Industry News November/December 2014 Issue 6

Blue-LED Inventors Named for Nobel Prize in Physics

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura recently won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.”  The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explained in a press release that when the scientists “produced bright blue light beams from their semiconductors in the early 1990s, they triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology.  Red and green diodes had been around for a long time, but without blue light white lamps could not be created ….  The [white] LED lamp holds great promise for increasing the quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity grids: due to low power requirements it can be powered by cheap local solar power.”  In terms of displays, the GaN technology for blue LEDs that the three men invented has made significant contributions.  LEDs have replaced CCFL backlighting systems, achieving both wider color gamut and lower power consumption.

Isamu Akasaki is with Meijo University and Nagoya University in Nagoya, Japan; Hiroshi Amano is with Nagoya University in Japan; and Shuji Nakamura is with the University of California in Santa Barbara.  Both Nakamura and Akasaki received the Society for Information Display’s Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  In 2011, Nakamura delivered a Display Week keynote address: “Nitride-Based LEDs and Laser Diodes: Current Status, Bright Prospects!”

B R E A K I N G    G R O U N D
DOW Builds Nanoco Quantum-Dot Plant in Korea
The Dow Chemical Company recently announced that construction has begun on a quantum-dot manufacturing plant in Korea, with production scheduled to begin in the first half of 2015.  The quantum dots are based on technology from Nanoco Group plc, a leading developer of cadmium-free quantum dots and a global licensing partner with Dow.  According to the two companies, this will be the world’s first large-scale cadmium-free quantum-dot plant capable of supporting the manufacture of “millions of cadmium-free quantum-dot televisions and other display applications.”
Preparatory work for construction of the plant, at an existing Dow site in Cheonan, South Korea, is well under way.  The Nanoco quantum dots produced there will be marketed by Dow under the brand name TREVISTA Quantum Dots.
Tianma to Build New G6 LTPS LCD Line
Tianma Microelectronics and Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone state that construction will begin at the end of this year on their jointly funded G6 LTPS production line (1500 × 1850 mm) in Wuhan, China.  The project will include a color-filter (CF) production line and matching cell and module line.  Its capacity will be 30,000 sheets of LTPS TFT-LCD panels a month and 30,000 sheets of CF sheets a month.  The application area will be for small–to–medium-sized LCDs and liquid-crystal modules (LCMs) used in mid–to–high-end smartphones and tablet PCs.  Production is scheduled to begin in 2016. The anticipated annual sales volume will be approximately RMB 10 billion (about $1.63 billion U.S.) after the line reaches its full yield.

Henkel to Acquire Bergquist

Henkel Adhesive Technologies has signed an agreement to acquire The Bergquist Company, a privately held leading supplier of thermal-management products for the global electronics industry.  According to Henkel, the transaction will provide it with a stronger position in thermal management in the specific areas of automotive, consumer, and industrial electronics as well as emerging applications in LED lighting.

Both parties agreed not to disclose any financial details about the transaction, which is subject to approval from anti-trust authorities.

LG Display Introduces 4K Monitor for Digital Cinema

LG Display has introduced a new 4K (4096 × 2160) monitor designed to meet the standards of the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI).  The LG 31MU97’s resolution and life-like colors are designed for photographers, video editors, and graphic artists.

Its 31-in. IPS display (Fig. 1) supports over 99.5% of the Adobe RGB color space and provides users with several coloring options and modes.  A dual-color-space feature allows the monitor to display two different color modes at once so that users can compare different perspectives of their work simultaneously.  •

LG Displays’s new 31-in. monitor has a resolution of 4096 × 2160 and supports over 99.5% of the Adobe RGB color space.