The Kynix Blog

What if you could stick an OLED panel on your wall with a magnetic mat? A detachable OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panel that would just as easily be taken off as stuck on the wall? Reports surfaced on Tuesday that South Korea-based LG Display has fashioned just the thing, a 0.97 mm thick 55" flat OLED TV panel and only 1.9 kilos (4.2 pounds). LG Display showcased the screen in Korea.By comparison, LG Display's existing 55-inch OLED panel is 4.3 mm thick. Engadget's Jon Fingas said that "it raises the possibility of big-screen sets that easily blend into your living room's décor." That's the good news. The sad news is that there is no word about when such displays will make it to retail shops.The unveiling was part of a broader announcement to showcase the company's plans for the future, which center on OLED tech, said Don Reisinger in CNET. The screen was presented as one of the company's future displays at the media event. Using a magnetic mat, the screen can easily be stuck to—or removed from— a wall. To remove the display from the wall, said Reisinger, you peel the screen off the mat. The Yonhap News Agency report carried a photograph of a model gently lifting the detachable wallpaper OLED panel at the event in Seoul on Tuesday. Yonhap News Agency referred to the LG Display screen as a "wallpaper OLED panel." Don Reisinger of CNET referred to it as press-on wallpaper TV.Strategically, the unveiling tells us something about LG Display, said reports; the company appears to view high-end displays as a growth engine. (They released 55-inch, 66-inch and 77-inch OLED models earlier in the year, said Yonhap News Agency.) The showing also indicates that LG Display continues to focus attention on OLED.Reisinger offered reasons for why OLED "is widely believed to be the next frontier." He said, "The technology adds an organic compound layer that allows not only for exceedingly thin screens, but for those displays to be curved. The organic material also emits its own light, eliminating the need for a backlight. That allows for such thin screens and has made OLED a desirable choice not only for televisions, but for a wide range of wearables and other mobile products."While the wall-sticking panel is a delight to view, Ryan Waniata, writing in Digital Trends on Tuesday, expressed his view that "Such a display probably won't be used in a TV anytime in the near future; it's more likely to end up in wearable technology, automobile manufacturing, and commercial applications." Still, he added, "we could conceivably see such technology (paired with an outboard processing unit) becoming the TV of the future."  

Intel on Monday provided details about the microarchitecture of the Intel Core M processor, which is the first product to be manufactured using 14nm technology. As such, the world is in for a taste of a 14-nanometer chip. AnandTech also said that "Core M will be launch vehicle for Broadwell and will be released for the holiday period this year." Intel executives provided some of the first details on the chips built using Intel technology. Providing some context to the event, CNET on Monday observed how Intel and other chip companies have been racing to advance processor technologies "by shrinking the geometries of the chips." CNET said the race looks as if Intel is ahead of the pack, with processors built at 14 nanometers, or billionths of a meter. AnandTech commented: "Intel appears to be back on track. 14nm is in volume production in time for Broadwell-Y to reach retail before the end of the year."What does the Core M mean for manufacturers and consumers? CNET said, for one result, the Intel chip is to allow PC makers to build much thinner and lighter devices. In all, the Intel move to a 14 nanometer chip from a 22-nanometer chip can translate into devices that are "thinner, lighter, more power-efficient, and don't need a fan," said CNET. The Wall Street Journal said, "The first chip based on the new production process—which is called the Intel Core M and based on a design called Broadwell —will be targeted at tablets and other devices that operate without a cooling fan but are as thin as nine millimeters or less.".Intel's own statement said, "The combination of the new microarchitecture and manufacturing process will usher in a wave of innovation in new form factors, experiences and systems that are thinner and run silent and cool."As for process, "Intel's 14 nanometer technology uses second-generation Tri-gate transistors to deliver industry-leading performance, power, density and cost per transistor," said Mark Bohr, Intel senior fellow, technology and manufacturing Group, and director, process architecture and integration. "Intel's investments and commitment to Moore's law is at the heart of what our teams have been able to accomplish with this new process."CNET noted the first systems using Core M will reach shelves for the holiday period, and the bulk of new devices will be available in the first half of 2015. Gizmodo remarked, "We'll most likely see Core M branding on the boxes of select tablet devices this holiday season with even more laptop and PCs hopping on board in early 2015."In the bigger picture, AnandTech commented that "Intel's preview is very much a preview; we will see bits and pieces of Broadwell's CPU architecture, GPU architecture, and packaging, along with information about Intel's 14nm process. However this isn't a full architecture preview or a full process breakdown. Both of those will have to wait for Intel's usual forum of IDF." The Wall Street Journal also said that Intel plans to disclose more about the new technology and products based on it at the September event.Related products:NU80579EZ009CNU80579ED009CNU80579EZ600CNU80579EZ600CTNU80579EZ004C  

