QuantumDots-Info: the QD experts

A research team from POSTECH in Korea developed a new method of arranging quantum dots based on the coffee ring effect. The researchers dispersed the QD particles in a solution, and then evaporated it to perform the deposition, which causes the particles to automatically assemble in certain areas, like the edges of a single solution drop.

The researchers report that the QDs self-arranged in the form of very fine pixels, as they used a V-shaped structure. The QDs are driven toward the inner tips of the V-shape and accumulate there. This enables the creation of QD-based pixels that are 20 times brighter compared to regular QDs deposited without the V-shaped structure, and have a high uniformity rate of over 98%.

According to reports from Korea, Samsung Electronics plans to showcase its QD-OLED TVs in early 2022 (at CES 2022).

Earlier reports suggested that Samsung's first TVs will use 55-inch and 65-inch panels, produced by Samsung Display.

VR headset maker Pimax announced a new device, called the Reality 12K QLED VR. The display used in the headset will be a 5.5" mini-LED backlit (5,000 LEDs) QD-LCD, which achieves a resolution of 12K, a refresh rate of 200HZ and a horizontal FOV of 200-degrees.

The new headset, based on either Qualcomm's Snapdragon VR engine or Pimax's own customized PC VR engine, will also feature technologies such as Nvidia's DLSS, VRSS, DSC, Cloud XR and 11 cameras used for eye tracking and facial expression tracking. It will also support full-body tracking.

Samsung reported its financial results for Q3 2021, and the company states that it is on track to begin QD-OLED mass production in Q4 2021. Samsung hopes that QD-OLED TVs will start shipping to consumers in 2022.

Samsung says that its QD-OLED displays will offer many advantages over existing displays: including color reproduction, viewing angle, and brightness. Samsung is "quite confident" that QD-OLED would set the new standard, especially in the premium TV markets.

An international team of researchers from Singapore, the US and China, led by a team at Singapore-MIT alliance SMART, discovered a new way to generate long-wavelength (red, orange and yellow) emitting quantum dots by taking advantage of intrinsic defects in semiconducting materials.

The researchers fabricate InGaN QDs that feature a significantly higher indium concentration by making use of pre-existing defects in InGaN materials. In this process, the coalescence of so-called V-pits, which result from naturally-existing dislocations in the material, directly forms indium-rich quantum dots, small islands of material that emit longer-wavelength light. Simply put, the material forms itself in a structure that includes small 'pyramids' - the tops of which are actually light-emitting quantum dots.

Researchers from Seoul National University developed an ultrathin QLED device, that can be folded just like a paper. The researchers demonstrated a 3D foldable QLED, which can be produced in customized 3D structures.

To produce the device, the researchers developed a new fabrication process, that can partially etch the epoxy film deposited on the QLED surface without damaging the underlying QLED. This changes the QLED film from a planar shape to the 3D foldable shape.

Quantum Dots developer Nanosys, in collaboration with Nangtong Changed New Material (CYD) announced that it has developed air-stable quantum dot materials for the display industry, using diffuser plate technology.

Nanosys already launched a product, called xQDEF Diffuser Plate - and in fact Nanosys says that it has already received orders from multiple tier one consumer electronics brands such as TCL and Hisense for the xQDEF Diffuser Plate, which is now in mass production and products based on this material will be shipping within this quarter.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have assessed the status of research into colloidal quantum dot lasers with a focus on prospective electrically pumped devices, or laser diodes.

Their review analyzes the challenges for developing lasing with electrical excitation, and presents approaches to overcome them.

The Coretec Group announced that it has developed an efficient and highly scalable way to produce Silicon Quantum Dots (SiQDs).

The company says that its unique chemistry and processes enable the production of SiQDs that will be suitable for LED applications. Coretec says that SiQDs are metal-free QDs that possess all the favorable properties of their toxic metal-containing counterparts with the added benefits of elemental abundance, biological compatibility, and optical properties.

Last year, Poland-based Ergis Group launched an OLED encapsulation film platform called Ergis noDiffusion®. The company is currently testing its film solutions at customer sites in Asia, the EU and the US, and it is now starting to offer the same platform for the protection of quantum dot films (QD films) used in display and lighting applications.

These new films can be tuned to fit specific needs. Ergis can deploy its films on several substrate types, with varying film thickness, and the barrier properties can be tuned to be between 10-6 to 10-3. This means that custom films can be created to suit the specific sensitivity of the QDs for water vapor and to achieve specific product lifetime or other required properties.