they used to report on 26th or 27th of the month. now still no date. i dont know when was their report on q3 2003, given the Chinese New Year factor. EDIT : last year same qtr was reported either on 2/3 or 2/4 judged by stock price and volumes on those 2 days. so soon enough company should issue press release on the date. SNDA already said they would report on 2/03.
last qtr they had blow out qtr, thus the stock up 25% in AH from 28 to 34.
however the stock topped out beginning of Dec, far earlier than the broader market.
50% of the cost of a LCD TV is the back light? Could any of your ducted light technology apply to that? It appears OLED is going to be superceeded before it ever gets widespread use.
Flat panels go nanotech: Taiwan’s ITRI pioneers CNT-FED, part one Chris Hall, DigiTimes.com, Taipei [Friday 21 January 2005]
TFT LCD looks firmly entrenched as the dominant flat-panel technology, but in fact the displays industry is keen to find a technology that delivers better performance – and, crucially, at lower cost. Alternative technologies exist, but often suffer from their own well known drawbacks. In the case of OLED technology, for example, there is the infamously short lifetime of the display.
One promising technology is the carbon-nanotube field-emission display (CNT-FED). In Taiwan, key development work on CNT-FEDs is ongoing at the Electronics Research and Service Organization of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ERSO/ITRI). Recently, following ITRI’s announcement of the development of a 20-inch CNT backlight unit (CNT-BLU), DigiTimes.com had the opportunity to talk with Dr. CC Lee, deputy director of flat-panel development at ERSO/ITRI.
This is Part I of a three-part interview. Part II will follow on Monday, January 24. Part III will appear on January 25.
Q: What is the current status of the ERSO/ITRI CNT-FED project?
A: We started the carbon-nanotube field-emission display (CNT-FED) project about five years ago, when we began an evaluation of a CNT emitter. About five years ago we also began making carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at ITRI, and we found their properties very suitable for making FEDs. We began research for the project, and, prior to 2004, successfully completed research for both 4-inch and 10-inch CNT-FEDs. Currently we are at the stage where we have developed a prototype, a 20-inch CNT-FED backlight unit (CNT-BLU).
We are also at a stage where we need to focus on developing materials. We discovered that some materials required for successful CNT-FED and CNT-BLU development, such as the phosphors, are not available as a standard commercialized material, so we are cooperating with other branches of ITRI, such as the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) and the Union Chemical Laboratories (UCL), who are now handling the materials development.
ERSO, meanwhile, takes care of the process and system integration. In addition, we have started to transfer technology to industry. As well, we have started to transfer system integration and process integration technology to some panel makers.
The UCL and the MRL have transferred some technology related to the materials and chemistry of CNT-FED production to the chemical industry, and also to some panel makers, so overall, the status of ITRI’s CNT-FED project is one of transfer of the technology to industry and assisting the industry with the evaluation of the commercialization of the display and also the commercialization of the backlight unit (CNT-BLU).
Q: How close are you to commercialization of CNT-FED technology?
A: We transferred the technology from ITRI to the industry about two years ago, but at that time there were still some issues with mass production. Two years later, the industry has now learned how to produce small-size CNT-FED devices, and they plan to develop products for some niche markets, such as indicator lights for cars, and also some special lighting applications, after no longer than one year.
They want to get some feedback from consumers as quickly as possible, so they thought they would start with some relatively low-end commercial products for niche markets, which would then enable them to get consumer feedback after a period of no longer than a year.
The indicator lights they want to develop are of the VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) type, for use in cars and a wide range of consumer electronics items – in DVD players for example, in timers, and in outdoor information displays. This type of display can be commercialized.
Q: Could these be made cost-effectively using CNT-FED technology?
A: The answer is yes, in the case of both VFD and LED displays. Compared to the VFD type of display, the FED could be used to make a passive-matrix display. This kind of CNT-FED display can easily show graphic designs, on-screen patterning and text. But with the VFD type of display, displaying dynamic design or patterning isn’t easy. You need to have a large increase in the number of components to achieve this type of functionality.
For the LED type of display, the cost of each chip is expensive, and you have to use bonding or surface-mount technology to bond each kind of RGB LED on the substrate on the module. So the assembly cost is high. But for the CNT-FED you just need to use screen-printing, so if you want to make the RGB you just need to screen-print the R, G and B phosphors simultaneously. That’s a qualitatively different technology, and the cost of each color is lower.
