韩国政府拟联合LG Display与韩华系统开展战机座舱OLED研发，属早期技术规划无订单金额

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays for fighter jets are expected to adopt multi-stack tandem structures with more emissive layers than smartphone displays.
Fighter jets have greater power supply capacity than smartphones, allowing additional emissive layers to improve brightness and lifespan. Red-emitting materials that minimize interference with night vision goggles and optical technologies that narrow the direction of light emission are also considered key development priorities.
According to industry sources on Oct. 26, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) is planning an OLED research and development project for fighter jet cockpits with LG Display and Hanwha Systems.
Large cockpit displays in South Korea's KF-21 fighter jet and the U.S. F-15 series currently use liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
A tandem structure stacks multiple emissive layers, allowing each layer to share the light-generation workload. This reduces stress on individual layers and improves lifespan and efficiency. However, adding emissive layers also increases the required driving voltage. Battery-powered smartphones face limitations in handling higher voltages, while fighter jets can draw higher voltages from onboard power systems, allowing more emissive layers than smartphone OLEDs.
However, the number of layers cannot be increased indefinitely. If current leaks laterally through the charge generation layers (CGLs) between emissive layers, adjacent pixels that should remain off may emit faint light. This can distort colors during nighttime operation, when displays are used at low brightness, making materials and structures that suppress leakage current essential.
Improving red-emitting materials that affect night vision goggles is another challenge. Night vision goggles amplify faint light, so excessive long-wavelength emissions from cockpit displays can also be amplified, interfering with pilots' ability to observe their surroundings. Red light contains long-wavelength components detectable by night vision equipment. Military LCDs use filters to block these wavelengths, but the filters also reduce light needed for color reproduction, causing distortions that can make yellow and green appear similar.
Unlike smartphones, fighter jet displays need narrower viewing angles. Light reflected from the cockpit canopy can obstruct the pilot's view. Current LCDs use viewing-angle restriction films, but these cause light loss, increasing power consumption and heat generation. For OLEDs, potential alternatives include microcavities, distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) and metalenses that concentrate light within the emission structure itself. Color shifts at different viewing angles must also be addressed.
Operation at extremely low temperatures presents another challenge. Military LCDs use heating devices because liquid crystal response slows at temperatures around minus 40 degrees Celsius. OLEDs must also overcome brightness degradation at low temperatures. Designs must withstand vibration and shock while incorporating redundancy to ensure information remains visible even if part of the display is damaged.
"To apply OLED technology to actual military equipment, manufacturers must secure improvements in lifespan through multi-stack tandem structures alongside advances in emissive materials and optical design," an industry official said.