IIT Madras launches research centre to develop next-gen AMOLED smartphones, tablets

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has launched a new research centre to support the initiative to develop a display manufacturing industry in India. The new research centre aims to develop the next generation of AMOLED displays for smartphones, tablets, watches and wearables.

The newly launched 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.

S Krishnan, secretary, MeitY, inaugurated the centre on 21st December 2024 at the IIT Madras campus along with V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras; Debdutta Ray, principal investigator (PI), AMOLED research centre (ARC), IIT Madras; G Rajeswaran (co-PI); Soumya Dutta (co-PI); G. Venkatesh (co-PI) from IIT Madras; Asha Nangia, group coordinator; Shri Ravinder Kumar Meena, scientist from MeitY and Amitava Majumdar from Grantwood Ltd, faculty, researchers and students from IIT Madras.

Speaking at the event, S Krishnan, 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.”

“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,” he added.

While giving a speech at the conference, V. Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, stated: “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.”

“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,” Ray said while emphasising on the need for such research centres in India.

“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,” Ray added.

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.