsung Display began bringing in facilities for mass production of QD-OLEDs to the Asan Q1 line in July of last year, and began pilot production of QD-OLEDs from mid-December last year.

Samsung Display, which is holding QD-OLED production at about 30,000 units per month this year, has almost finished preparing for mass production by additionally bringing in inkjet printers, which are considered essential and core processes for display panel production. Even now, if orders are received, mass production is possible. In this regard, a Samsung Display official said, “It is difficult to reveal specific details related to equipment import,” and “We are preparing for QD-OLED production according to internal plans.”

QD-OLED uses a blue (B) element among the three primary colors (RGB) of light as a light emitting source. This blue color expresses various colors from white to black as it passes through the color film composed of red (R) and green (G) in the QD (quantum dot) emission layer, which is only tens of picoliters (1 trillion liter). · An OLED exclusive inkjet printer plays the role of’printing’ that sprays green QD particles on the emission layer.

Printing is known to replace’deposition’ during the production process of display panels. Evaporation is a method of applying RGB in a specific location in a vacuum, and it works on the same principle as when water is boiled in a pot, water vapor forms on the lid of the pot.

The deposition process is complicated, and it takes a lot of time and cost. It also requires a vacuum chamber to maintain the vacuum and a fine metal mask (FMM) that coats RGB in specific locations. In addition, device loss may occur during the evaporation process, and additional work is followed, such as having to have an insulation material for thermal protection.

On the other hand, printing is advantageous in cost reduction because the process is simpler and device loss is small compared to deposition. Samsung Display has considered the printing process using inkjet printers as the core of QD displays.

Samsung Display recently started producing a prototype of QD-OLED that went through the actual mass production process. This means that it has secured some degree of yield (the ratio of good products in production). The industry recognizes that the QD-OLED prototype, which was introduced to customers last year, is not a dedicated production line, but as a’half’ product made on an existing line. For this reason, it is known that Samsung Display had difficulties in securing QD-OLED customers.

However, it is expected that customer interest will increase further if they see mass-produced prototypes in person. Currently, it is known that a number of TV manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, and TCL in China are interested in QD-OLED.

The mass production of large-sized QD-OLED panels is also drawing attention in that LG Display, which has exclusively produced OLED panels for TVs around the world, will be able to compete. LG Display’s OLED is a W-OLED that uses white elements, and there is a technical difference from Samsung Display’s QD-OLED, which is based on blue elements.

In particular, in the case of QD-OLED, Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, has also been nicknamed’JY Display’ in that it has been used as a’food for the future’ of the group. Earlier, in 2019, Samsung Display also announced its goal to shift its business structure to QD display by investing 1,310 trillion won by 2025.