As I mentioned, ERSO/ITRI has also researched another application for CNT-FED technology, a CNT backlight unit (CNT-BLU). This will be a cost-effective product that could be used as an LCD-TV backlight.
Our purpose in researching a CNT-BLU is to reduce the cost of an LCD-TV, and this is in response to the needs of the LCD-TV market. Many companies are looking for new kinds of flat-backlighting technology, and CNT-BLU technology can solve many of the problems that crop up with cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL)-based backlighting.
ERSO/ITRI has now completed evaluation of the CNT-BLU and demoed the prototype, which is based on our own patented technology. At this time, it is best for local companies to have the core technology without the need for foreign authorization, if they want to develop and produce a CNT-BLU.
Q: So CNT-FED technology could also be applied to larger displays?
A: Certainly. As I indicated, the industry is aiming to make some smaller-size displays, after a period of no longer than one year, because they want to use the process to make the small-size CNT-FEDs or CNT-BLUs. They want to follow this approach because they want to learn how to mass produce CNT-FEDs and how to increase the yield during mass production. If they get more experience in mass production, then they will transfer the technology to make larger-size CNT-FEDs. So the smaller-size display is meant to be a learning curve. It can deliver products to some niche markets, but the market size is small, and making these smaller products functions basically as an educational and training process.
The ultimate target of CNT-FED display technology is a TV application, but if you want to know how to produce a large display you have to start with a small one. In that way you can obtain a step-by-step improvement in the mass production process and the yield.
Screen-printing offers a low-cost way to fabricate the larger-size display compared to TFT LCD, so we emphasize that point – we want to make the larger size but at a relatively low cost.
Q: The ERSO/ITRI CNT-FED project is in fact just one year away from commercialization?
A: Yes. We have announced the 20-inch BLU because we want to apply the technology, in the first instance, to the TFT-LCD industry. That is our strategy for making CNT-FED technology a reality. In Taiwan, the TFT-LCD industry is already well developed; there is a large involvement in TFT-LCD panel production. But if you want TFT-LCD technology to be a viable player in the TV market, then you must resolve the cost issue of the BLU. The cost of the BLU is high because mass production of the BLU is complicated. Our initial approach is to use CNT-BLU technology to lower the cost of the backlight module for the Taiwan TFT-LCD industry, and thus lower the cost of TFT-LCD TVs.
Mass production of a CNT-BLU could also help the CRT and PDP panel makers, in the future. The first step will be to assist the TFT-LCD makers, and then CRT and PDP makers.
Q; Are you able to give any figures as to how much might be saved by using a CNT-BLU for a TFT-LCD TV?
A: Generally, for a TFT-LCD TV, the cost of the BLU is about 50%. The cost is high. Right now, using CNT-FED technology, we could reduce the cost of the BLU to around 25-30%, so the cost a TFT-LCD TV could be reduced significantly.
Another issue is repair and maintenance. Traditionally TFT-LCD production has used a CCFL for the BLU, so for a 30-inch TFT-LCD TV, you need to incorporate 16 CCFLs in the backlight unit. That requires a complicated assembly. But if one day, one of the CCFLs fails, then the complete BLU has to be replaced. To simply replace one CCFL and still maintain uniformity would be an enormous problem.
But if we use a single unit for the BLU there would be no need for any repair because if only one pixel or one line fails, you will see no difference. There would be no visible difference because we can structure the design on the cathode to eliminate the degradation of one cathode line. There would be no need to worry about the failure of each cathode line for a CNT-BLU. Considering the cost of repair, we think that that one low-cost CNT-BLU is more effective for TV applications.
Q: A CNT-FED TV would not require a backlight, so presumably it could be lighter and easier to handle than a TFT-LCD or PDP TV?
A: Generally the size and weight of the CNT-FED are similar to those of the PDP, but the thickness of the glass for CNT-FED and PDP is 2.8mm. Compared to the TFT LCD, where the glass is about 0.7mm, the weight of the CNT-FED and PDP is higher than the TFT LCD panel, but with the TFT LCD we need to add the backlight unit. So generally, the weight of the whole TV set is not so different because the BLU is heavy.
For the consumer, the weight of the CNT-FED is not the first priority, if they want to choose a display. At the larger sizes, say 30 inches or above, consumers do not usually want to carry the unit around the house.
