Plessey produces record 2.5μm-pixel-pitch 4Megapixel GaN-on-Si micro-LED display

Using its propriety monolithic gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology, UK-based Plessey, which develops embedded micro-LED technology for augmented-reality and mixed-reality (AR/MR) display applications, has produced a record 2.5μm-pixel-pitch micro-LED display.

The ultra-fine, ultra-high-resolution 2000x2000-pixel display uses micro-LEDs, a technology that is playing a critical role in the development of next-generation wearables, AR/VR hardware and heads-up displays (HUDs). They require about 20% of the power of typical LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) or DLP (digital light processing) displays and can achieve five times brighter images than organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), allowing comfortable outdoor viewing.

“Pixel pitch is key to the physical size of large field displays and to the resolution of the viewed image,” notes Clive Beech, senior director, business development. “These are key attributes in AR systems. The 2k2k display scale can be realised in a compact physical form factor and the 2.5μm pixel pitch achieves image features with smooth borders and fine detail,” he adds. “An example of Plessey’s latest scalable pixel architecture, these micro-LED display products will enable many new innovations and exciting applications in both augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) smart glasses.”

The low thermal resistance of the silicon substrates allows highly efficient heat extraction, resulting in lower junction temperatures with high reliability, says Plessey. The GaN-on-Si technology also allows what is said to be high energy efficiency, high resolution and unsurpassed contrast. With its similarity to large-scale silicon IC processing, the technology can be scaled to progressively larger wafers, improving cost, uniformity and yield and taking advantage of the latest advances in silicon wafer processing tools of the volume IC industry.

Plessey says that other recent milestones in its monolithic micro-LED emissive display program include the development in March of native green GaN-on-Si LEDs that naturally emit blue light. May’s SID Display Week 2019 event saw the world’s first monolithic GaN-on-Si micro-LED emissive display with an 8μm pitch bonded to a backplane for a full active matrix.

Plessey notes that its ongoing micro-LED display development roadmap includes the production of a full RGB display all on one wafer by 2020’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

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