Fujifilm Corporation and nano-electronics research institute imec have demonstrated full-color organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) by using their jointly-developed photoresist technology for organic semiconductors, a technology that enables submicron patterning. This breakthrough result paves the way to producing high-resolution and large organic Electroluminescent(EL) displays and establishing cost-competitive manufacturing methods.Organic EL displays are increasingly used for televisions, mobile devices including smartphones as well as wearable devices. Since they can be made thin and flexible, while also offering excellent response time and contrast ratio. It is said that today's products require organic EL displays of high pixel density, i.e. around 200ppi for 4K televisions, 500ppi for full HD mobile devices and even higher density for compact displays for wearable devices. There has been active R&D for organic semiconductors to develop a high-resolution patterning method for organic EL materials to be used in these products.In 2013, Fujifilm and imec jointly developed photoresist technology for organic semiconductors that enables submicron patterning without damaging the organic semiconductor materials, based on photolithography capable of high-resolution patterning on large substrates. There is no need for additional capital investment since an existing i-line exposure system can be used for the new technology. This is why the technology has attracted wide attention since the development announcement with anticipation of a cost-effective way of manufacturing high-resolution organic semiconductor devices.In the latest achievement, Fujifilm and imec produced full-color OLEDs with the photoresist technology for organic semiconductors and successfully verified their performance. Red, green and blue organic EL materials were patterned, each in the subpixel pitch of 20μm, to create full-color OLEDs. An OLED array of 40 x 40 dots at the resolution of 640ppi was realized and illuminated with UV rays to confirm that red, green and blue dots separately emitted light. The emission of red, green and blue lights was also confirmed in a test involving the application of voltage rather than illumination, confirming its correct performance.These results open new opportunities, such as using the novel photolithography in a multiple patterning process. An example would be creating an OLED array that adds a fourth color to red, green and blue, as well as developing previously-unseen devices such as a new sensors that integrate OLED with the organic photodetector.This research result is to be presented at the SID Display Week, one of the world's largest international exhibitions for information displays, held in San Jose, California from May 31 to June 5, 2015.Since the commencement of joint research in November 2012, Fujifilm and imec have broken through the boundary of conventional technology to contribute to the progress of technology associated with organic semiconductors, e.g., developing the photoresist technology for organic semiconductors that enables the realization of high-resolution submicron patterns. The two companies will continue to undertake cutting-edge R&D involving semiconductor materials, process technology and system integration, thereby contributing to resolving challenges faced by the organic electronics industry.

A small NO2 sensor featuring a low power consumption in the mW range has been developed by Imec and Holst Centre. The sensors have a low detection limit for NO2 (<10 ppb) and a fast response time. They are particularly well suited for air quality monitoring and serve as a solution to the increased demand for accurate local air quality monitoring for indoor and outdoor environments. The sensors are being tested in real-life situations, as part of an environmental monitoring platform.While wearable technology that measures body parameters has become increasingly popular in recent years, the Intuitive Internet of Things (I2oT) is next on the horizon: connecting everybody and everything everywhere with data stored in the cloud, turning the massive amount of data in information to make the right decisions, to take the right actions exactly as we need or want. The I2oT is expected to manage the sustainability, complexity and safety of our world. It will increase our comfort and wellbeing in many ways.Health issues resulting from poor air quality are a growing concern for consumers and accurate monitoring is becoming more and more in demand, for both outdoor and indoor environments.Air quality is typically measured on just a few distinct locations per city, with specialized equipment. Many current gas sensors are large in size, have high power consumption and are too cost prohibitive to be implemented on a large scale for I2oT applications. Imec and Holst Centre have developed small, simple, low power and high quality autonomous sensors that wirelessly communicate with the environment and the cloud.Imec and Holst Centre's NO2 sensors were integrated in the Aireas air quality network, a multiple sensor network in the city center of Eindhoven (the Netherlands). The purpose was to test -in actual outdoor conditions and long term- the stability of the sensors, and benchmark them against established reference sensors. The sensors are operational since early May 2015 and contribute with valuable outdoor sensor data since then. During traffic rush hours, the sensors detect a significant increase of NO2 concentration up to the health safety limits.Imec and Holst Centre are currently deploying a similar sensor network inside the Holst Centre building in Eindhoven to test the sensors for indoor air quality monitoring. This environmental monitoring platform today includes it proprietary NO2 sensor and commercial sensors for temperature, relative humidity and CO2. The measured levels can be monitored live, over the internet. In a next step, proprietary low-cost low-power sensors will be added for CO2, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), ozone, and particle matter.The generated sensor data are transferred to the cloud, stored in a database and immediately available on (mobile) applications, explained Kathleen Philips, director of imec's perceptive systems for the intuitive internet of things R&D program. "Data fusion methodology and advanced algorithms enable us to combine data from different sensors such as temperature, several gasses, humidity, human presence detection and to derive contextual knowledge. This information contributes to a correct interpretation of the situation and helps us to take adequate actions to solve the problem. In this way, we have developed a context-aware intuitive sensing system."Companies interested in early application validation and development for distributed IoT networks and/or in the innovative technology and circuits to realize them are invited to become a partner in our R&D program. IP can also be licensed.

