Applied Materials Breakthrough to Bring OLED Displays to Tablets, PCs and TVs

Applied Materials, Inc. introduced the MAX OLED solution, a patented OLED pixel architecture and revolutionary display manufacturing technology designed to bring the superior OLED displays found in high-end smartphones to tablets, PCs and eventually TVs.

OLED is the display technology of choice for the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers because it offers superior display quality, light and flexible form factors, and durability. However, until today, it has proven challenging to scale OLED display manufacturing to the larger glass panels used to make displays for tablets, PCs and TVs.

Applied’s MAX OLED solution makes it easier to scale OLED manufacturing from Gen 6 glass substrates to Gen 8 substrates, which are approximately two times larger, and beyond. In addition, the MAX OLED solution deposits OLED materials in a new way that increases pixel brightness and resolution, reduces display energy consumption, and lengthens display lifetime.

The MAX OLED solution has strong customer interest, with repeat orders from multiple leading display manufacturers. Additionally, Applied will supply a MAX OLED solution to Samsung Display, a leading global manufacturer of OLED and QD-OLED panels. Samsung Display will be bringing in an alpha system to assess this new technology.

“The consumer electronics industry has been waiting for a breakthrough that can bring OLED technology to the hundreds of millions of tablets, PCs and TVs sold each year,” said Dr. Brian Shieh, group VP and GM of Applied’s Display and Flexible Technology business. “We are proud to be partnering with Samsung Display to help bring this revolutionary technology to the global marketplace.”

Making OLED Displays Brighter, Longer-Lasting and More Energy-Efficient

OLED displays are difficult to manufacture because the materials used to emit red, green and blue are fragile and ruined by any exposure to air or moisture. Applied’s MAX OLED solution is a breakthrough technology that deposits and encapsulates each pixel individually using a specially designed maskless process. Applied’s approach is precise, fast and superior at maintaining the purity of delicate OLED materials.

Applied’s proprietary solution uses selective deposition to enable excellent pixel placement accuracy, more than doubling the amount of OLED material per area as compared to previous technologies. The technology can increase OLED display brightness by as much as 3X and increase resolution by as much as 2.5X, to approximately 2,000 pixels per square inch. The solution can also reduce display power consumption by more than 30 percent and increase display lifetime by up to 5X.