Ultra High Definition Flat Panel Display Sputtering Targets

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Harald Selb, Head of Market Unit Display and Solar at PLANSEE, discusses the importance of high-purity sputtering target materials in ultra-high definition flat panel displays, solar panels, and touch panels.

Could you please provide an introduction to Plansee and the sectors that it works within?

Plansee High Performance Materials specializes in manufacturing components primarily from refractory metals such as molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, niobium, and chromium.

As a leading supplier in the refractory metals market, we also produce alloys and composite materials from these metals.

We serve various industries, including the display, solar, electronics, and medical fields.

A significant part of our market involves creating sputtering targets for display and solar applications. For instance, we provide molybdenum or tungsten-based pure material sputtering targets for thin film transistors in common displays.

Having been founded over 90 years ago, Plansee has gained extensive expertise, especially regarding the treatment of materials within our manufacturing capabilities.

You mentioned sputtering targets - could you briefly explain what a sputtering target is and how they work within a display screen?

Flat panel displays consist of several very thin layers deposited onto a glass substrate.

Some of these layers control pixels on the screen, determining their color output. Thin-film transistors are needed to control the final color of these pixels.

Conductive layers are also required, along with multiple thin-film layers, including molybdenum thin films.

We supply sputtering targets used in sputtering equipment, which "sputter" off molybdenum particles to grow on the substrate material, forming very thin layers.

PLANSEE bonded planar sputtering target. Image Credit: Plansee High Performance Materials  

What are the main challenges for Plansee when creating materials for this technology?

The flat panel display industry has experienced significant growth recently—screens are getting larger, and resolution keeps improving. Currently, we see HD displays, but the next generation will be ultra-high definition (UHD or 4Kx2K) displays.

For both HD and UHD screens, the highest quality materials are required for the thin-film layers.

Material purity is crucial for UHD technology, presenting a challenge in providing sputtering targets with optimized maximum purity. Plansee can supply such high-purity targets for both existing and future UHD technologies.

Why is material purity so important for creating UHD screens?

Material purity is vital because UHD technology resolution is four times that of standard HD. Even tiny impurities, or particles, can negatively impact the conductivity of molybdenum layers.

If these thin layers lack sufficient conductivity, pixels may fail. At high resolutions, any pixel defects can considerably affect display quality. Thus, maximum purity is essential.

What production process does Plansee use to achieve such high purities?

Plansee is unique in this market and the entire refractory metal industry, as it controls and maintains the entire manufacturing chain in-house.

We start with raw ores like molybdenum or tungsten. For instance, from molybdenum ore, we obtain molybdenum trioxide powder, which we convert into pure molybdenum through our in-house processes.

We clean the material at high temperatures multiple times during purification. Pressing and sintering further clean the material.

Post-pressing, various deformation processes are performed. The material already shows the high purity Plansee guarantees, which is 99.97% for molybdenum and tungsten.

We then shape the targets or other products, with all final machining and target bonding done in-house, including attachment to backing tubes and plates.

Our bonding shops in Asia ensure that no impurities are added during this process, making us unique by controlling the entire process from ore to finished bonded targets, guaranteeing 99.97% purity.

What else does Plansee provide to display manufacturers apart from the sputtering targets?

While our focus is on sputtering target materials, we also supply other materials like copper, titanium, and aluminum, which are widely used in the display industry.

We offer various materials to support different processes and equipment used by our customers.

We aim to provide packages that support the entire process of our customers, helping them develop and diversify into new technologies. We offer materials as planar or rotary targets, with a growing trend for rotary targets in the display industry.

Rotary Target Inspection at PLANSEE bonding shop in Korea. Image Credit: Plansee High Performance Materials  

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Acetron.

Could we briefly talk about the other areas of industry that sputtering targets are used in, such as solar and touch panels?

These are also significant markets for us, with similar requirements and specifications.

Solar remains crucial, but the touch panel industry is rapidly growing as well.

The same applies to the microelectronics industry, which demands many tungsten or chromium targets, as well as enhancement targets for tool wear resistance used in machining.

How do you see the thin film industry progressing over the next ten years and how will Plansee be a part of that?

