ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING SERIES

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1 W575-Templier.qxp_Layout 1 01/07/ :02 Page 1 ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING SERIES Edited by François Templier We have now embraced the Digital Age, in which both our professional and leisure activities involve more and more communication devices, requiring displays of many types to play an increasing role. Within this context, a growing number of display types and sizes have emerged, currently generating a market in excess of $100 billion, which is in the same order of magnitude as that of the semiconductor industry. Microdisplays, namely displays so small that they require an optical magnification to be seen, have a significant share of this market. OLED Microdisplays Technology and Applications Over the last decade, OLED microdisplays have reached a wide industrial and commercial market and promise to expand further in the digital age, in which they provide unique and unrivalled features for portable and wearable devices in particular. Overall, the book aims to offer easy access to OLED microdisplay details for all readers seeking to further their understanding of the subject. OLED Microdisplays The authors of this book provide a review of the state of the art on OLED microdisplays. All aspects, from theory to application, are addressed in a comprehensive way: basic principles; display design, fabrication, operation and performance; present and future applications. This is of interest to a wide range of readers, from industry professionals (engineers, project managers etc.) engaged in the field of display development/fabrication, through display end-users (integration in display systems) to academic researchers, university lecturers and students. François Templier works at CEA-LETI in Grenoble, France. Edited by François Templier Z(7ib8e8-CBFHFH(

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3 OLED Microdisplays

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5 Series Editor Robert Baptist OLED Microdisplays Technology and Applications Edited by François Templier

6 First published 2014 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: ISTE Ltd John Wiley & Sons, Inc St George s Road 111 River Street London SW19 4EU Hoboken, NJ UK USA ISTE Ltd 2014 The rights of François Templier to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act Library of Congress Control Number: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd., Croydon, Surrey CR0 4YY

7 Contents INTRODUCTION... xi François TEMPLIER CHAPTER 1. OLED: THEORY AND PRINCIPLES... 1 Tony MAINDRON 1.1. Organic light-emitting device: a brief history PrinciplesofOLEDoperation Organic semiconductor material categories Smallmolecules Polymers Depositiontechniquedescription Organic semiconductors: theory Bandtheoryinorganicchemistry Differences from classical semiconductors Electronic transport model in amorphous organic solids OLEDselectricalcharacteristics OLED:differentstructuretypes Directandinverteddiodes Through substrate emitting diode and top surface emitting diode Heterojunctiondiodeandbandengineering Electrical doping Lightextraction OLEDefficiency OLEDstabilityandlifetime:encapsulationissue SpecificitiesofOLEDformicrodisplays Bibliography... 30

8 vi OLED Microdisplays CHAPTER 2. OVERVIEW OF OLED DISPLAYS François TEMPLIER 2.1. Passive-matrix OLED displays Maincharacteristics Applications Marketandactors Limitations/futureofPMOLED Active-matrixAMOLEDdisplays Maincharacteristics Applications:smallandmedium-sizeAMOLED Applications:large-sizeOLEDdisplays TrendsinOLEDdisplays:flexibleandtransparent FlexibleandtransparentPMOLEDdisplays FlexibleAMOLEDdisplays OLEDlighting Microdisplays Bibliography CHAPTER 3. OLED CHARACTERIZATION David VAUFREY 3.1. Electronic properties of organic semiconductors HOMOandLUMOleveldetermination Mobilitymeasurement Optical properties of organic semiconductors Spectrometry Photoluminescence Devicecharacterization Electricalcharacterization Radiometry versus photometry and colorimetry Electro-opticalcharacterization Ageing OLEDmicrodisplaycharacterization OLEDmicrodisplayspecificmeasurements Bibliography CHAPTER 4. 5-TOOLS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRO-OPTIC SIMULATION Karim BOUZID 4.1. Electro-optic simulation presentation Objectives... 95

