The results show reliable bonding strength and high yields during on-light testing.
With these findings, it is evident that adhesives refine miniLED display manufacturing, better adapting them for the mass market as well as carving a pathway for mass microLED display production.
Due to how well-accustomed they are to these solutions, the display industry still relies heavily on solder materials for interconnecting SMD components.
However, as dice get smaller and smaller, with miniLED applications entering mass production and
microLEDs on the horizon, isotropic conductive materials like solder will soon be unable to avoid short circuits in this scale.
This observation is what prompted DELO Industrial Adhesives to study the feasibility of their products as a potential alternative for this dated interconnection method.
In doing its research, DELO determined that materials like DELO MONOPOX AC268 were the most appropriate of their products to test. This material is electrically conductive in one direction, helping it prevent short circuits from
occurring. That, and its processing properties allowing printing masks to forgo having their openings shrunken for dispensing makes, these materials ideal for this application.
In the feasibility study, the adhesive was applied by dipping the miniLED light into a reservoir of DELO MONOPOX AC268 adhesive, then thermode-cured at 180°C for 20 seconds.
Once cured, the LED dice were then tested for operational feasibility; one singular die was fixed to one test board while another board contained several lights
in a daisy chain array. Lamps on both boards were illuminated without issue, and short circuits were successfully avoided.
“These results prove that, indeed, adhesives are a suitable alternative to pick-and-place soldering for miniLED applications,” said Tim Cloppenborg, Senior Product Manager for LED at DELO.
“Having a new, streamlined assembly process opens doors to increased production yields as well as the expedition of newer technologies, like microLEDs, which will enable fascinating new display applications within the next decade.”
This
study is just one of its many pioneering preliminary studies that DELO does to keep ahead in the many industries it serves, in addition to over 3,000 customer tests per year.
The advanced materials supplier serves high-profile customers – from Infineon to Mercedes-Benz – across many sectors, including the automotive, consumer electronics, and semiconductor industries.
Experts from DELO will discuss these results at the upcoming MicroLED Connect show, the microLED conference and exhibition, which will take place in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on 25-26 September. Alternatively, key results are available in a white paper.