Flat panels go nanotech: Taiwan’s ITRI pioneers CNT-FED, part two Chris Hall, DigiTimes.com, Taipei [Monday 24 January 2005]
TFT LCD looks firmly entrenched as the dominant flat-panel technology, but in fact the displays industry is keen to find a technology that delivers better performance – and, crucially, at lower cost. Alternative technologies exist, but often suffer from their own well known drawbacks. In the case of OLED technology, for example, there is the infamously short lifetime of the display.
One promising technology is the carbon-nanotube field-emission display (CNT-FED). In Taiwan, key development work on CNT-FEDs is ongoing at the Electronics Research and Service Organization of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ERSO/ITRI). Recently, following ITRI’s announcement of the development of a 20-inch CNT backlight unit (CNT-BLU), DigiTimes.com had the opportunity to talk with Dr. CC Lee, deputy director of flat-panel development at ERSO/ITRI.
This is Part II of a three-part interview. Part III will follow on January 25. Part I appeared on January 21.
Q: How do these kinds of advantages – replacing the backlight unit of a TV, and screening-printing and so on – how do these compare these with OLED technology? With OLED, you have no backlight unit for example. OLEDs are printable, maybe. OLEDs also have very fast response times, no viewing angle problems and very good color quality. How does CNT-FED technology compare?
A: CNT-FED technology is similar. It has a wide viewing angle. There is no limitation to the viewing angle because both OLED and CNT-FED are self-emissive technologies, so that means there is no limitation on the viewing angle. The response time is the same because it is an emissive technology.
The crucial distinction is that CNT-FED uses inorganic material, so the overall stability of CNT-FED technology is greater than that of OLED. One company claims that they could make a white OLED backlight and apply it to some consumer devices where lifetime is not a concern. But if you tried to use the same backlight in a TFT-LCD TV, then the long-term reliability of the material would become an important issue.
Generally, CNT-FED technology offers all the advantages of OLED – there is no need for a BLU; there are fast response times; there is a wide viewing angle and excellent color quality – but the lifetime of the CNT-FED would be much longer.
Q: Can you quantify the lifetime issue at all?
A: The lifetime is relative to the brightness. If we are comparing OLED and CNT-FED displays, we need to keep the brightness at exactly the same level; then we could compare the lifetime and reliability of the displays.
Basically, we don’t see OLED as a competitor for CNT-FED in brightness. OLED often claims a lifetime of over 20,000 hours, but that is only possible at a brightness of 100 nits. For a viewable TV display, you normally need a brightness of 500 nits. But if you increase the brightness of an OLED display to that level, you will increase the strain on the organic material, and the lifetime will drop.
Q: So your advice to the OLED industry would be to develop CNT-FED technology instead?
A: Not entirely. They are very different industries. CNT-FED is a screen-printing technology, whereas OLED uses ink-jet printing. It’s a totally different printing technology. So if an OLED company wants to invest in CNT-FED technology it would not be easy. On the other hand, companies from the PCB, CRT and PDP industries would find it easier to enter CNT-FED production because the core technology is the same – screen-printing plus vacuum sealing.
If all the display makers suddenly decided they would like to get into CNT-FED production, the big losers would be OLED and color-STN (CSTN), for that reason. For the TFT-LCD, PDP and CRT makers, it would be relatively easy produce CNT-FEDs in their facilities.
Q: CNT-FEDs have a reputation for low power consumption. Can you quantify this?
A: The emissive characteristics of CNT-FEDs are pretty good. They simply require a small voltage applied to the cathode, and an emission will be generated. We can reduce the voltage to less than 40 volts, if we can reduce the diameter of the cathode structure. The voltage is low compared to PDP displays, where the working voltage is around 60V-100V.
Q: Can you also quantify color quality? What is the color gamut?
A: The color gamut is the same as that of CRT, at around 95% because the phosphor is similar to that of TFT. If we wanted to change that we would have to change the material of the phosphor.
Q: Do CNT-FEDs have any disadvantages?
A: Vacuum sealing for mass production remains a critical issue, as we mentioned. The ability to control the uniformity of the display is a second critical issue because with the larger size cathode we need to be able to control the emitting current. However, we have figured out some processes and devices for solving the uniformity issue.
Q: Which technology works best for CNT-FED production, screen-printing or vapor deposition?
A: In terms of equipment, the printer is cheaper than vapor deposition, and in Taiwan there are some companies that can make the printer. Printing is a mature technology.