9 Contents vii Potential gains Availablesoftwaresolutions Opticalsimulation Bottom-emissionOLEDs Top-emissionOLEDs Electricalsimulation Potential gain Simulation types Full OLED stack simulation: example and analysis Analysis example Microdisplay simulation limitations Electrical/optical crosstalk simulation Combined electro-optical outputs Limitations of accuracy for microdisplays Bibliography CHAPTER 5. ADDRESSING OLED MICRODISPLAYS Philippe LEROY 5.1. Passive matrix OLED display Active matrix OLED displays General considerations for active matrix addressing Two-TFT (2-TFT) pixel circuit Threshold compensation method AMOLED pixel circuit and image writing Addressing OLED microdisplays Pixel electrode circuits and driving operation Innovative pixel circuit on silicon backplane Bibliography CHAPTER 6. OLED MICRODISPLAY FABRICATION Christophe PRAT, Tony MAINDRON, Rigo HEROLD and François TEMPLIER 6.1. Fabrication of CMOS active matrix General considerations Specificities of the circuit Choice of metal electrodes Pixel pitch and fill factor Choice of baseline CMOS circuit OLED process on CMOS circuit Cluster tool and process Evaporation sources Load-lock chamber

10 viii OLED Microdisplays Plasma treatment Deposition process Thickness, uniformity control and spitting Shadow mask Buffer chamber Encapsulation process Encapsulation tools for production Encapsulation tools for pilot line/ R&D Color: different approaches and associated processes Color management Color filter assembly Color filters on OLED Packaging Display testing and performances Electronics Data and configuration interface Packaging and mounting of microdisplays Process and performance evolutions Bibliography CHAPTER 7. APPLICATIONS OF OLED MICRODISPLAYS Khaled SARAYEDDINE, Ersun KARTAL and François TEMPLIER 7.1. Introduction Head-mounted displays and informative glasses for consumer and professional applications General requirements for HMD for consumer and professional markets Optical system architecture for near-to-eye display Evolution and challenges for near-to-eye wearable display systems Electronic viewfinder embedded into a camera/camcorder Introduction and general requirements Optics Evolution of view finders Other display systems with OLED microdisplays The OLED microdisplay for pico-projectors Bi-directionnal OLED microdisplay for see-through system Bibliography

11 Contents ix CHAPTER 8. OLED MICRODISPLAYS PRESENT AND FUTURE François TEMPLIER and Karim BOUZID 8.1. Present actors of OLED microdisplays Evolution and future developments for OLED microdisplays Introduction Luminance and lifetime Voltage delta figure of merit Color coverage Pixel pitch size Cost Disruptive emissive microdisplays Transparent OLED microdisplays Other emissive microdisplays: high-brightness GaN-based LED arrays Bibliography CONCLUSION LIST OF AUTHORS INDEX

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13 Introduction I.1. Revolution(s) During the last decade, a revolution has happened in the display industry (Figure I.1). In fact, not only one, but two revolutions. The first revolution is the fade-out of the cathode ray tube (CRT). Like the giant meteor hitting planet earth 65 million years ago led to eradication of dinosaurs, the giant wave of flat-panel displays pushed out irremediably the 100-year old CRT. Figure I.1. Display market [NTA 14]. The other revolution is that in the meantime, the total display market rose from a cushy ~30-billion to a tremendous 100-billion dollar market. This is illustrated by Introduction written by François TEMPLIER.

