Hanyang University ERICA Team Develops Core Technology for Ultra-High-Resolution AR/VR Displays

Hanyang University ERICA's Department of Electronic Engineering, under the guidance of Professor Kim Jong-seok, has achieved a significant milestone in display technology. In collaboration with Samsung Display, the research team has successfully developed a source driver IC essential for powering OLEDoS (OLED-on-Silicon) displays, a critical component for next-generation AR and VR devices.

This groundbreaking research has been recognized globally, with its acceptance into the IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits 2026 (VLSI 2026), one of the world's foremost semiconductor circuit conferences. The presentation, scheduled for June in Hawaii, marks the second consecutive year Professor Kim's team has presented at a top-tier international semiconductor conference, following their work at ISSCC 2025. This consistent recognition underscores their pioneering contributions to the field.

The development addresses a major technical hurdle in micro-display technology: achieving ultra-high resolutions, often exceeding thousands of PPI, necessitates extremely narrow pixel gaps. This constraint makes designing driver circuits incredibly challenging, requiring them to operate at high speeds with exceptional precision within a confined space. Previous solutions often compromised either precision for miniaturization or suffered from excessive power consumption when performance was enhanced.

Professor Kim's team innovated by introducing a novel source driver structure incorporating a three-layer 'RRE (Resistor-Resistor-Embedded) DAC' and 'multi-step offset calibration technology.' This advanced design successfully achieved remarkable metrics, including a channel area of 1723 μm², an output voltage deviation of 1.6 mV, and a settling time of 0.69 μs. These figures demonstrate the capability to deliver both high-precision output and high-speed response even in ultra-fine pixel environments, meeting the stringent requirements for driving ultra-high-resolution OLEDoS displays. Professor Kim expressed his ambition to expand this technology across the entire next-generation micro-display system, aiming to bring about substantial changes in the industry.