nitrogen application for lcd displays supplier

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Since its initial communalization in the 1990s, active matrix thin-film-transistor (TFT) displays have become an essential and indispensable part of modern living. They are much more than just televisions and smartphones; they are the primary communication and information portals for our day-to- day life: watches (wearables), appliances, advertising, signage, automobiles and more.

However, there are technology drivers and manufacturing challenges that differentiate the two. For semiconductor device manufacturing, there are technology limitations in making the device increasingly smaller. For display manufacturing, the challenge is primarily maintaining the uniformity of glass as consumers drive the demand for larger and thinner displays.

While semiconductor wafer size has maxed because of the challenges of making smaller features uniformly across the surface of the wafer, the size of the display mother glass has grown from 0.1m x 0.1m with 1.1mm thickness to 3m x 3m with 0.5mm thickness over the past 20 years due to consumer demands for larger, lighter, and more cost-effective devices.

As the display mother glass area gets bigger and bigger,so does the equipment used in the display manufacturing process and the volume of gases required. In addition, the consumer’s desire for a better viewing experience such as more vivid color, higher resolution, and lower power consumption has also driven display manufacturers to develop and commercialize active matrix organic light emitting displays (AMOLED).

In general, there are two types of displays in the market today: active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) and AMOLED. In its simplicity, the fundamental components required to make up the display are the same for AMLCD and AMOLED. There are four layers of a display device (FIGURE 1): a light source, switches that are the thin-film-transistor and where the gases are mainly used, a shutter to control the color selection, and the RGB (red, green, blue) color filter.

The thin-film-transistors used for display are 2D transitional transistors, which are similar to bulk CMOS before FinFET. For the active matrix display, there is one transistor for each pixel to drive the individual RGB within the pixel. As the resolution of the display grows, the transistor size also reduces, but not to the sub-micron scale of semiconductor devices. For the 325 PPI density, the transistor size is approximately 0.0001 mm2 and for the 4K TV with 80 PPI density, the transistor size is approximately 0.001 mm2.

Technology trends TFT-LCD (thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display) is the baseline technology. MO / White OLED (organic light emitting diode) is used for larger screens. LTPS / AMOLED is used for small / medium screens. The challenges for OLED are the effect of < 1 micron particles on yield, much higher cost compared to a-Si due to increased mask steps, and moisture impact to yield for the OLED step.

Mobility limitation (FIGURE 2) is one of the key reasons for the shift to MO and LTPS to enable better viewing experience from higher resolution, etc.

The challenge to MO is the oxidation after IGZO metalization / moisture prevention after OLED step, which decreases yield. A large volume of N2O (nitrous oxide) is required for manufacturing, which means a shift in the traditional supply mode might need to be considered.

Although AMLCD displays are still dominant in the market today, AMOLED displays are growing quickly. Currently about 25% of smartphones are made with AMOLED displays and this is expected to grow to ~40% by 2021. OLED televisions are also growing rapidly, enjoying double digit growth rate year over year. Based on IHS data, the revenue for display panels with AMOLED technol- ogies is expected to have a CAGR of 18.9% in the next five years while the AMLCD display revenue will have a -2.8% CAGR for the same period with the total display panel revenue CAGR of 2.5%. With the rapid growth of AMOLED display panels, the panel makers have accel- erated their investment in the equipment to produce AMOLED panels.

There are three types of thin-film-transistor devices for display: amorphous silicon (a-Si), low temperature polysilicon (LTPS), and metal oxide (MO), also known as transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor (TAOS). AMLCD panels typically use a-Si for lower-resolution displays and TVs while high-resolution displays use LTPS transistors, but this use is mainly limited to small and medium displays due to its higher costs and scalability limitations. AMOLED panels use LTPS and MO transistors where MO devices are typically used for TV and large displays (FIGURE 3).

This shift in technology also requires a change in the gases used in production of AMOLED panels as compared with the AMLCD panels. As shown in FIGURE 4, display manufacturing today uses a wide variety of gases.