14 xii OLED Microdisplays the explosion of display application we have seen around us, at home (how many TV screens in the house in addition to the former single big TV in the living room?), in the car, or simply with all our digital wearable companions. During this second revolution; a very particular type of display has discreetly emerged and took a piece of the cake: microdisplays. A small piece of the market (so far), a small size, but definitely present. I.2. Definition of microdisplays Microdisplays can be defined as having a diagonal of around 1 inch or less. As a consequence, this means that they require an additional optical magnification system to be seen by the human eye. The system would depend on the use. In the case of near-to-eye application, such as head-mounted display (HMD) and head-up display (HUD), the system projects a virtual image, by collimating the light from the microdisplay and projecting the image near infinity. For projector applications, the collimated optics role is to make an enlarged, real image of the microdisplay on a physical diffusing screen. One objective of microdisplays is to deliver the same image quality as conventional, larger-size displays. One of the main attributes to image quality is the definition, namely the total number of pixels constituting the image. If we consider the 1,080 p high-definition standard (1,080 lines and 1,920 columns), the color pixel-pitch will be around 460 µm in the case of a 40 in. diagonal TV, and around 58 µm in the case of 5 in display from a high-end smartphone. In the latter case, considering a quad color arrangement, this corresponds to an elemental pixel pitch of around 29 µm. This pixel pitch is today the smallest that can be obtained with the conventional active-matrix techniques using thin-film transistor (TFT) technology on large-area glasses, where the minimum feature size provided by the patterning process is generally around 2 µm. To achieve the same 1,080 p resolution on a microdisplay of say 0.5 in, the pixel pitch needs to be an order of less magnitude, namely much less than 10 µm. The main consequence of such small pixel-size is that they cannot be fabricated with conventional TFT active-matrix technologies. Actually, active matrix for microdisplays requires complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit (IC) technologies built on monocrystalline silicon, which provides the smallest feature size, now down to a few nanometer for advanced circuits). Only with such technologies, pixel pitches of a few microns can be obtained. Besides the difference in active matrix technology, there is therefore also a strong difference in the manufacturing model (and cost model) between microdisplays and conventional, medium/large-size displays. Conventional displays are fabricated on large area glass (up to 3 3 m) and feature pixel size of typically µm (Figure I.2: (a)

15 Introduction xiii m glass substrate with six TFT active matrices 52 in. TVs. Inset is a magnified view of a pixel. (b) (Courtesy of Ghent University) 200 mm silicon wafer with CMOS circuit consisting of active matrices for LCOS microdisplays. Inset is a magnified view of a pixel.). Microdisplays are fabricated on silicon wafers (200 or 300 mm in diameter) and have pixel size of typically 5 10 µm (Figure I.2). a) b) Figure I.2. a) m glass substrate with six TFT active matrices 52 in. TVs. Inset is a magnified view of a pixel. b) (by courtesy of Ghent University) 200 mm silicon wafer with CMOS circuit consisting of active matrices for LCOS microdisplays. Inset is a magnified view of a pixel Table I.1 summarizes main differences between standard-type displays and microdisplays. Type of Display Typical size (cm) Viewing mode Pixel pitch (µm) Active-matrix technology Substrate size Standard 5 to 200 Direct view 40 to 300 TFT on glass Up to 3 3 m Microdisplay 0.7 to 2 Magnified image 4 to 20 CMOS Diameter of 200 or 300 mm Table I.1. Main differences between standard-type and microdisplays

16 xiv OLED Microdisplays In summary, a microdisplay can be defined as a display needing magnifying optics to be seen, and having an IC chip as active matrix. There might be an exception to this definition. Indeed some transmissive liquidcrystal display (LCD) microdisplays used for many years in projectors do have a small size (~0.5 to 2 in) but do not have an IC active matrix. They are fabricated using the so-called high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) technology, which consists of making active matrix with TFTs [MOR 86]. It uses TFTs, however the approach is very different to the classical a-si or low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT processes, which are made on very large-area, inexpensive borosilicate glass plates, and where the minimum feature size is ~2 µm or more. HTPS, as its name suggests, requires a high-temperature process: actually, it consists of depositing amorphous silicon at a few hundred degrees, and later in the process to convert it into polysilicon by performing an annealing step at a high temperature: 1000 C. Such a high temperature prohibits the use of conventional borosilicate glass, but imposes highly stable and transparent quartz substrates. These substrates are much more expensive, and therefore are relevant only for smaller sizes, actually quartz wafers with the same size as silicon counterparts (200 or 300 mm in diameter) used for CMOS circuits. Having the same size and shape as silicon wafers, these quartz wafers give access to IC manufacturing tools and design rules, therefore very highresolution lithography is feasible, and pixel pitches as small as those obtained with IC active matrices can be made, namely ~10 µm or less. In the end, HTPS is indeed also microdisplays, since its active matrix is definitely made using IC technologies, though the substrate is not silicon, but quartz. I.3. A brief history and overview of microdisplays The need for microdisplays initially came from a need for bigger displays. In fact, at the time when CRT was the only display technology, it was very difficult to increase the image size and for a long time CRT TVs for household receivers did not exceed in. Therefore, TV manufacturers were looking for solutions to increase image size, and application of projection technology was quite straightforward. CRT projection provided larger images but with a main drawback: a loss in luminance. Then came the need for the so-called spatial light modulators (SLM), a two-dimensional (2D) optical modulator, which would impress 2D modulation onto an optical beam. Modulation could be applied on phase, amplitude, or other. In the case of amplitude modulation, such system would perfectly fit for projecting an image. Then the question was how to realize SLMs with satisfying performance, sufficiently thin structure, operating at acceptable supply voltages or power, etc.