Imec and Holst Centre (set-up by imec and TNO) have demonstrated a prototype of a single-chip electrochemical sensor for simultaneous detection of multiple ions in fluids. The demonstrator paves the way to small-sized and low-cost detection systems for agriculture, healthcare and lifestyle applications, food quality monitoring and water management.Imec and Holst Centre's ion sensor solution is a generic platform that can be tailored towards specific applications. It enables efficient and low-cost monitoring, such as monitoring of nutrient concentrations in surface and waste water, both for agricultural applications and water quality. In the healthcare and lifestyle applications, it provides disposable point-of-care solutions, or conformable solutions for integration into patches. Depending on the application and the form factor, it can be mass produced through microfabrication or through screen-printing on inexpensive substrates such as glass or foil. As compared to commercial ion sensors, this bring a unique advantage in terms of low cost manufacturability, and size of the solution. Moreover, by changing the selective membranes on the electrodes, the sensor can be adopted to detect other ions.The presented prototype is a handheld device that integrates a single-chip sensor with different electrodes that detect pH levels in a range from 2 to 10 at a 0.1 pH accuracy. For the chemical elements chloride (Cl-), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and nitrate (NO3-) -ranging from 10-4 M to 1 M ions- the sensor detects at a 10 percent accuracy. Benchmarked against other available single-ion sensors, imec's prototype demonstrated comparable sensitivity and accuracy for a versatile multiple-ion solution."With small autonomous smart sensors that adapt to and wirelessly communicate with the environment and each other, imec aims to develop the building blocks that enable an Intuitive Internet of Things," stated Kathleen Phillips, program director perceptive systems at imec. "Our scientists and engineers have reached an important breakthrough demonstrating the capabilities of our technology with this versatile single-chip sensor. As we continue to improve our sensor platform, develop sensors for other ions, integrate more sensors into a single system, and extend the lifetime of our sensor, imec will be at the nucleus in driving the advancements of smart connected systems. We invite industry to join our R&D program, become a partner to jointly develop new ion sensing applications and to bring this technology to the market." 

