Equipment manufacturers accelerate the MicroLED track

In 2025, Micro LED technology will make progress in many key links. New technological breakthroughs, new cooperations, new application expansions, and new project implementations will frequently emerge. At the same time, equipment manufacturers are actively overcoming the technical bottlenecks faced by Micro LED industrialization, providing key production tools for back-end manufacturers, and promoting the development and application of Micro LED technology.

Equipment manufacturers are making frequent progress, and key technologies continue to make breakthroughs

One of the key technical problems faced by Micro LED industrialization is wafer inspection. Currently, Micro LED wafer inspection technology mainly includes three categories: probe electroluminescence inspection (EL), AOI appearance defect inspection and photoluminescence inspection (PL). However, these methods all face their own challenges in the large-scale industrialization of Micro LED.

In order to solve the common detection technology problems in the Micro LED industry, Haimixing announced on May 12 that the company and Fuzhou University have successfully developed the first domestic wafer-level Micro LED chip contactless Electroluminescence detection engineering prototype FED-NCEL. Based on the research and development results of this prototype, non-contact electroluminescence detection can be performed on red, green and blue Micro LED epitaxial wafers, wafers (COW) and chips transferred to temporary carriers (COC).

Image source: Haimixing

In the field of new display equipment, Haimixing shipped a Micro LED pilot line in 2024. The production line includes equipment for mass transfer of Micro LED, mass welding, laser repair, etc., and has completed in-factory FAT acceptance. According to reports, the efficiency of this production line can reach 25-100kk/h, the process yield reaches more than 99.99%, and it supports Micro LED chip applications of ≤50μm.

In the field of mass detection, Yiben Technology is also active. On January 7 this year, Yibei Technology announced that it had completed the delivery of the last batch of Micro LED mass testing equipment in 2024, achieving its full-year delivery target. The products delivered this time include the PL inspection equipment M1070P for COW/COC processes and the AOI equipment M1075A for appearance and position inspection.

Image source: Yiben Technology

In August and November 2024, Yiben Technology has successfully delivered self-developed AOI and PL mass testing equipment to customers in mainland China and Taiwan respectively. The company stated that as pilot lines and mass production lines are gradually lit up, Micro LED is moving from research and development to small batch mass production, and 2025 will be a critical period for improving production capacity and yield.

In addition to testing equipment, core process equipment in the Micro LED manufacturing process such as film forming equipment and bonding equipment are also crucial to promoting the industrialization of Micro LED.

On March 11, 2024, Zhixinda brought good news in this field and successfully rolled off the first mass transfer side magnetron sputtering film forming machine. This equipment uses 3D magnetron sputtering and low-temperature low-loss technology, and by optimizing target materials and other technologies, it effectively improves the stability and adhesion of the film and reduces thermal damage. It is a key equipment to achieve seamless Micro LED splicing.

Coincidentally, on the same day, Qinghe Jingyuan released C2W&W2W dual-mode hybrid bonding in Hong Kong Equipment SAB 82CWW series. This equipment supports 8-inch and 12-inch wafers, has an alignment accuracy of ±30nm and a bonding accuracy of ±100nm. It has a wide range of applications, not only for Micro LED, but also covers memory, image sensors and other fields.

In addition, laser technology companies have also delivered Micro LED related equipment. On January 1, 2024, Inno Laser delivered Micro LED related equipment to new customers, including laser decrystallization and laser cutting equipment. Laser decrystallization is a step in the Micro LED process and is used to remove chips or impurities, while laser cutting is used to slit materials.

Image source: Inno Laser

In addition to the companies mentioned above, since 2024, many equipment manufacturers such as Maiwei Technology, Han's Semiconductor, Hefei Xinyihua, Jingzhida, Jintuo Technology, Liande Equipment, China Microelectronics Corporation, and Delong Laser have also achieved new results in the research and development of Micro LED-related equipment and technology. These developments have helped to improve the yield and production efficiency of the Micro LED manufacturing process.

Financing surges, Micro LED takes advantage of capital

Equipment manufacturers continue to make breakthroughs in key process equipment such as Micro LED mass detection, transfer, and bonding, and are becoming an important force in promoting Micro LED technology from research and development to industrialization. At the same time, the positive response of the capital market also reflects the enthusiasm and potential of industrial development.

Intelligent manufacturing company Flat is deeply involved in Micro LED and other fields, focusing on the R&D and production of high-end wet processing, grinding, testing and related process equipment. In April this year, the company announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing, and the funds will be used to accelerate wet processing The localization process of cleaning equipment facilitates large-scale mass production and delivery.

According to the official website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Micro LED equipment manufacturer Silicon Power Co., Ltd. submitted a GEM IPO registration application on January 13. The funds raised this time will be approximately 556 million yuan, and the funds will be used for probe station research and development and industrial base construction, sorting machine technology research and development, marketing service network upgrade and supplement of working capital.

It is worth noting that in addition to equipment manufacturers, many companies in the Micro LED industry chain have also received capital support since this year, including Nostalgia Technology, Xunlin Technology, Puzhao Materials, Sweden's Polar Light Technologies, Hyperlume, and Canada's VueReal, which shows that the upstream and downstream industries are optimistic about the commercialization prospects of Micro LED.

In the domestic market, Nostal Technology completed its Series A financing on March 5. In recent years, Nostal Technology has completed angel rounds, strategic investments, Pre-A rounds and other financings. Among them, the Pre-A2 round of financing in March 2024 reached 100 million yuan, and the funds were used for the construction of Micro LED microdisplay chip mass production lines and the further research and development of Micro LED chips based on VSP technology solutions.

In addition, Xunlin Technology also completed tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing in March. With its ability to manufacture 1350×1050mm large-size, high-copper-thick panels, the company has successfully implemented small-pitch high-definition and high-brightness large-size fully transparent glass screen applications, and has improved the operability and reduced costs of Mini/Micro LED products through fine circuit design.

On the material side, Puzhao Materials announced in February that it had completed a 740 million yuan Series B financing. The company has built multiple sputtering chromium plate production lines and launched a production line to meet the needs of various flat panel display mask substrates such as LTPS, LTPO, AMOLED, and Micro LED. Industrial park project.

In overseas markets, Micro LED-related technology companies have also gained favor from capital.

Hyperlume, a company specializing in the field of Micro LED optical interconnection, completed a seed round of financing of US$12.5 million (approximately RMB 90.622 million) on February 21. The company is committed to developing a low-cost inter-chip optical interconnection technology that uses ultra-high-speed Micro LED as a light source and is suitable for short-distance communication within the AI ​​computing cluster rack.

Canadian Micro LED technology developer VueReal announced on January 30 that it had completed a Series C financing of US$40.5 million (approximately RMB 290 million at the time). The company's core technology, MicroSolid Printing, aims to achieve high-yield, low-defect rate and high-performance Micro LED display production through an efficient mass transfer process.

Summary

Taken together, Micro The LED industry is at a critical stage of accelerating industrialization. In terms of manufacturing equipment, manufacturers have made positive progress in core process technologies such as mass inspection, transfer and bonding. At the same time, the capital market continues to pay attention to the Micro LED field, and related companies have received multiple rounds of financing support, injecting momentum into the development of the industry.

In terms of application prospects, analysts at TrendForce pointed out that automotive and near-eye displays are the next application tracks targeted by glass-based and silicon-based Micro LEDs. The former is expected to contribute more than US$100 million in output value to chips in 2028, while the latter is estimated to have a penetration rate of 50% in all AR glasses in the medium and long term, showing broad market potential.