Korean media: Huike plans to invest in building a 6th generation OLED production line

On May 8, Korean media ETnews reported that Huike is planning to build a sixth-generation (1500mm×1850mm) OLED production line, and the relevant investment plan is expected to be announced in the third quarter of this year. Currently, Huike is negotiating with domestic and foreign display companies on this matter.

An industry insider said: "Huike is currently the most active company in investment negotiations in the display industry. If progress goes well, it is expected to announce the investment plan around August or September and finalize partners within the year."

According to reports, Huike's 6th generation OLED production line plans to choose a non-cutting (full substrate) evaporation process. Currently, most display manufacturers adopt the half-cutting method in their 6th generation OLED production process, that is, the substrate is not cut before the thin film transistor (TFT) stage, but is cut only when it enters the evaporation stage.

The reason why Huike chose the 6th generation non-cutting process is because the 8.6th generation (2290mm×2620mm) half-cut production equipment has become very popular. Although the aspect ratio is different, the size of the Gen 8.6 substrate when cut in half is similar to that of the Gen 6 substrate.

It is reported that Huike acquired the original 6th generation equipment of Japan Display Corporation (JDI) last year. According to reports, the company plans to use this equipment and add new equipment to lay out two technical routes in parallel: an evaporation process based on fine metal masks (FMM), and an "eLEAP" evaporation process that does not require FMM.

Among them, eLEAP technology was developed by JDI and does not require the use of FMM or half-cutting of the 6th generation substrate.

Huike's equipment is similar to the existing 6th generation equipment before the TFT process stage, but there are big differences in the subsequent processes because the original board is not cut. When using the FMM method, each half-cut substrate needs to be processed separately after cutting the substrate; if the substrate is not cut, the number of processes will be reduced, thereby improving process efficiency.

The reason why the half-cut process was previously used is that the larger the glass substrate is, the more difficult it is to control its warpage, and it is also difficult for the FMM to keep it flat, which makes the process more difficult.