Our modern world is based on semiconductors. In addition to your computer, cellphones and digital cameras, semiconductors are a critical component of a growing number of devices. Think of the high-efficiency LED lights you are putting in your house, along with everything with a lit display or control circuit: cars, refrigerators, ovens, coffee makers and more. You would be hard-pressed to find a modern device that uses electricity that does not have semiconductor circuits in it.While most people have heard of silicon and Silicon Valley, they do not realize that this is just one example of a whole class of materials.But the workhorse silicon – used in all manner of computers and electronic gadgets – has its technical limits, particularly as engineers look to use electronic devices for producing or processing light. The search for new semiconductors is on. Where will these materials innovations come from?What's a semiconductor?As the name suggests, semiconductors are materials that conduct electricity at some temperatures but not others – unlike most metals, which are conductive at any temperature, and insulators like glass, plastic and stone, which usually don't conduct electricity.However, this is not their most important trait. When constructed properly, these materials can modify the electricity moving through them, including limiting the directions it flows and amplifying a signal.The combination of these properties is the basis of diodes and transistors which make up all our modern gadgets. These circuit elements perform a multitude of tasks, including converting the electricity from your wall socket to something usable by the devices, and processing information in the form of zeros and ones.Light can also be absorbed into semiconductors and turned into electrical current and voltage. The process works in reverse as well, allowing for the emission of light. Using this property, we make lasers, LED lights, digital cameras and many other devices.The rise of siliconWhile this all seems very modern, the original discoveries of semiconductors date back to the 1830s. By the 1880s, Alexander Graham Bell experimented with using selenium to transmit sound over a beam of light. Selenium was also used to make some of the first solar cells in the 1880s.A key limitation was the inability to purify the elements being used. Tiny impurities – as small as one in a trillion, or 0.0000000001 percent – could fundamentally change the way a semiconductor behaved. As technology evolved to make purer materials, better semiconductors followed.The first semiconducting transistor was made of germanium in 1948, but silicon quickly rose to become the dominant semiconductor material. Silicon is mechanically strong, relatively easy to purify, and has reasonable electrical properties.It is also incredibly abundant: 28.2 percent of the Earth's crust is silicon. That makes it literally dirt cheap. This almost-perfect semiconductor worked well for making diodes and transistors and still is the basis of almost every computer chip out there. There was one problem: silicon is very inefficient at converting light into an electrical signal, or turning electricity back into light.When the primary use of semiconductors was in computer processors connected by metal wires, this wasn't much of a problem. But, as we moved toward using semiconductors in solar panels, camera sensors and other light-related applications, this weakness of silicon became a real obstacle to progress.Finding new semiconductorsThe search for new semiconductors begins on the periodic table of the elements, a portion of which is in the figure at right.In the column labeled IV, each element forms bonds by sharing four of its electrons with four neighbors. The strongest of these "group IV" elements bonds is for carbon (C), forming diamonds. Diamonds are good insulators (and transparent) because carbon holds on to these electrons so tightly. Generally, a diamond would burn before you could force an electrical current through it.The elements at the bottom of the column, tin (Sn) and lead (Pb), are much more metallic. Like most metals, they hold their bonding electrons so loosely that when a small amount of energy is applied the electrons are free to break their bonds and flow through the material.Silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) are in between and accordingly are semiconductors. Due to a quirk in the way both of them are structured, however, they are inefficient at exchanging electricity with light.To find materials that work well with light, we have to step to either side of the group IV column. Combining elements from the "group III" and "group V" columns results in materials with semiconducting properties. These "III-V" materials, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), are used to make lasers, LED lights, photodetectors (as found in cameras) and many other devices. They do what silicon does not do well.But why is silicon used for solar panels if it is so bad at converting the light into electricity? Cost. Silicon could be refined from a shovel full of dirt scooped up from anywhere on the Earth's surface; the III-V compounds' constituent elements are far rarer.A standard silicon solar panel converts the sunlight with an efficiency of 10 to 15%. A III-V panel can be three times as efficient, but often costs more than three times as much. The III-V materials are also more brittle than silicon, making them hard to work with in wide panels.However, the III-V materials' increased electron speeds enable construction of much faster transistors, with speeds hundreds of times faster than the ones you find in your computers. They may pave the way for wires inside computers to be replaced with beams of light, significantly improving the speed of data flow.In addition to III-V materials, there are also II-VI materials in use. These materials include some of the sulfides and oxides researched in the 1800s. Combinations of zinc, cadmium, and mercury with tellurium have been used to create infrared cameras as well as solar cells from companies such as First Solar. These materials are notoriously brittle and very challenging to fabricate.The future of semiconductorsHow might new semiconductor materials be used?High power III-V (gallium-nitride) semiconductor electronics will be the backbone of our electrical grid system, converting power for high voltage transmission and back again. New III-V materials (antimonides and bismuthides) are leading the way for infrared sensing for medical, military, other civilian uses, as well new telecommunication possibilities. Earth-abundant element combinations are being explored to make new semiconductors for high-efficiency, but inexpensive, solar cells.And what of the old standby, silicon? Its inability to harness light efficiently does not mean that it is destined for the dust bin of history? Researchers are giving new life to silicon, creating "silicon photonics" to better handle light, rather than just shuttling electrons.One method is the inclusion of small amounts of another group IV element, tin, into silicon or germanium. That changes their properties, allowing them to absorb and emit light more efficiently.The act of including that tin turns out to be difficult, like many other challenges in material science. But as I tell my students all the time, "if it were easy, then it would not be research."