[Image: Porotech]
Porotech, a spinout from the University of Cambridge, UK, that is developing gallium nitride (GaN)–based microLED technology for augmented-reality (AR) microdisplays, has announced a strategic partnership with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn. According to a joint press release from the two firms, the arrangement will focus on integrating Porotech’s technology in porous GaN semiconductors into Foxconn’s proprietary manufacturing-technology chain to produce “ultra-high-density and energy-efficient microLED microdisplays for AR applications, wearable, and smart devices.”
Porosity benefits
Porotech emerged from the Cambridge University lab of Rachel Oliver, who cofounded the company in 2018 with Cambridge alumni Tongtong Zhu and Yingjin Liu. The venture rests on work in Oliver’s lab engineering porosity into GaN to create new functionalities.
In the course of that work, researchers found that the porous GaN—which the company has since trade-named PoroGaN—could be coaxed to emit in red wavelengths, thereby complementing the blue–green emission spectra of conventional GaN. The company has also developed a proprietary technology that it refers to as Dynamic Pixel Tuning (DPT), a method of precise driving-current control that it says “enables a single microLED chip to produce any visible color from a single pixel, including white light.”
In principle, the company believes the combination of PoroGaN and DPT will allow the creation of much more compact, full-color microdisplays from a single GaN material system, without the need to stack three-color chips to produce the full color range. The result, the company says, could be a 70% reduction in volume, lower power requirements, higher brightness and better resolution for near-eye use than conventional microLED microdisplays. Indeed, in late May at Display Week in Los Angeles, CA, USA, Porotech unveiled what it called “the world’s first single-panel, full-color microdisplay suitable for AR applications,” based on the DPT platform.
Combining strengths
The alliance with Foxconn aims to fast track development and “productization” of Porotech’s microdisplays by plugging into the Taiwan-based company’s considerable manufacturing ecosystem. Foxconn, which bills itself as “the world’s largest electronics manufacturer and leading technological solutions provider,” is perhaps best known as a key manufacturing partner for Apple Inc.’s iconic iPhone product line. In the course of its business, Foxconn has amassed a considerable portfolio of proprietary technologies in semiconductor wafer manufacture, packaging and other areas, as well as expertise in supply-chain management.
The companies think bringing this stack together with Porotech’s emerging technology could overcome previous stumbling blocks for microLED displays for the AR market. Previously, the firms noted in the joint release, such displays have had “great potential,” but have been held back by the need for expertise in a wide swath of disciplines that have been difficult to integrate in a single venture.
“With this partnership,” the release said, “we expect to expedite the research and productization of microLED technology and push the AR application to a new era.” The targeted endpoint of the partnership will be microdisplays for AR applications and wearable tech, as well as establishing “the world’s first complete end-to-end, viable supply chain” for such microdisplays.
