Grant: Idea to Innovation

The UW group has created a novel innovation to reliably integrate micron-scale light-emitting diodes (microLEDs) onto thin-film transistor (TFT) backplanes that enables a substantial increase in light output and energy efficiency. The proposed project will scale the fabrication of power- and energy-efficient technologies based on several patented and patent pending technologies. Recently, our groups have developed integration processes to enhance the LED brightness by more than 400%, enabling energy-efficient high-brightness light emitters for emissive displays. Secondly, the realization of TFT-based row decoders from the development of unipolar TFT logic circuitry has been established and may now be implemented to address the microLED media. The TFT-based logic gates in the decoders have low-energy consumption and small area footprint. These innovations were developed separately, and we propose to combine the developments onto a single platform to demonstrate the scaling of this technology for large area arrays having low-power consumption and high brightness capabilities for portable display applications in digital watches, cell phones, tablets, and laptop computers. This project will develop and demonstrate a 2.5×2.5 cm-square microLED display having a 128×128-pixel array; the integrated display is expected to have a power savings reduction of 60% compared to conventional emissive display technologies.