17 Introduction xv I.3.1. Liquid crystal on silicon displays The rise of liquid crystal made it possible. As early as the late 1970s, the first active-matrix LCD-based SLM were shown [LIP 77] and later a silicon chip was used for the active matrix: the liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) was born. Since the silicon substrate is not optically transparent, LCOS microdisplays consisted of reflective-type LCDs opposite to the classical transmissive counterparts fabricated with glass substrates. I Fabrication of LCOS display LCOS display is based on CMOS silicon active matrix, coupled with transparent cover glass and filled with liquid crystal (Figure I.3). Pixels are defined by metal electrodes on top of the CMOS, which are reflective, and covered by an alignment layer. Cover glass is coated with the type of transparent electrode (made of indium tin oxide (ITO)) and alignment layer. For such displays, a liquid-crystal can be of the reflective twisted nematic type, as it is for most commercial applications, or vertically aligned, which appeared more recently, and present advantages such as fast response, high-contrast with moderate voltage and better cell-gap tolerance [GAN 00]. Polarizer/analyzer in LCOS is obtained with a polarizer beam splitter (PBS), a key component of the optical setup, which is described later. Figure I.3. Structure of LCOS display. Only the last level of the CMOS is shown, i.e. the reflective electrodes Active matrix is fabricated with CMOS process. After the core MOS process, multilayer interconnects are made to build the columns, lines, buses, and the last level is the reflective electrode (Figure I.5). A pixel electrode is generally made with aluminum, a natural candidate providing very high reflection coefficient (above 90%). The top surface should be as flat as possible to help liquid-crystal operation, which is possible due to planarization techniques used now in standard interconnects processes. One advantage of reflective LCD with CMOS circuit is that a high aperture ratio (AR) can be obtained, in comparison with transmissive counterparts. In the example below, the pixel pitch is 17.6 µm and pixel space is only 0.6 µm. Even when including the small loss due to the via inside the electrode (~0.5 µm

18 xvi OLED Microdisplays size), the dimensional AR is 93.2%. When including a reflection coefficient or 90% for Al, this gives an effective AR of as high of 83.6% [DE 02]. Figure I.4. Cross section of a pixel from CMOS active matrix (from [DE 02]). The last level represents a pixel electrode (named m4 mirror on Figure) Due to high-performance of CMOS devices, gate and row drivers can be integrated on the chip, reducing cost and simplifying connection (Figure I.5). Actually, using present connection techniques, the minimum achievable connection pitch is ~50 µm; therefore it would not be possible to connect all individual lines and columns of most microdisplays. Figure I.5. Block-circuit of active matrix for LCOS (from [DE 02]) The cell-assembly process, which consists of coupling active matrix with transparent electrode, followed by liquid-crystal filling, can be made at wafer-scale level, or at display level. In this latter case, singulation of active matrices is made by

19 Introduction xvii dicing after CMOS processing (Figure I.6). Spacers might be added between the two planes to ensure perfect cell-gap control to obtain exactly the same polarization retardation/image homogeneity across the display. Figure I.6. Singulation of CMOS active matrix for LCOS. Reprinted by courtesy of Ghent University The last step of LCOS fabrication is connecting the electronics board to the display, which is made by conventional flex-foil and anisotropic conducting film (ACF) bonding (Figure I.7). Figure I.7. Connection of 0.7 WXGA LCOS display. Reprinted by courtesy of Ghent University Depending on application, the light sources, color management and optical system will differ.

