Chennai:The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has unveiled a new Research Centre dedicated to developing the next generation of AMOLED displays for smartphones, tablets, watches, and wearables. Named the ‘AMOLED Research Centre’ (ARC), this National Centre of Excellence is funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Government of India, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and Tata Sons. The Centre aims to bolster India's display manufacturing industry.
Located in the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras, the ARC consists of a state-of-the-art cleanroom with ‘class 100’ and ‘class 1000’ ratings. It is also equipped with advanced fabrication and characterisation tools. The major fabrication system is an OLED cluster where multilayer OLEDs can be grown with precise control of the growth parameters.
The ARC is located in the Department of Electrical Engineering (ETV Bharat via IIT-M) The Centre, also featuring an advanced pixel patterning system created by IIT Madras, focuses on next-gen AMOLED displays via rapid growth and patterning methods. It also characterises the devices, studying their optoelectronic properties. Additionally, the Centre works on white OLEDs for lighting and TVs, and on organic photovoltaic devices.
The inauguration of AMOLED Research Centre (ARC) at IIT Madras
The inauguration of the ARC took place on December 21, 2024, at the IIT Madras campus, officiated by Shri S Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY. During the launch event, Krishnan expressed his pleasure in inaugurating the AMOLED Research Centre at IIT Madras. He highlighted the Centre's role as a National Centre of Excellence, funded by the Government of India, aimed at developing new techniques to manufacture AMOLED displays for digital devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets.
The Centre also focuses on creating prototypes for OLED Lighting and OPV Power Sources for mobile phones, Krishnan said while emphasising the Centre's contribution to innovation, self-reliance, and India's industrial growth, envisioning it as a catalyst for leading global manufacturing and innovation.
The MeitY Secretary was joined by Prof V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, and key figures from the research team-- Dr Debdutta Ray, Principal Investigator (PI), Dr G Rajeswaran (co-PI), Dr Soumya Dutta (co-PI), and Dr G Venkatesh (co-PI). Additionally, Smt Asha Nangia, Group Coordinator, Shri Ravinder Kumar Meena, Scientist from MeitY, and Dr Amitava Majumdar from Grantwood Ltd attended the event, alongside faculty, researchers, and students from IIT Madras.
ARC inaugration was officiated by S Krishnan (ETV Bharat via IIT-M) Prof V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, highlighted the significance of the ARC in developing next-generation AMOLED displays, supporting India's semiconductor industry. He said that the global AMOLED display market, worth approximately $15 billion, is expected to grow and researchers at ARC are working on a new patterning technique to create AMOLED displays with an aim to reduce manufacturing costs and enable modular micro-factories.
Dr Debdutta Ray, Principal Investigator at IIT Madras' ARC said that they are pioneering engineering techniques based on 'economies-of-speed' to maintain or improve unit fabrication times with smaller mother-glass sizes, leading to a modular production system.