These gases can be categorized into two types: Electronic Specialty gases (ESGs) and Electronic Bulk gases (EBGs) (FIGURE 5). Electronic Specialty gases such as silane, nitrogen trifluoride, fluorine (on-site generation), sulfur hexafluoride, ammonia, and phosphine mixtures make up 52% of the gases used in the manufacture of the displays while the Electronic Bulk gases–nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and argon – make up the remaining 48% of the gases used in the display manufacturing.

The key ga susage driver in the manufacturing of displays is PECVD (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition), which accounts for 75% of the ESG spending, while dry etch is driving helium usage. LTPS and MO transistor production is driving nitrous oxide usage. The ESG usage for MO transistor production differs from what is shown in FIGURE 4: nitrous oxide makes up 63% of gas spend, nitrogen trifluoride 26%, silane 7%, and sulfur hexafluoride and ammonia together around 4%. Laser gases are used not only for lithography, but also for excimer laser annealing application in LTPS.

Silane: SiH4 is one of the most critical molecules in display manufacturing. It is used in conjunction with ammonia (NH3) to create the silicon nitride layer for a-Si transistor, with nitrogen (N2) to form the pre excimer laser anneal a-Si for the LTPS transistor, or with nitrous oxide (N2O) to form the silicon oxide layer of MO transistor.

Nitrogen trifluoride: NF3 is the single largest electronic material from spend and volume standpoint for a-Si and LTPS display production while being surpassed by N2O for MO production. NF3 is used for cleaning the PECVD chambers. This gas requires scalability to get the cost advantage necessary for the highly competitive market.

Nitrous oxide: Used in both LTPS and MO display production, N2O has surpassed NF3 to become the largest electronic material from spend and volume standpoint for MO production. N2O is a regional and localized product due to its low cost, making long supply chains with high logistic costs unfeasible. Averaging approximately 2 kg per 5.5 m2 of mother glass area, it requires around 240 tons per month for a typical 120K per month capacity generation 8.5 MO display production. The largest N2O compressed gas trailer can only deliver six tons of N2O each time and thus it becomes both costly and risky

Nitrogen: For a typical large display fab, N2 demand can be as high as 50,000 Nm3/hour, so an on-site generator, such as the Linde SPECTRA-N® 50,000, is a cost-effective solution that has the added benefit of an 8% reduction in CO2 (carbon dioxide) footprint over conventional nitrogen plants.

Helium: H2 is used for cooling the glass during and after processing. Manufacturers are looking at ways to decrease the usage of helium because of cost and availability issues due it being a non-renewable gas.

N2 On-site generators: Nitrogen is the largest consumed gas at the fab, and is required to be available before the first tools are brought to the fab. Like major semiconductor fabs, large display fabs require very large amounts of nitrogen, which can only be economically supplied by on-site plants.

Individual packages: Specialty gases are supplied in individual packages. For higher volume materials like silane and nitrogen trifluoride, these can be supplied in large ISO packages holding up to 10 tons. Materials with smaller requirements are packaged in standard gas cylinders.

In-fab distribution: Gas supply does not end with the delivery or production of the material of the fab. Rather, the materials are further regulated with additional filtration, purification, and on-line analysis before delivery to individual production tools.

The consumer demand for displays that offer increas- ingly vivid color, higher resolution, and lower power consumption will challenge display makers to step up the technologies they employ and to develop newer displays such as flexible and transparent displays. The transistors to support these new displays will either be LTPS and / or MO, which means the gases currently being used in these processes will continue to grow. Considering the current a-Si display production, the gas consumption per area of the glass will increase by 25% for LTPS and ~ 50% for MO productions.

To facilitate these increasing demands, display manufacturers must partner with gas suppliers to identify which can meet their technology needs, globally source electronic materials to provide customers with stable and cost- effective gas solutions, develop local sources of electronic materials, improve productivity, reduce carbon footprint, and increase energy efficiency through on-site gas plants. This is particularly true for the burgeoning China display manufacturing market, which will benefit from investing in on-site bulk gas plants and collaboration with global materials suppliers with local production facilities for high-purity gas and chemical manufacturing.

