According to a new Korean report this morning, Chemtronics will exclusively perform the Apple iPad OLED post-process etching process in the Samsung Display supply chain.

The two OLED iPads, which are likely to be released next year, are Apple's first IT products to apply OLED. Chemtronics is expected to preoccupy opportunities in the 8th generation OLED market for IT in the future by performing the iPad OLED back-end etching process exclusively in the Samsung Display supply chain.

According to the industry on the 24th, it was found that Chemtronics is planning to perform the back-end etching process alone to make the glass substrate thin in the organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel for Apple iPad made by Samsung Display. The panels for the two OLED iPads, which Apple is expected to release for the first time next year, are made by Samsung Display and LG Display at the 6th generation OLED line.

The iPad OLED, which Apple is developing at the request of Samsung Display, uses 'hybrid OLED', which was originally described as a two-stack OLED display. The glass substrate used in the existing rigid OLED is combined with the thin film encapsulation (TFE) used in the flexible OLED. Currently, iPhone OLEDs are all using flexible OLEDs that apply polyimide (PI) substrates and thin film encapsulation.

Chemtronics performs etching to thin the glass substrate under the panel after Samsung Display proceeds with the OLED deposition and encapsulation process for Apple iPad (to protect the OLED from moisture and oxygen). Samsung Display and LG Display have to make 0.5T (mm) thick glass into a 0.2T thick 'Ultra-Thin (UT) Substrate' to use in hybrid OLED. Chemtronics takes care of the etching required here.

The report by The Elec further notes that the Chemtronics seems to have succeeded in minimizing the variation in the thickness of the glass substrate when etching it. Since the iPad OLED screen is in the early 10-inch range, which is larger than the iPhone OLED in the 6-inch range, it is important to etch evenly.

Apple plans to apply hybrid OLED to future MacBooks as well.