But screen-printing is also a complicated technology, combining both equipment and materials. Plus, you need an engineer, and only then can you print. But with vapor deposition you just need to buy the equipment and do some fine-tuning of the recipe, so it’s totally equipment dependent.
Generally the cost of printing is lower because the equipment cost is lower, but the cost of the materials is higher. There is some trade-off between the equipment and the materials.
Q: How does OLED production compare, in terms of materials used?
A: Materials for OLED production are organic, so you need to control the environment when you do the printing process – in a vacuum or a nitrogen atmosphere – otherwise they will react with oxygen and water. For CNT-FEDs, however, the material is inorganic, so you can print with the material exposed to air, and you don’t need to control the environment.
With CNT-FED, the curing process will decompose any organic material, until finally the inorganic material for the CNT-FED is stable.
Q: Can you outline the general formation of a CNT-FED display?
A: Generally for a CNT-FED there are two plates for the display, the anode and cathode. We need to screen-print the phosphor and black matrix on the anode plate. And we also need to print the cathode – it’s silver. Then we print the glass for the insulator, and also print the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to form the emitter on the cathode. Finally we do the vacuum sealing process to combine anode and cathode.
Q: You say that vacuum sealing is a critical part of the process?
A: Yes it is critical, but the sealing process is similar to the vacuum sealing process for CRT and PDP production. That means we can easily obtain the equipment and technology from the existing infrastructure for CRT and PDP. But we need to be able to control the degree of vacuum inside the CNT-FED panel – it needs to be about 10-7. In other words, the process is standard, and the material is standard because the process has already been established for CRT and PDP, but controlling the process is harder.
For a CRT, the volume of the device is higher, so the vacuum is easier to produce and control. But for the CNT-FED, the volume of the device is relatively small, so if you want to pump out residual gas, you need to think carefully about how to pump it out completely, so that no residual gases remain. CRT and PDP have given us the foundations of how to do this, but the capability to maintain a high degree of vacuum and control it successfully is difficult. There’s no doubt this is a critical aspect of CNT-FED mass production.
Q: At this point in the project, what success are you having with this critical point, the vacuum process?
A: Right now we can control the curing temperature of the sealing process. We have studied the curing process as well as types of getter technology, and we have assessed how to reduce the residual gas, so we can obtain a degree of vacuum better than 10-6. If we want to increase the degree of vacuum to 10-7, we have to go through an aging process, following vacuum sealing. This involves applying an electron beam to bombard the buffer, to clean the residual gas. Then we can increase the degree of vacuum to 10-7.
Flat panels go nanotech: Taiwan’s ITRI pioneers CNT-FED, part three Chris Hall, DigiTimes.com, Taipei [Tuesday 25 January 2005]
TFT LCD looks firmly entrenched as the dominant flat-panel technology, but in fact the displays industry is keen to find a technology that delivers better performance – and, crucially, at lower cost. Alternative technologies exist, but often suffer from their own well known drawbacks. In the case of OLED technology, for example, there is the infamously short lifetime of the display.
One promising technology is the carbon-nanotube field-emission display (CNT-FED). In Taiwan, key development work on CNT-FEDs is ongoing at the Electronics Research and Service Organization of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ERSO/ITRI). Recently, following ITRI’s announcement of the development of a 20-inch CNT backlight unit (CNT-BLU), DigiTimes.com had the opportunity to talk with Dr. CC Lee, deputy director of flat-panel development at ERSO/ITRI.
This is Part III of a three-part interview. Part I appeared on January 21, and Part II appeared on January 24.
Q: Are there any other critical stages in the development of the technology, as well as vacuum sealing?
A: In addition to the vacuum sealing process, we have also studied two critical points, one is the phosphor efficiency for backlight applications. For backlight applications we need to increase the phosphor, and then we can reduce the power consumption of the BLU. However, there is no commercialized production of white phosphor for the backlight, so we have cooperated with UCL and MRL in ITRI, and also established cooperation with institutes and companies elsewhere – including in Russia and mainland China – in order to supply the high-efficiency white phosphor.
For the BLU, white-phosphor efficiency is the critical point, but for display applications there is no problem with obtaining color phosphor because efficient color (RGB) phosphors for the display are available. So we don’t worry about the display applications, but we do worry about the BLU and obtaining high-efficiency white phosphor because it is not standard. We have put a lot of effort and study into obtaining and improving the performance of high-efficiency white phosphor.
