Jasper Display and Plessey demo first GaN-on-Si monolithic full-HD micro-LED bonded displays

Plessey Semiconductors Ltd of Plymouth, UK, which is developing micro-LED technology for augmented-reality and mixed-reality (AR/MR) display applications, has announced a milestone in development of its monolithic micro-LED displays alongside its backplane partner Jasper Display Corp (JDC), a fabless semiconductor company based in Taiwan with R&D in Santa Clara, CA, USA.

Following a continued partnership with JDC including an extensive capital investment in a complete tool set (enabling wafer-to-wafer bonding), Plessey has succeeded in wafer-level bonding of its gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) monolithic micro-LED wafers with JDC’s eSP70 silicon patented backplane technology, resulting in micro-LED displays that contain addressable LEDs. Wafer-level bonding poses significant technical challenges and has not previously been achieved between a GaN-on-Si LED wafers and a high-density CMOS backplanes, says Plessey.

Plessey initially achieved what it claims was the first mechanically successful wafer to wafer bond in early April. This has now been followed by a fully functional, electrical and mechanical bond, resulting in a fully operational micro-LED display.

Plessey’s micro-LED display features an array of 1920×1080 (FHD) current-driven monochrome pixels on a pitch of 8µm. Each display requires more than 2 million individual electrical bonds to connect the micro-LED pixels to the controlling backplane. The JDC backplane provides independent 10-bit single-color control of each pixel – bonding a complete LED wafer to a CMOS backplane wafer incorporates over 100 million micro-level bonds between the wafers.

“This is what the industry has been waiting for and opens up a new market for micro-LED emissive display applications,” reckons Dr Wei Sin Tan, Plessey’s director of Epitaxy and Advanced Product Development.

“Plessey’s monolithic micro-LED array is a great match to JDC’s high-density silicon backplane,” comments T.I. Lin, JDC’s VP marketing & product management. “Our JD27E series demonstrates our ability to deliver what our valuable partner Plessey and the wider industry has been waiting for – silicon backplanes that have been designed with their micro-LED display requirements in mind.”

At the Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week 2019 event in San Jose, CA, USA (12-17 May), Plessey is unveil its micro-LED technology and demonstrating why its scalable and repeatable GaN-on-Si monolithic process is the only solution for next-generation AR/MR display products, head-up/head-mounted (HUD/HMDs), smartphones and other micro-LED-based display applications.

See related items:

Plessey and JDC collaborate on tailored backplane for monolithic micro-LED displays

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Visit: www.plesseysemiconductors.com/products/microleds