This month's Scientist of the Month Award has been awarded to Lee Geon-jae, a distinguished professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
The “Scientist of the Month Award” honors one research and development contributor each month for their outstanding achievements in contributing to the advancement of science and technology, with the Minister of Science and ICT Award and a prize of 10 million won.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea, which select the awardees, noted that they recognized the contributions of Professor Lee for innovating micro LED process technology and developing a skin-adhering fiber optic micro LED mask based on it. Micro LEDs are a next-generation display technology that utilizes ultra-small LEDs at ㎛ (micrometers, one-millionth of a meter) thick, about the width of a human hair.
The production of micro LEDs, which are gaining attention as next-generation display technology, relies heavily on the 'transfer process' to precisely place LED chips from a growth substrate (material substrate) onto the final substrate. The existing transfer process uses adhesives to attach individual LED chips, resulting in high production expenses and low efficiency, leading to challenges in commercialization.
Professor Lee developed a micro vacuum mass transfer technology that solves the problem by drilling tiny holes in a glass substrate to connect a vacuum tube and adjusting the vacuum suction force to selectively transfer desired LED chips in large quantities. This method allows for faster and more accurate transfers than conventional methods, enabling the selective transfer of desired colors via vacuum control by color, and can be applied to various materials such as human skin, paper, and leaves.
Professor Lee developed a fiber optic micro LED mask that fully adheres to the skin and led to commercialization of the technology. The fiber optic micro LED mask is designed to minimize light loss by inducing scattering of light particles to disperse the light source over a surface, enabling it to deliver light down to the dermis layer of the skin. To uniformly deliver light at a wavelength of 630㎚ (nanometers, one-billionth of a meter) that is effective for skin elasticity and regeneration, thousands of micro LEDs are utilized, and a “light diffuser” is applied to achieve the light-diffusing effect, enhancing the skincare effects more than threefold compared to existing products.
Professor Lee said, “This research achievement is expected to be utilized as a key technology for developing and mass-producing various micro LED products that can be applied to the human body and activities,” adding, “I will continue to work hard to pave the way for technology to change the world, including research on commercializing a light-emitting hat for hair growth that can adhere to the head.”