20 xviii OLED Microdisplays I Light sources and color management for LCOS Source and color options for LCOS: color can be made simply as on conventional larger size LCD displays, by using one white backlight and color filters, one color pixel requiring three (or four) RGB sub-pixels. For this reason, in this case, resolution can be limited, despite a quite simple optical system. To increase resolution while maintaining use of a single display and compactness, fieldsequential color (FSC) can be used: three separate RGB LEDs (or lasers) are sequentially switched on, and respective RGB images are displayed simultaneously on the LCD. In that case, one pixel of the display is a color pixel. This requires faster electronics and fast-switching liquid crystals since one color frame (20 ms) needs three subframes (6.6 ms). The other solution is to use three light sources and three separate microdisplays, which allows full resolution without response restrictions. Actually in that case, one single white source can be used and split into three RGB beams by using dichroic filters (to separate colors). I System integration of LCOS When compactness is important, one LCOS with color filters will be used, combined with a compact white backlight, or one LCOS in FCS mode. Single LCOS option is the best choice in the case of near-to-eye applications, when small size is more important than high resolution. When a larger system is possible, and/or more power is required, one white source will be used and split in three RGB colors, combined with three displays: this is the best choice for LCOS used in projectors. Color separation is obtained with dichroic filters, which are combined to a polarizer beam splitter (PBS) to generate linear polarization in orientation fitted for each LCOS (Figure I.8). First-generation LCOS displays suffered from light leakage. In fact, exposure of silicon to light gives rise to carrier generation (photoconduction), implying that when silicon MOS transistors are under such conditions, leakage current will appear in the off-regime. If the switch transistors leaks, the information stored in the pixel is lost. Therefore, initially LCOS use was limited to application such as view finders where light levels are limited in comparison with projection. Progressively, solutions consisting of adding light-protection layers (light-shields) into the IC process were implemented, and LCOS could be applied to projection systems [MEL 98]. JVC company in Japan, has started shipping high-end professional front projectors with this technology in Since then, LCOS microdisplays have spread and are present in near-to-eye systems as well as in small to medium-size projectors. One trend nowadays is to

21 Introduction xix develop Jumbo LED projectors, using three power LEDS and three LCOS microdisplays, with an XCube, and providing as much as 100 lumen. Figure I.8. Optical setup involving a white source with three LCOS displays. Color separation and polarization are managed with dichroic filters and PBS. Reprinted by courtesy of Ghent University I.3.2. Transmissive LCD microdisplays To fabricate microdisplay for projection, other actors have chosen the above mentioned HTPS technology, which allows fabricating high-resolution transmissive LCDs due to the transparency of the quartz substrate combined with the high precision of the IC technology for Polysilicon thin-film transistors. Such a transmissive microdisplay is more favorable for a compact optical system compared to LCOS, however obtaining high pixel aperture ratio with small pixel pitch remains a strong challenge. As mentioned in section I.2, Seiko Epson has been proposing HTPS technology to fabricate polysilicon TFTs on a quartz substrate (Figure I.9) and has been selling transmissive LCDs for projectors with such matrices for many years [TAN 07].

22 xx OLED Microdisplays a) b) Figure I.9. a) HTPS active matrices on 200 mm quartz wafer and b) two finished p LCD chips [PUT] Optical system for such displays (Figure I.10) has some differences with those for LCOS, but shares the principle of white light separation with dichroic filters. A prism recombines the three RGB images. Figure I.10. Optical setup for three transmissive LCD projector from [PUT] This microdisplay technology has been continuously improved for the last 20 years. Such 3LCD systems support a wide range of video and computer resolutions. The first 3LCD video projector could display pixels, while the first LCD data projector offered pixels (VGA standard). Over the years, HTPS