Manufacturer of indoor air quality handheld nitrogen dioxide gas monitors. Available in 7 in. x 4.75 in. x 2 in. dimensions with 5 V alarm output. Portable gas detectors can configure with wide range of single or multi-gas sensor heads. Features vary depending upon model. Some features include on-board alarms, data logging, analog output and optional remote sensor head adaptor kit. Suitable for investigation, industrial hygiene quality control and occupational safety and health testing applications. Automobile, aerospace, semiconductor, electronics manufacturing, heavy industry, steel, shipbuilding, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food processing, medical, construction and civil engineering industries served. Offers calibration and repair services. Technical support services also provided. CE certified. One year warranty.

Displays of high resolution and rich in colour are the window to the information universe. Quickly type an email on the smartphone display on the way to work, read the latest news from the world on your tablet display or follow your favourite sport on your own 65” TV screen – innovative display technologies make this possible. Today’s displays are constantly in use and exposed to considerable stress, so that these displays have to be very robust and have a long service life. IST METZ GmbH sees itself as a manufacturer of OLED and LCD displays not only as a supplier of UV, LED and excimer systems, but also as a development partner. Applications in UV cleaning, surface modification and surface activation can be implemented by using excimer solutions. Our laboratory and our applications technology department are happy to assist with developing new processes and UV solutions.

LCD (liquid crystal display) is the most widely used display technology. They are used for automotive, appliance, telecommunication, home appliance, industrial, consumer electronic, military etc. But LCD displays have some drawbacks, such as slow response, narrow viewing angle, lower contrast etc. One annoying phenomenon often complained about by users is image sticking.

If a fixed image remains on a display for a long period of time, the faint outline of that image will persist on the screen for some time before it finally disappears. Normally, it happens to LCD and plasma screens, but for the purpose of our discussion, we will focus on TFT LCD displays. Image sticking is also referred to as “image persistence”, “image retention”, “ghosting” or “burn-in image.”

An LCD screen includes a thin layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched between two electrodes on glass substrates, with two polarizers on each side. A polarizer is an optical filter that lets light waves of a specific polarization pass through while blocking light waves of other polarizations. The electrodes need to be transparent so the most popular material is ITO (indium tin oxide). Since an LCD can’t emit light itself, normally a backlight is placed behind an LCD screen in order to be seen in a dark environment. The light sources used for a backlight can be LED (light emitting diode) or CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamps). The LED backlight is the most popular. Of course, if you want a color display, a layer of RGB color filter can be made into an LCD cell. A touch panel can also be added in front of an LCD display.

When an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal molecules, they become untwisted. When the polarized light reaches the layer of liquid crystal molecules, the light passes straight through without being twisted. When it reaches the second polarizer, it will also pass through, meaning the viewer sees the display as bright. Because LCD technology uses electric fields instead of electric current (electron passes through), it has low power consumption.

The cause of LCD image sticking is due to an accumulation of ionic impurities inside the liquid crystal materials. When slight DC voltage occurs, the charged impurities will move the electrodes and build up a reversed voltage field. When the power is removed, the reversed voltage will kick in to make the LCD molecules twisted different from the other part of the LCD, which shows up as the image sticking. The longer the time, the more impurities will migrate, the larger the reversed voltage will be, and the imaging sticking will appear worse.

Using the black/white chess board image shown above: Static image it for 2 hours, then change to 50% gray for 1 min. Use an 8% neutral density filter to check if it is OK.

For LCD manufacturers, try to protect liquid crystal materials exposed to the air by using nitrogen gas or dried air to avoid absorbing moisture that can create a huge amount of impurities in the liquid crystal material, as water is an excellent solvent. Controlling the humidity of the fab is also very important, as is selecting the right liquid crystal materials and their manufacturers. Different liquid crystal materials have different moisture absorbing abilities. Different liquid crystal material factories have different capabilities in terms of controlling impurities. Despite the fact that high purity can mean high in cost, using higher purity liquid crystal materials and designing the circuitry to get rid of DC in LCD display drivers can avoid an image sticking issue.

Unlike the “burn-in” issue common with CRTs, an image sticking issue is not permanent. It will eventually recover after some time. One way to expedite erasing a retained image is to have a screen on in an all-black pattern for 4-6 hours. If you want to make it even faster, the display can be put into an environment with a temperature of around 35 to 50°C for 1-2 hours. As this elevated temperature is within the working temperature range, it will not damage the LCD panels.

