Meta will be collaborating with South Korean component makers SK Hynix and LG Display to develop MicroOLED, TheElec has learned.
LG Display, along with Samsung Display, is a leading OLED display panel maker.
It has recently signed a collaboration agreement with South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix for the development and production of MicroOLED.
SK Hynix is also close to signing an agreement with Meta, sources said. LG Display already has such an agreement signed with the social media giant, they said.
Their alliance will see Meta design the needed chip; SK Hynix will produce the wafer for the chips; and LG Display will handle the final step where the OLED is deposited on the wafer and then cut to be a MicroOLED panel.
MicroOLED panels are OLED panels cut out of silicon wafers instead of glass or plastic substrates.
This allows them to be thinner and smaller while having ultra-high definition resolution, making them optimal for application in mixed reality (XR) devices, an area Meta is planning to expand on.
But the social media giant has no production facility of its own, hence it needs its South Korean partners. LG Display has production facilities for conventional display panels but no chip production facilities, or fabs, that can produce wafers, so SK Hynix is needed as well for MicroOLEDs.
SK Hynix is planning to use its M10 wafer line in South Korea to manufacture the wafers for MicroOLED. It is its oldest fab at Icheon, its main production hub in the country. M10 originally only made DRAM but also manufactures CMOS image sensors now. SK Hynix also has M14 and M16 fabs at Icheon that manufacture DRAM.
M10 has a capacity of 100,000 12-inch wafers per month. Sources said SK Hynix is planning to dedicate 30,000 wafers per month capacity between 2025 to 2026 for the production of MicroOLED wafers using its 28nm or 45nm legacy nodes.