23 Introduction xxi resolution has kept pace with market demand. VGA was followed by SVGA ( ) in the mid 1990s, then by XGA ( ) and SXGA ( ). While VGA and SVGA have largely gone by the wayside, the XGA standard is still popular for a wide range of business and education projectors. The digital TV transition sparked interest in widescreen, high-definition video formats when it started in At the same time, computer manufacturers were expanding their displays to create a larger desktop workspace, just after we could see HD ( ) and SXGA+ ( ) resolutions in projectors. Specialized large venue projectors took those numbers even higher, achieving UXGA ( ) pixels of picture detail (Figure I.11). Figure I.11. Evolution of HTPS panel size and resolution over the years. LCD chip resolutions have almost quadrupled over the 15 years. [PUT] Today, widescreen projection is commonplace. The format is still available for HD video projection, but it is rapidly being replaced by And widescreen computer projection has standardized on two formats (wide XGA) and (wide UXGA). Surprisingly, in 2010 Epson announced that they were fabricating HTPS-based LCDs using reflective mode, instead of transmissive, claiming that the open aperture was improved. Also, such a structure reduces light leakage. Compared to conventional LCOS made on CMOS circuits, HTPS might benefit from a simpler process, due to the much lower mask count of the TFT process compared to CMOS. Another company has made transmissive LCD microdisplays for many years. Kopin, a US company, proposed an original approach: fabricate a CMOS active matrix from a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. SOI consists of a bulk silicon substrate with a thin layer of single crystalline silicon on top and separated from the

24 xxii OLED Microdisplays substrate by a silicon dioxide layer. The SOI wafer is used because the buried oxide layer can act as an etch-stop during a subsequent back-etch step. The circuit is fabricated, and subsequently the thin Si circuit layer is lifted-off the substrate, and transferred onto a glass wafer, bonded with adhesive (Figure I.12). Using this process, a transparent active-matrix is finally made. Being fabricated with the CMOS process, very fine patterns can be made and therefore small pixel-pitch can be achieved (in fact, comparable to those obtained with LCOS). Figure I.12. Fabrication of transparent LCD microdisplay (Source: Kopin) The subsequent LCD process is more conventional and similar to other LCD microdisplays. The first transmissive LCD microdisplays products were introduced in Kopin proposes these displays broad range of resolutions and size, ranging from 0.16" to 0.97", for near-to-eye applications. From the beginning, more than 30 million of these transparent LCD microdisplays have been sold. I.3.3. MEMS-based microdisplays In the same period, other kinds of IC-based SLM have been developed: microoptical-electromechanical systems (MOEMS), in particular the digital micromirror device (DMD) developed by Texas Instruments. Such a microdisplay is fabricated on a single chip, starting with the CMOS active matrix and followed by fabrication of the electro-optical function, above-ic [HOR 89]. Actually, when it was invented in the 1970s, DMD stood for deformable mirror device : a baseline analog device made of an array of mobile mirrors on CMOS circuit, designed to be used as analog amplitude and/or phase modulators.

25 Introduction xxiii Progressively, the problems encountered on such analog versions (mainly: limited dynamic range) pushed the development of digital version, based on simple twostate mirror position, which rose in the late 1980s. What then became a digital mirror device was continuously improved. It culminated in the launch, in 1996, of the first projector under the name Digital Light Processing TM (DLP). I Principle The principle is that a two-state mirror is present for each pixel, the on-state being a reflective state, the OFF-state on-reflective state. Actually a flat state is also possible. Combined with a light-source, the system can be used as a lightamplitude modulator: memory cells on the DMD loaded with a logical 1 will position the mirror, through electrostatic forces, such that the incident light is reflected into the aperture of the projection lens using dark field projection techniques as shown in Figure I.13 [DOH 98]. Memory cells loaded with a logical 0 are positioned such that the incident light is directed away from the projection lens and into a light sink. The on state light is optically recombined with the other pixel components and projected onto the viewing screen. Figure I.13. Optical setup showing elemental digital mirror device operation to be used as light-amplitude modulator. Reprinted with courtesy of the Society for Information Display Mirror rotation is controlled by electrostatic forces. The structure, as shown in Figure I.14, involves support structure, drive electrodes and a rotation mechanism

26 xxiv OLED Microdisplays [SCO 03]. Such structures are fabricated above the CMOS integrated circuit, using conventional MEMS-type processes, such as 3D lithography, requiring the use of sacrificial layers and etch-stop techniques. Figure I.14. Scanning electron micrograph of DMD pixel (mirror removed). Reprinted with courtesy of the Society for Information Display I Grayscale management With such a bi-state device, grayscale is achieved by pulse width modulation (PWM) of the on-state over the operating refresh time [DOH 98], as shown in Figure I.15. The internal DLP digital (amplitude modulated) video signal is converted to this PWM. Graylevels are a function of bit number of the video data. Figure I.15. Binary PWM sequence pattern with two examples of how intensity values are generated with the sequence. For simplicity, only five-bit video is shown here (DLP1). Reprinted with courtesy of the Society for Information Display

