The source learned that LG Display is evaluating the manufacturing process of OLED panels using Gen 8.5 substrates (2200 x 2500 mm). According to the whistleblowers, the evaluation is being conducted at Sunic System, one of LG Display’s suppliers, using Sunic System Gen 8.5 equipment. Other LG Display suppliers have also provided equipment and materials needed for the work, which is said to have started as early as December last year. Among the suppliers are YAS, Hansong Neotech, Avaco and LG Innotek.
LG Display is considering various options for the deposition process, in addition to the use of etched metal masks, which it uses to fabricate OLED panels using Gen 6 (1500 x 1850 mm) wafers. High-precision metal masks are supplied by LG Innotek.
LG Display reportedly intends to supply OLED panels fabricated using Gen 8.5 substrates to Apple for use in the first MacBook with an OLED screen. Its release is expected around 2025.
Panels made using Gen 6 substrates are designed for iPad tablets. They are expected to come out earlier than the MacBook with an OLED screen. Tablets will be offered in two versions: with a screen size of 12.9 inches and with a screen size of 11 inches.
MacBook screens will be larger, so it’s more cost-effective for LG Display to use larger substrates.
Rival Samsung Display has previously begun its own evaluation of the feasibility of producing OLED displays using Gen 8.5 substrates. It cooperates with the Japanese company Ulvac, which supplies equipment for vertical spraying. With a vertical arrangement, sagging of the masks is excluded.
Samsung Display also opts for full deposition, in which the substrate on which the TFTs are formed is not cut in half. The cut option is widely used with Gen 6 substrates. Full deposition can reduce production time as one step is eliminated.
According to the source, Samsung Display may be the first to commercialize the production of OLED panels using Gen 8.5 substrates, since it has another major customer in addition to Apple, Samsung Electronics.
Source: ixbt
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