In addition, we have also considered the process integration of the cathode emitter device because its uniformity is fully dependent on the uniformity of the cathode. If we can control the process and material of the cathode structure, and we also control the emitting site of the CNT emitter by means of a surface-treatment process, then we can get a uniform cathode structure.
So vacuum sealing is one critical point for mass production, but the phosphor, the materials issue and the uniformity and controllability of the cathode, are also critical issues for performance.
Q: According to a report published last August, the ITRI CNT-FED project has developed an inductively-coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP-CVD) technique for the production of CNT-FEDs. What is the current status of this technology? Is it still in development? What are the key characteristics of this process, and does it have any advantages over the use of screen-printing techniques?
A: There are more than 10 organizations in ITRI. One internal organization that specializes in the development of manufacturing equipment has developed a new ICP-CVD process, a new method for growing the CNTs directly on the cathode. If this process is developed successfully, it would mean we do not need to use printing technology. This is a different process integration strategy, but it is still in development. The possible advantage of this CVD approach is that it should allow us to control uniformity more easily than with printing technology.
Q: I understand metal catalysis is a key development in this process.
A: For CVD technology, we need to apply a coating of catalyst prior to the CVD process. The catalyst in this case is nickel, in nano-sized particles. These particles enable uniform coating of the cathode with CNTs.
Q; What about the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) themselves? What is the availability? What is the cost?
A: Two years ago, the CNTs were expensive, but now the cost has come down to around US$10 per gram. Some companies say they will reduce the cost of a one gram to one (US) dollar, for the next three years. But generally, you can say that if the quantity of the CNT-FEDs in mass production increases, then you can expect the material cost to be reduced. Even though the CNTs are currently priced a little high, you don’t need to worry because a single panel uses less than a gram of CNTs.
Q: And the size of that panel could be what?
A: Up to 40 inches. You don’t need to put too much CNT on the cathode.
Nevertheless, cost remains an issue for the cathode. There are three materials used in the cathode, including the silver used for the electrodes. In addition to silver and the CNTs, there is also the glass insulator, and it is the high cost of the glass that remains an issue. The cost of the glass remains high, currently, because there is little demand for 2.8mm glass.
There are other factors in the high cost of the glass. The glass for CNT-FED is from a single supplier, Asahi, and the glass is only of one type, PD200, which has been qualified by the panel makers. For other makers, such as Corning, the cost of investment in this type of high-strength glass remains prohibitive.
Q: Do you produce the CNTs at ITRI?
A: We do produce the CNTs at ITRI, but we are also cooperating with some materials companies in Taiwan for production of the CNTs because we want to help build the materials channel in Taiwan. So we have a cooperative program with the materials suppliers, right now, in Taiwan.
Q: I’ve heard that other companies and organizations are involved in the CNT-FED project. Can you give any details?
A: We have a cooperative relationship with both Tsinghua University and National Taiwan University. Tsinghua University takes care of some fundamental research in the formation and growth of carbon nanotubes. National Taiwan University takes care of some research in related phosphors.
Q: What about Teco and Delta Optoelectronics? Some reports have suggested they have some involvement in this project.
A: We have a public relationship with Teco. We are cooperating with them to evaluate the possibilities for the commercialization of CNT-FED technology. And within ITRI, we also cooperate with the MRL (Materials Research Laboratory). MRL also cooperates with Tatung Co. in the development of materials for CNT-FED. A professor from Tatung Institute is also a participant in the CNT-FED program.
Delta transferred some technology from ERSO and studied CNT-FED technology when the company began operations. They studied the technology for two to three years and then decided to focus on PLED business. They have the core technology, so if at some point in the future they wanted to return to CNT-FEDs, they could do that.
Q: Has ITRI now developed its own IP in CNT-FED technology?
A: Currently, worldwide, the IP we have developed at ITRI for the design and production of CNT-FEDs competes directly with that of South Korea, Japan and the US. Normally at ITRI we are a little behind the leading institutes and companies, but in this case, CNT-FED development, we have developed simultaneously with other organizations and countries, at the same tempo. We are confident that we have IP that can protect our own technology development and interests in this area. If any company in Taiwan wants to develop and mass produce CNT-FEDs, we are confident that they would not have to worry about IP issues as they have had to do before, in the cases of PDP and TFT-LCD production, for example.
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