27 Introduction xxv This pattern continues for all bits of the given pixel. The human visual system effectively integrates the pulsed light to form the perception of desired intensity. The grayscale perceived is proportional to the percentage of time the mirror is on during the refresh time. The display is a full array of DMD mirrors (Figure I.16). Figure I.16. DMD device (Source: Texas Instruments) I Light source and color management One advantage of DLP technology is that it can use any type of light source. Historically, the main light source used on DLP display systems has been a replaceable high-pressure xenon arc lamp unit (containing a quartz arc tube, reflector, electrical connections and sometimes a quartz/glass shield), whereas when compactness is required (such as for most medium to small DLP projector) highpower LEDs or lasers are used as a source of illumination. Due to a high switching speed, DLP is well adapted to field-sequential color. Color wheel system has been used very widely (Figure I.17) for projectors. For more compact projectors, separate RGB LEDs are preferred. Also, for highbrightness applications, three separated DLPs are used with three separate color channels.

28 xxvi OLED Microdisplays Figure I.17. Projection system with single DMD using color wheel for field sequential color mode I Performance improvement Since DLP technology does not use polarized light, the mechanisms limiting contrast are completely different from those of liquid-crystal technologies, e.g. birefringence, skew rays, compensation films, etc. Instead, DLP contrast is limited by the geometrical aspects of the projection lens pupil, the pupil light distribution, scattering, and diffraction effects [HOR 99]. To improve contrast, up until 2001, efforts were concentrated on the device itself rather than the optical system in which it was used. Figure I.18 illustrates the evolution of mirror design to improve aperture ratio and therefore contrast [HOR 99]. Figure I.18. DMD pixel evolution, to improve contrast. Reprinted with courtesy of the Society for Information Display Today, DLP displays offer excellent performance. This technology is now used in a great variety of projectors from very compact ones to professional, very high resolution and brightness systems for cinema. For wearable devices, the smallest size features 0.3 in DLP, with 720 p resolution. At the other end, DLP has been a

29 Introduction xxvii key device to the rise of digital cinema, and are integrated in most cinema projector manufacture. Initial version of the device featured 2K resolution (2.2 million mirrors), but in K versions (8.8 million mirrors) were proposed. Such projector use light sources with power of 1 kw and more. Typical device size varies between 0.98 and 1.38 in. in diagonal [BAR 14]. LCOS, transmissive LCD and DLP are today mature microdisplay technologies that are significantly present on the market, with a great presence in projection applications. I Laser-beam scanners (LBS) Recently, new MEMS-based devices for display applications have been proposed. They consist of a moving mirror reflecting a laser beam on a projection surface. The mirror movement provides a scan on the projection surface, making an image. These devices, which can be used for compact projectors, are actually neither displays nor microdisplays since the image is not made on the device. Therefore, they are not within this book s focus. However, it is worth mentioning them since they can be used for the same applications than LCOS or DLP microdisplays. I.4. New requirements for new applications: near-to-eye Near-to-eye (NTE) consists of one (or several) microdisplay and an optical system used to create a virtual image for the eye. Such applications include headmounted displays (HMD), viewfinders for cameras/camcorders, video goggles, etc. The recent rise of NTE applications pointed out the need for new kind of microdisplay. All NTE systems need to combine the following features: Lightweight/compactness: NTE systems are wearable (HMD, video goggles) or present on portable devices (Cameras, cellphones, etc.), therefore they need to be as light and compact as possible. Low-power consumption: together with lightweight comes the problem of battery life and as a consequence the need for NTE systems to feature the lowest power consumption. Microdisplays technologies such as LCD or DLP type are both non-emissive type i.e. they require separate light source such as arc bulb or LEDs or laser. As shown previously, requiring a light source means also requiring a dedicated optical system to collimate it onto the display. Both involve some additional volume and a more complex display system. Also, collimating an optical system might lead to loss