Tower Semiconductor and Tianyi Micro announced their strategic cooperation in the development of next-generation OLED micro displays for AR/VR, addressing the growing Chinese and global market needs for advanced AR/VR solutions. The development is based on Tower's unique 180nm and 65nm dedicated micro display backplane process flows, supporting current-driven (as opposed to voltage-driven) OLED pixel designs. According to market analysis by Omdia, the micro display market will grow from 24 million units in 2023 to almost 90 million units in 2028, a CAGR of 67%.

The overall AR/VR market, dominated by VR and XR headsets already reached $1.15 billion in 2023. Tianyi Micro is currently the sole provider in China of current-driven pixel designs and selected Tower as its key foundry partner for micro display backplane developments. As performance requirements call for specific device characteristics such as high yield, ultra-low leakage combined with high voltage for high brightness, Tower has developed dedicated process flows addressing these requirements.

Having such dedicated flows enables Tianyi to pursue its leading market position with next-generation micro displays. Tower's platform offers several strategic advantages such as high resolution, high brightness, excellent yield, and display uniformity. It's dedicated flows for display backplanes include custom low leakage devices, high voltage (up to 10V) pixels for high brightness displays, and in-pixel MIM capacitors, as well as tailor-made back end for customer-specific requirements (customized anodes, protective layers, custom CMP).

These flows include complete process/device offerings, silicon results and PDK support with very accurate modeling. They are available in full flow or lean flow for high yield 2-chip solutions.