Canon has developed an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel material that does not use rare earth metals, and plans to commercialize the technology within a few years, according to Nikkei news.
▲ Picture source Canon
The new material is a quantum dot QD-OLED or tiny semiconductor particles with a diameter of 1 nanometer. The particles glow brightly when illuminated with light or injected with an electric current.
Other quantum-dot displays are already used in high-end OLED TVs, but cannot get rid of rare metals, such as Samsung Electronics’ use of the compound indium phosphide. (Note: Indium is a rare metal with very little output, mainly in China.)
▲ Picture source Samsung
Canon’s new QD-OLED material will use lead instead of indium phosphide, which is easily obtained from recycled raw materials in “urban mines,” the report said. Canon aims to commercialize the material by establishing mass-production technology in the mid-2020s (around 2025).
Although the performance of lead is not as good as indium, Canon has designed a compound that claims to be as durable as indium phosphide by using its expertise in composite materials such as office equipment toner and ink, and the material cost is expected to be reduced to Samsung QD -One-hundredth of OLED.
