Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has launched a new Research Centre that aims to develop the next generation of AMOLED displays for smartphones, tablets, watches and wearables.
A National Centre of Excellence, the ‘AMOLED Research Centre’ (ARC) is funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Tata Sons. This Centre will support the nation’s initiative to develop a display manufacturing industry in India.
The Centre will comprise researchers from various fields working on developing the displays. It consists of a state-of-the-art cleanroom which houses fabrication and characterization equipment.
Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, inaugurated the Centre on 21st December 2024 at the IIT Madras campus in the presence of Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Dr. Debdutta Ray, Principal Investigator (PI), AMOLED Research Centre (ARC), IIT Madras, Dr. G. Rajeswaran (co-PI), Dr. Soumya Dutta (co-PI), Dr. G. Venkatesh (co-PI) from IIT Madras and Smt. Asha Nangia, Group Coordinator and Shri Ravinder Kumar Meena, Scientist from MeitY and Dr. Amitava Majumdar from Grantwood Ltd, Faculty, Researchers and students from IIT Madras
Addressing the launch event. Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, said, “I am pleased to inaugurate the AMOLED Research Centre at IIT-Madras. It is one of the National Centre of Excellence (CoE), supported / funded by the Government of India. The Centre is working to develop a technique to manufacture AMOLED displays which can be used in digital devices including smartphones, smartwatches, tablets etc. It is envisioned that the new method, which is based on the ‘economies-of-speed’, will enable a modular micro-factory concept of manufacture of these devices.”
Shri S. Krishnan added, “The Centre is also working to develop the prototypes of OLED Lighting and OPV Power Source for Mobile Phones. The inauguration of this Centre marks a pivotal step toward fostering innovation, driving self-reliance, and empowering India’s industrial growth. This Centre will not only catalyze research but also create solutions that resonate with India’s aspiration to lead the world in manufacturing and innovation. The AMOLED Research Centre will innovate novel techniques to develop AMOLED displays for the Indian and global market.”
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The AMOLED Research Centre is a unique Centre in India which will develop next generation AMOLED displays. This Centre will support the nation’s initiative to develop a semiconductor industry in India. The global AMOLED display business is currently worth around USD 15 billion and is expected to grow. The AMOLED Research Centre will innovate novel techniques to develop AMOLED displays for the Indian and global market.”
In the ARC, researchers are working on a novel patterning technique to create AMOLED displays. The new technique promises to lower capex costs for display manufacture. The aim of this Research Centre is to create a technology that will enable the growth of modular display factories (micro-factories). It has capabilities of both current and next generation growth processes. The Centre currently focuses on small size displays such as those used in tablets, smartphones, and watches.
Elaborating on the need for such Research Centres in India, its Principal Investigator, Dr. Debdutta Ray, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “This is the only Centre in India that has the capability to develop smartphone-sized AMOLED displays. The Centre will work towards turnkey solutions, where we plan to develop/demonstrate/deploy micro-factories for smartphone displays.”
Dr. Debdutta Ray added, “The Centre is developing novel engineering techniques to utilize the concept of ‘economies-of-speed’ rather than the current model of ‘economies-of-scale’. The goal is to keep the unit fabrication times the same or better where the ‘economies-of-speed’ allow smaller mother-glass size during production. This will lead to a modular production system.”
The ARC is located in the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras. It consists of cleanrooms with ‘class 100’ and ‘class 1000’ ratings. The major fabrication system is an OLED cluster where multilayer OLEDs can be grown with precise control of the growth parameters. The system has state-of-the-art pixel patterning system that has been designed by a team at IIT Madras.
The system also has the next-generation ultrafast growth and patterning technique, which is this centre’s key focus of study. The Centre has facilities to characterize the devices where the optoelectronic properties are studied. While the major effort of the Centre is to develop AMOLED displays, the Centre also works on white OLEDs for lighting and TV as well as on organic photovoltaic devices.
