P‐209L: Late‐News Poster: An All‐CMOS Microdisplay Utilizing Integrated Novel Avalanche Light‐Emitting Sources

Abstract

CMOS offers the advantage of large scale functional integration into small form factor integrated circuits. Current mainstream display technologies such as OLEDs and LCDs dominate the market for small displays. The possibility, however, of extending microdisplay capabilities to CMOS may be useful for a number of reasons. Although CMOS is certainly not the dominating semiconductor for photonics, the platform may offer advantages in terms of cost and the ability to integrate driver and logic circuitry on a single die. This, together with the technology maturity and long standing manufacturing experience, may result in a potent platform for microdisplays. Advances in improving the quantum efficiency of avalanche electroluminescence and the favourable spectral characteristics of light generated through the said mechanism may afford CMOS the possibility to be used as a display technology. This work shows that it is possible to integrate a fully functional display in a completely standard CMOS technology, utilizing avalanche electroluminescence for visible light. The prototype was designed and manufactured in a standard process geared towards digital design while using light sources completely compatible with the process and without any post processing required.

All-CMOS night vision viewer with integrated microdisplay

“…Hence, a resulting emission colour should be close to pure white light. A significantly altered emission spectrum is presented here, compared to previous results 13,14,15 , which results in a larger portion of the emitted spectrum falling within the photopic range of 450 -650 nm. The altered spectrum shift towards the photopic region increases the achievable luminance for CMOS microdisplays.…”

“…It should further be noted that no significant shift in the spectrum, hence also the display colour, is noticed in the range of measurable operating currents presented earlier in figure 2. Earlier work 13,14,15 all exhibited a tendency towards a yellow perceived colour due to the sharp rise in the emission spectrum towards the 850 nm region, skewing the microdisplay photopic response towards higher wavelengths. A commercial CMOS imager, containing signal processing circuits, outputs a standard PAL or NTSC colour encoded signal.…”