Fluorinated GHGs such as certain perfluorocarbons (e.g., CF4, C2F6, C4F8), trifluoromethane (CHF3), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are among the most potent greenhouse gases (GHGs), with some persisting in the atmosphere for thousands of years, effectively causing irreversible impacts on the earth"s climate system. These gases have extremely high global warming potentials, or GWPs, which is a metric used to quantify the impact that a gas has on the climate; a higher GWP means a higher impact.

F-GHGs are commonly used in many types of electronics manufacturing, including the manufacture of flat panel displays, semiconductors, micro-electro-mechanical systems, light emitting diodes, and photovoltaic cells.

Flat panel displays are made up of a series of layers. Layers underneath the screen on the front of a flat panel display have grids of millions of tiny transistors created by depositing and etching materials (e.g., glass, films made up of various metals and chemicals). These layers are produced in manufacturing areas called deposition tool chambers. Flat panel display manufacturers—namely those that produce the panels used in products such as televisions, computer monitors, tablets, and mobile phones—use various F-GHGs during panel production. These gases, which are highly effective in their performance, are used in several panel production processes, including:

During manufacturing of flat panel displays, a portion of F-GHGs pass through the manufacturing tools unreacted and are released into the atmosphere.[1] A portion of the F-GHGs used in processes may also react in chambers to form by-product emissions of other F-GHGs. In addition, F-GHGs can be emitted from equipment cooling processes through evaporation.

Abatement via gas destruction technologies: Both point-of-use abatement, where the abatement system is attached to tools, and centralized abatement systems, where gases are sent to, and destroyed in, a centralized system, are being used by major panel suppliers. The majority of abatement systems in use are combustion-based. Though suppliers employ a mix of strategies to reduce F-GHGs, abatement remains one of the most effective ways to reduce the majority of F-GHG emissions. To estimate annual emissions and reductions, suppliers can estimate or measure the efficiency of an installed abatement system to destroy or remove gases such as F-GHGs—known as the destruction or removal efficiency (DRE). Most suppliers today use default factors from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines to account for the DRE of abatement systems. However, suppliers may also directly measure DREs using measurement guidelines or protocols.

Alternative chemicals: Manufacturers can use alternative lower GWP or more efficient gases to accomplish the same result. For example, in the case of CVD chamber cleaning, many manufacturers have modified their processes to be able to use NF3 instead of SF6. Though NF3 still has a very high GWP, it is lower than that of SF6. SF6 is also less efficient than NF3, resulting in more SF6 emitted per unit of SF6 used as compared to the use of NF3.

Other options such as capture and beneficial reuse: Manufacturers can capture F-GHGs and process them to remove impurities and refine them for reuse. Some suppliers are evaluating the opportunities for reuse. As of now, reuse and recycling has not been implemented widely due to limitations on the effectiveness and cost of available technologies.

Over the last two decades, major flat panel suppliers have taken voluntary steps to reduce their F-GHG emissions. For example, in 2001, the World Display Industry Cooperation Committee (WDICC)—including the LCD industry associations in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan—agreed to voluntary reduction activities and set a goal to reduce F-GHG emissions to 0.82 MMTCE by 2010. They estimated that these reductions represented one tenth of their anticipated emissions, effectively reducing 2000 baseline levels by approximately 90 percent. [2][3]

To meet the reduction goal, many suppliers in participating countries implemented strategies to address their emissions including installing abatement technologies on production lines in their newer generation fabs, namely those built within the last decade. As a result, F-GHG emissions were reduced by 10.1 MMTCE, to where aggregate emissions totaled 1.75 MMTCE. Though these reductions demonstrated significant accomplishments, the WLICC fell short of its goal due to a rise in emissions resulting from a rapid increase in production for LCD panels that were integrated into products such as televisions faster than initially anticipated. [3]

Since the WDICC set its initial goals, newer suppliers with growing market share have also emerged and information on their F-GHG emissions reductions efforts is currently unknown. In addition, it appears that some key suppliers are still in varying stages of implementing comprehensive F-GHG emission reductions efforts across their fabs. As worldwide demand for flat panels, namely LCDs, continue to increase, F-GHG emissions are also projected to rise. To mitigate those emissions, it is important that reduction efforts across all major panel suppliers are implemented.

