Samsung Display was planning to apply low refraction capping layer (CPL) on its smartphone OLED and was expected to apply them commercially in 2025 at the earliest, TheElec has learned.
CPL is formed on top of the cathode and helps the light emitted from the emission layer towards the face of the display.
High refraction CPL is currently widely used in OLED panels to reduce power consumption.
Applying a low refraction CPL on top of this can reduce light loss, further increasing the optical efficiency of the display.
Samsung Display is testing the new technology with Dongjin Semichem, Lapto, and Hodogaya Chemical.
The technology will likely be first applied on the M15 material set it will use for the OLED panels being supplied to the Galaxy S Series launching in 2025. It will likely head toward OLED panels for iPhones afterward.
However, the addition of low refraction will add processes to production and increase costs for Samsung Display, which will require it to convince customers Samsung Electronics and Apple to apply the technology.
Samsung Display’s current main OLED material set is M12, which was used in OLED panels for the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy S23 Series, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
For Apple, it was supplied to the two top models of the iPhone 14 Series last year and for all four models of iPhone 15 Series launching later this year
Samsung Display developed a separate set called M13 for customers outside of Apple but Samsung Electronics is yet to use it and Google’s foldable phone is the first.
