PR99637

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-Supporting high-resolution display... Expected to increase the level of

immersion for users.

-Flexibility and unbounded design with thin films

-Creating differentiated customer values with 2-Metal Chip on Film (COF)

highlighting 50 years of substrate business

"Be in IT."

The slogan for the CES held in Las Vegas last January was all about the

metaverse. Visitors to the exhibition focused on who will be the winner in the

competition for extended reality (XR) devices that will bring the metaverse to

life.

LG Innotek (CEO Jeong Cheol-dong) announced on February 27 that it had

introduced 2-Metal Chip on Film(COF), an essential product for XR devices, to

strengthen its market targeting. The product attracted visitors' attention as

it was exhibited at LG Innotek's metaverse zone.

COF is a semiconductor package substrate that connects displays and flexible

Printed Circuit Board(PCB)s. It minimizes display bezels of devices such as

TVs, notebook PCs, monitors, and smartphones and helps to reduce modules' form

factor. It requires advanced technology because it forms microcircuits on a

very thin film. It is also called the ultra-thin flexible PCB (FPCB) that

replaces existing FPCB.

2-Metal COF technically upgrades conventional single-side COF. While a

conventional COF implements circuits on only one side, the biggest advantage of

2-Metal COF is that this is super integrated by forming circuits on both sides.

This product finely perforates micro-via holes on a thin film and implements an

ultra-micro circuit on both sides, transmitting signals between electronic

devices more quickly and enabling ultra-high definition screens.

According to LG Innotek, the via hole size of this product is 25(micrometer).

Considering that the thickness of the hair is 100(micrometer), it makes holes

one-quarter as thick as the hair. The smaller via holes create more channels

connecting the product's top and bottom and the more pattern circuits that

electrical signals can pass through.

As the metaverse era has recently been in full swing, demand for curved or

folding displays has increased, and flexibility is also required for the

attached components. It is also why 2-Metal COF, which can be freely bent, is

considered one of the products in line with current trends in the display

industry.

-Supporting high-resolution display... Expected to increase user concentration

level

LG Innotek's 2-Metal COF can form a total of more than 4,000 circuits (pattern

circuits, also called channels, through which a signal passes per display

pixel) on a film (1 unit), which is limited space. Generally, more pattern

circuits result in enhanced pixels. And XR devices require higher levels of

immersion that only enhanced pixels can deliver.

If the resolution of the virtual image displayed through an XR device is low,

the users may feel like viewing the image through a mosquito net which is said

a screen door effect. LG Innotek has continuously improved the specifications

of the 2-Metal COF since 2016 to minimize the screen door effect and support

the ultra-high resolution.

In particular, LG Innotek applied new engineering technology to reduce the

circuit width from 18 to 16 (micrometre) pitch, representing the narrowest

level in the industry. Since the number of pattern circuits that can fit on the

COF surface increases as the circuit width is reduced, users can view images

with better quality, even on a display of the same size.

IT manufacturers are increasingly adopting displays with high definition and

minimal bezels to enhance the competitiveness of their devices. In the past,

manufacturers used chip-on-glass (COG) technology to support display

operations. However, as COG places a chip on a display, it does not meet

current display industry trends of no bezel and flexible since it cannot

support flexibility. It has forced the manufacturers to look for alternative

technology that stably supports high pixels while the display's bezels

continued to be reduced, leading to the wide demand for 2-Metal COF.

-Flexibility and unbounded design with thin films

LG Innotek's 2-Metal COF is a thin, flexible film type that can be smoothly

folded or rolled. Moreover, it bends more smoothly than conventional

single-sided COF. It reduces the required mounting space for the display, and

the set makers can secure more space for other parts. It even helps with

designing and engineering more advanced XR devices.

LG Innotek applied unique ultra-micro circuit forming technology to double the

circuit integration of the 2-Metal COF while minimizing the thickness. The

product's film thickness is only 70 (micrometer), the thinnest of semiconductor

substrates, and clearly offers many advantages compared to the thickness of 150

(micrometer) or more for conventional semiconductor packaging substrates.

Reducing the thickness helps make finished products to be more flexible and

slimmer. It can increase design and engineering freedom for display panel

manufacturers. It also helps consumers find products with designs that are more

complete than conventional XR devices.

-Opening the era of XR and a wide range of applications with 2-Metal COF

LG Innotek is further advancing its technologies and actively carrying out

promotional activities in North America and Japan, where many XR device

companies are active, to widen the gap with competitors.

The highly integrated circuit implementation technology of 2-Metal COF is

applied as an alternative technology for products in which FPCBs are not

satisfactory and are developed for new product group applications such as micro

LEDs.

"We will continue to lead the 2-Metal COF market based on the technical

capabilities and quality that have led the substrate business for 50 years,"

said Son Kil-dong, Senior Vice President of the Substrate & Materials Business.

"We will continue to create differentiated customer value with products that

can be applied to various applications."

Source LG Innotek

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=438216

   Caption: LG Innoteck’s 2-Metal COF is a film-type semiconductor substrate with the

world’s smallest thickness and width and is a core component of XR devices. The

product supports high resolution by forming more than 4,000 circuits within a

limited space (both sides of 1 film unit). The flexible film type can be freely

folded or rolled, helping reduce the required mounting space for the relevant

parts.