In late 2015, LCD suppliers who were members of the World Display Industry Cooperation Committee (WDICC) committed to a new goal of reducing F-GHG emissions intensity by 30% by 2020. EPA commends LCD suppliers for taking this important step to further reduce F-GHG emissions. Also, beginning in late 2015, the IEEE 1680.1 standard denoting improved environmental performance for computers and monitors, which also underpins the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) used in institutional procurement, began its revision. One of the criteria stakeholders are examining at the time of this writing would reward reducing F-GHGs from LCD manufacturing.

The Supplier Profiles below detail the efforts of large-area flat panel suppliers to reduce their F-GHG emissions in manufacturing facilities that make today’s large-area panels used for products such as TVs and computer monitors. The profiles cover mitigation measures and goals, the extent of reduction efforts (whether they include all processes and gases used), the extent to which abatement technologies are installed on newer fabs that manufacture large area panels, and public disclosure efforts.

For example, over the past few years, brands and retailers Walmart, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Best Buy, and Acer took an important public step to foster further voluntary F-GHG reductions among their LCD suppliers. These companies asked their LCD suppliers to develop a standard method for measuring and recording F-GHG emissions for the industry, establish a voluntary long-term F-GHG emissions reduction goal with public timelines for demonstrating progress, and develop an annual progress report that can be shared with them and/or other supporting organizations. Since then, other brands have followed suit by engaging their LCD suppliers to better understand their F-GHG emissions and efforts to reduce them.

It is important to note that currently it is difficult and unadvisable to try to compare panel suppliers" F-GHG emissions due to a lack of consistency in estimating emissions, estimating emissions reductions, and monitoring the efficacy of installed abatement systems. Therefore, panel purchasers can use the following set of questions as a starting point to help understand how their panel suppliers are reducing their F-GHG emissions and identify opportunities for discussions to target and implement further mitigation efforts.

These Questions for Suppliers (pdf) help panel purchasers and retailers of flat panel display products understand and examine efforts to reduce F-GHG emissions from flat panel display suppliers.

For more than twenty years, EPA has worked collaboratively with the high-tech electronics industry to identify strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from its operations and from the products it creates for consumers.

From 1996 to 2010, EPA"s Perfluorinated Carbon (PFC) Reduction/Climate Partnership for the Semiconductor Industry supported and helped facilitate the industry"s voluntary efforts to reduce emissions of F-GHGs. In 1999, Partners voluntarily committed to reducing F-GHG emissions by at least 10 percent below a 1995 baseline. To this end, EPA worked with the industry to identify, evaluate, and implement new technologies to mitigate F-GHG emissions. As a result, industry Partners reduced emissions by more than 50 percent below the 1995 baseline, or by a little more than 2 million metric tons of CO2e. This reduction is equivalent to the energy used in approximately 103,000 homes per year.

From 2002-2010, EPA worked with various companies in the electronics sector to help them inventory their corporate-wide GHG emissions and set and achieve aggressive emissions reduction goals through identifying best practices. EPA continues to engage companies throughout the electronics industry on promoting the use of renewable energy through its Green Power Partnership, where companies such as Intel, Dell, Best Buy, and Microsoft rank among the top 50 leading Green Power Partners within the United States for their green power procurement.

In 2010, EPA published their "Protocol for Measuring Destruction or Removal Efficiency (DRE) of Fluorinated Greenhouse Gas Abatement Equipment in Electronics Manufacturing" (EPA"s DRE Protocol). EPA"s DRE Protocol is internationally peer-reviewed and provides a reliable method for measuring the DRE of point-of-use abatement systems for F-GHGs used during the manufacture of electronics.

Since 2011, EPA has been working with brands, retailers and other stakeholders to improve understanding of F-GHG emissions in LCD manufacturing and to help foster criteria in purchasing standards that recognize leadership among panel suppliers reducing F-GHG emissions.

The SPAD 502 Plus Chlorophyll Meter instantly measures chlorophyll content or “greenness” of your plants to reduce the risk of yield-limiting deficiencies or costly overfertilizing. The SPAD 502 Plus quantifies subtle changes or trends in plant health long before they’re visible to the human eye. Non-invasive measurement; simply clamp the meter over leafy tissue, and receive an indexed chlorophyll content reading (-9.9 to 199.9) in less than 2 seconds. Assess nitrogen needs by comparing in-field SPAD readings to university guidelines or to adequately fertilized reference strips. Research shows a strong correlation between SPAD measurements and leaf N content.