Initially driven by TVs, the flat panel display industry now sees growing demand for mobile applications, including small and mid-size panels used in smartphones and tablets. This trend will drive the market in the next five years.

Over the next ten years, this growth will continue, with new applications emerging. Plansee is prepared to follow these trends, staying close to customers to understand their needs and support technological changes.

Lastly, where can people find more information about Plansee?

Our website contains detailed information about our materials, specifically planar or rotary sputtering targets, and technical details on molybdenum and tungsten.

About Harald Selb

Harald Selb is Head of Market Unit Display and Solar at PLANSEE SE. He manages global Sales and Marketing for PLANSEE's broad range of sputtering targets used in display and solar applications.

After ten years in the optical media industry, he joined PLANSEE in 2008 as Customer Group Manager for applications in Single Crystal Growing and Epitaxial Growth (MBE/MOCVD).

He holds an engineering degree in electronics from the Higher Technical College for Telecommunication & Engineering in Innsbruck, Austria.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork, the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and Conditions of use of this website.

Happy New Year in 2019! We are very happy with your company and encouragement that push us to insist on updating every week. On the occasion of the arrival of 2019, let us summarize the Top Posts in 2018 for you.

Metal History

“Metal History” is a popular column we have opened this year, aiming at introducing the discovery of different kinds of metals. Among them, the Top 3 posts in this column are as follows:

Titanium is a metal element that is known as “space metal” because of its light weight, high strength and good corrosion resistance. The most common compound of titanium is titanium dioxide, and other compounds include titanium tetrachloride and titanium trichloride. Click the title of the article to know more.

The history of tungsten dates back to the 17th century. At that time, miners in the Erzgebirge Mountains of Saxony, Germany, noticed that some of the ore would interfere with the reduction of cassiterite and produce slag. The miners gave the mines some German nicknames: “wolfert” and “wolfrahm”. Click the title of the article to know more.

Cerium is the most abundant rare earth elements. It is a silvery gray active metal, whose powder is easily oxidized in the air and soluble in acid. Cerium has been widely used in the automotive industry as a catalyst to reduce emission, and in glass industry as glass polishing materials. Cerium sputtering target is an important material in optical coating. Click the title of the article to know more. Click the title of the article to know more.

Metal Materials Application

Apart from history, we also introduce the multiple applications of these metal materials. Among them, the Top 3 posts in this column are as follows:

At present, molybdenum target mammography is considered the recommended breast screening examinations for women’s breast cancer, one of the major causes of deaths among women, affects about 12% of women around the world. Click the title of the article to know more.

Titanium is an ideal medical metal material and can be used as an implant for the human body. Titanium alloy has been widely used in the medical field and has become the material of choice for medical products. Click the title of the article to know more.

Semiconductors have high requirements for the quality and purity of the sputtering materials, which explains why the price of anelva targets is relatively high. Click the title of the article to know more.

Sputtering Targets

Sputtering Target is the consistent keyword of our website, and thus we have shared many useful information about some specific type of sputtering targets. Our intention is to help you better understand these materials—their properties, applications, developing prospect and so on. And the followings are the posts you really have to read. Among them, the Top 3 posts in this column are as follows:

In recent years, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (PVD) have wide applications in various industries to increase the hardness of tools and molds or apply beautiful colors to the products. Thus these two methods are considered as the most attractive surface coating technologies. Click the title of the article to know more.

The term “indium bonding” in thin film coating industry, simply speaking, refers to bond two (or more) sputtering targets with indium (In), or one (or more) with indium plate together. Click the title of the article to know more.

At some stage in the sputtering deposition, positive ions are continuously amassed on the surface of the sputtering target. Due to the fact that those fantastic ions aren’t neutralized, the negative bias of the target surface gradually decreases, and progressively the normal operation can not be completed. This is the target poisoning phenomenon. Click the title of the article to know more.

Glad you are part of SAM’s 2018. Next year, please continue following us and we promise to give you more valuable information! Also, you can visit our official website https://www.sputtertargets.net/ for more information.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of planar sputtering targets. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.