Han Ki-su, CEO of South Korean maker Philoptics, said it is testing its fine metal mask (FMM) for OLEDs with a Chinese panel maker. The manufacturer is currently relying on a Japanese company's FMM and wants a second supply.

According to TheElec, Han Ki-su said at the shareholders' meeting held on the same day: "The test evaluation work started at the end of last year is expected to take about a year to complete." This means that Philoptics may not be completed before the end of 2022. New revenue will be generated from the sale of FMM. But it stressed that the company's FMM technology is "complete".

FMM is a material used to deposit organic materials during the production of smartphone OLED display panels. Dai Nippon Printing of Japan is the largest FMM supplier in the world. Rather than using etching techniques to fabricate FMMs, Philoptics opted instead for electroplating, where invar is electroplated onto a patterned substrate to fabricate FMMs.

Before that, Philoptics lost the chance to win a national project awarded by the South Korean government to develop FMMs that do not use etching production methods, but continues to develop its own.

If Philoptics is successful in supplying FMM to the Chinese panel maker, it is likely to supply FMM to Samsung Display as well. The FMM used in the latter smartphone OLED panel relies heavily on Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Philoptics said the company plans to use its own electroplating method to fabricate FMMs in MLCCs and Mini-LEDs.