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LG Innotek releases film-type chip substrate for metaverse devices
An LG Innotek employee promotes 2-Metal chip on film (COF). Courtesy of LG Innotek
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
LG Innotek released a new product called 2-Metal chip-on-film (COF), which is an essential component of extended reality (XR) services using digital devices, the electronic components manufacturing affiliate of LG Group said, Wednesday.
A COF is a semiconductor package substrate that minimizes display bezels on electronic devices, including TVs, laptops, monitors and smartphones. Highly sophisticated technology is required to manufacture the film, mostly due to the difficulties related to forming a thin film of micro-circuits. They are also known as ultra-fine flexible circuit boards (FPCBs).
It was introduced and demonstrated in the metaverse session at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), one of the biggest tech events of the year that was held in Las Vegas last month. The upgraded 2-Metal COF forms a circuit on both sides of a piece of film, a major improvement from the previous one, which was able to form a circuit only on a single side of a film.
The new product can transmit electrical signals between devices faster, enabling it to process high-definition images on screens.
This is possible due to a hole on the film that is about a fourth of the width of a human hair. The smaller the hole, the greater the number of channels between the front and back of the film and the pattern circuits that can process electrical signals.
The firm said the release of the upgraded version of the product is significant, since the demand for bendable and foldable displays is on the rise.
The fully bendable 2-Metal COF can therefore become a next-generation growth driver, set to thrive on the flexibility and strength of the materials.
“We will lead the 2-Metal COF market, an objective to be underpinned by 50 years of technological capabilities and quality control in the substrate industry,” LG Innotek Senior Vice President Son Kil-dong said.