-Supporting high-resolution display... Expected to increase the level of 
immersion for users. 
-Flexibility and unbounded design with thin films
-Creating differentiated customer values with 2-Metal Chip on Film (COF) 
highlighting 50 years of substrate business

"Be in IT."

The slogan for the CES held in Las Vegas last January was all about the 
metaverse. Visitors to the exhibition focused on who will be the winner in the 
competition for extended reality (XR) devices that will bring the metaverse to 
life.

LG Innotek (CEO Jeong Cheol-dong) announced on February 27 that it had 
introduced 2-Metal Chip on Film(COF), an essential product for XR devices, to 
strengthen its market targeting. The product attracted visitors' attention as 
it was exhibited at LG Innotek's metaverse zone.

COF is a semiconductor package substrate that connects displays and flexible 
Printed Circuit Board(PCB)s. It minimizes display bezels of devices such as 
TVs, notebook PCs, monitors, and smartphones and helps to reduce modules' form 
factor. It requires advanced technology because it forms microcircuits on a 
very thin film. It is also called the ultra-thin flexible PCB (FPCB) that 
replaces existing FPCB.

2-Metal COF technically upgrades conventional single-side COF. While a 
conventional COF implements circuits on only one side, the biggest advantage of 
2-Metal COF is that this is super integrated by forming circuits on both sides.

This product finely perforates micro-via holes on a thin film and implements an 
ultra-micro circuit on both sides, transmitting signals between electronic 
devices more quickly and enabling ultra-high definition screens.

According to LG Innotek, the via hole size of this product is 25(micrometer). 
Considering that the thickness of the hair is 100(micrometer), it makes holes 
one-quarter as thick as the hair. The smaller via holes create more channels 
connecting the product's top and bottom and the more pattern circuits that 
electrical signals can pass through.

As the metaverse era has recently been in full swing, demand for curved or 
folding displays has increased, and flexibility is also required for the 
attached components. It is also why 2-Metal COF, which can be freely bent, is 
considered one of the products in line with current trends in the display 
industry.

-Supporting high-resolution display... Expected to increase user concentration 
level

LG Innotek's 2-Metal COF can form a total of more than 4,000 circuits (pattern 
circuits, also called channels, through which a signal passes per display 
pixel) on a film (1 unit), which is limited space. Generally, more pattern 
circuits result in enhanced pixels. And XR devices require higher levels of 
immersion that only enhanced pixels can deliver.

If the resolution of the virtual image displayed through an XR device is low, 
the users may feel like viewing the image through a mosquito net which is said 
a screen door effect. LG Innotek has continuously improved the specifications 
of the 2-Metal COF since 2016 to minimize the screen door effect and support 
the ultra-high resolution.

In particular, LG Innotek applied new engineering technology to reduce the 
circuit width from 18 to 16 (micrometre) pitch, representing the narrowest 
level in the industry. Since the number of pattern circuits that can fit on the 
COF surface increases as the circuit width is reduced, users can view images 
with better quality, even on a display of the same size.

IT manufacturers are increasingly adopting displays with high definition and 
minimal bezels to enhance the competitiveness of their devices. In the past, 
manufacturers used chip-on-glass (COG) technology to support display 
operations. However, as COG places a chip on a display, it does not meet 
current display industry trends of no bezel and flexible since it cannot 
support flexibility. It has forced the manufacturers to look for alternative 
technology that stably supports high pixels while the display's bezels 
continued to be reduced, leading to the wide demand for 2-Metal COF.

-Flexibility and unbounded design with thin films

LG Innotek's 2-Metal COF is a thin, flexible film type that can be smoothly 
folded or rolled. Moreover, it bends more smoothly than conventional 
single-sided COF. It reduces the required mounting space for the display, and 
the set makers can secure more space for other parts. It even helps with 
designing and engineering more advanced XR devices.

LG Innotek applied unique ultra-micro circuit forming technology to double the 
circuit integration of the 2-Metal COF while minimizing the thickness. The 
product's film thickness is only 70 (micrometer), the thinnest of semiconductor 
substrates, and clearly offers many advantages compared to the thickness of 150 
(micrometer) or more for conventional semiconductor packaging substrates.

Reducing the thickness helps make finished products to be more flexible and 
slimmer. It can increase design and engineering freedom for display panel 
manufacturers. It also helps consumers find products with designs that are more 
complete than conventional XR devices.

-Opening the era of XR and a wide range of applications with 2-Metal COF

LG Innotek is further advancing its technologies and actively carrying out 
promotional activities in North America and Japan, where many XR device 
companies are active, to widen the gap with competitors.

The highly integrated circuit implementation technology of 2-Metal COF is 
applied as an alternative technology for products in which FPCBs are not 
satisfactory and are developed for new product group applications such as micro 
LEDs.

"We will continue to lead the 2-Metal COF market based on the technical 
capabilities and quality that have led the substrate business for 50 years," 
said Son Kil-dong, Senior Vice President of the Substrate & Materials Business. 
"We will continue to create differentiated customer value with products that 
can be applied to various applications."

Source LG Innotek

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=438216

   Caption: LG Innoteck’s 2-Metal COF is a film-type semiconductor substrate 
with the world’s smallest thickness and width and is a core component of XR 
devices. The product supports high resolution by forming more than 4,000 
circuits within a limited space (both sides of 1 film unit). The flexible film 
type can be freely folded or rolled, helping reduce the required mounting space 
for the relevant parts.