Applied Materials intros advanced technology for manufacturing high-performance mobile displays

SANTA CLARA, USA: Applied Materials Inc. has announced its new Applied AKT-20K PX PECVD system for manufacturing high performance active matrix OLED and TFT-LCD displays used in the most advanced smart phone and tablet PC applications.

Using critical LTPS technology, the system deposits highly-uniform films on 1.95m2 glass sheets that are three times larger than the previous standard size. This capability enables manufacturers to significantly increase production and drive down cost - helping to accelerate the transition to larger, high resolution screen sizes for mobile consumer products.

The rich colors and low power consumption of OLED display technology have resulted in strong demand for 4-5 inch displays in smartphones. The next generation of tablet computers is expected to employ larger, 7-12 inch OLED displays, which will require greatly expanded production capacity to meet the demand.

In addition to larger OLED displays, Applied's AKT-20K PX system enables ultra-high definition TFT-LCD screens with more closely-packed pixels, resulting in brighter, sharper, lower energy displays compared to previously available technology.

Key to the AKT-20K PX system is its advanced LTPS technology which Applied has enhanced over the last 10 years. Applied has shipped nearly 100 systems worldwide for depositing LTPS films on smaller substrates. According to market researcher DisplaySearch, spending on equipment used to perform LTPS deposition is expected to surge to an all-time high of $2.4 billion in 2011.

"We are leveraging over a decade of leadership in large-area PECVD deposition technology to help our customers meet the surging consumer demand for OLED displays," said Tom Edman, group vice president and general manager of Applied's Display Business Group. "We've scaled up our production proven LTPS deposition technology and deployed it on our latest multi-chamber platform to deliver state-of-the-art performance and productivity to customers. We're experiencing high demand for the AKT-20K PX system, with multiple units shipped to major display manufacturers."