Over the course of the past half decade, the television has gradually become a standard American household item, to the point where it is not uncommon for a household to own more than one television. As with any object made for human consumption, the television requires materials from an earth that can only provide a finite amount of such things. These materials come from many different sources, from many different areas of the world, and are all assembled into the different working parts that make up a television. The materials as they are found raw in nature range from argon gas to platinum ore, and many raw materials are then combined into other secondary materials that are then assembled into the parts of the television. Televisions depend on a wide range of these naturally found materials to be produced, but the main kinds of materials that make up a television are secondary materials produced from the combination of various raw materials, which makes the different parts of the life cycle of a television each more complex.

The raw materials that are extracted for use in a television come from many different sources, which makes the beginning of the television’s life cycle one that starts at many different places. One of the main types of materials used in televisions are plastics, namely thermoplastics such as polyethylene. Thermoplastics like polyethylene are used because they can be melted down and remolded repeatedly, which is part of the process in making the exterior casing of a television. Polyethylene is made from the polymerization of ethylene. Ethylene is produced from the cracking of ethane gas, which can be separated from natural gas. When the polyethylene is ready, it is molded into the specific shape that is required to encase a television, and is then set into that shape by using a thermoset. The thermoset is used to fix the meltable plastic in the shape that the plastic has been molded in, meaning that once the thermoset is fixed onto the plastic, the plastic cannot be melted again. The fixing of thermosets is necessary for electronic appliances like televisions that produce a significant amount of heat, so that the plastic that encases the television will not melt down. The most common thermoset used in televisions is urea formaldehyde. Urea formaldehyde is made by obtaining urea, a solid crystal, from ammonia gas, and by obtaining formaldehyde from methane gas. The two are then chemically combined to make the resin-like material that is used as a thermoset. Another main material that is used in most television is glass. Glass is the essential material that makes up the screen of a television, and is made from the chemical compound silicon oxide. All these materials are extracted and made in factories spread throughout the world, adding to the complexity of manufacturing televisions.

While plastics and glass are the main materials that make up the exterior of a television, the interior parts of a television are made up of a greater range of materials. Plastics are also used in the interior of a television, but inside of a television are also found gases and minerals. Gases such as argon, neon, and xenon gas fill the television screen for the purpose of projecting colors into the screen, and are made visible by the phosphor coating that coats the inside of a television screen. Glass and lead are also found inside of a television screen. These two materials make up cathode ray tubes, which are the video display components of a television. Other components that are found inside of a television also require thermoplastics like polyethylene, including components such as light valves, which work together with cathode ray tubes to enable the electrons inside to be visible on screen. The main electrical components on the interior of a television require a large amount of silicon; these include components such as the logic board, circuit boards, and capacitors. Once again, these materials are extracted and processed on several different continents. Silicon can be found in many different places, but a large supply comes from California. Meanwhile, many plastics are manufactured in China, while factories in the United States manufacture glass. These materials can be manufactured or extracted in other countries as well, which also helps to make the life cycle of a television a complex and global circle.

After these materials are all extracted, they must be processed so that they can make up a television. The main process that affects the raw material usage of a television is the injection molding process. This process is where all the plastics, specifically thermoplastics, that are used in a television are put together and shaped, essentially bringing many of the materials that were extracted for use in the television together. The plastics that will be shaped into television parts are ran through an assembly line of sorts in a factory. They are then melted down into molten plastic and poured into a mold matching the shape that the plastic is desired to conform to. Once that plastic has set in the mold, the thermoset is applied to ensure that the plastic will not melt down again. Thus, much of the materials that eventually go towards use in a television are applied and shaped into their desired form during this process. However, many more materials still need to be added in order to make the final product, and while plastics make up a large part of a television, there are still gases, minerals, and additional synthetic materials such as glass that must come together. The large spread of materials that need to be extracted to make up a television, and the array of locations that those materials are extracted and processed in, contribute towards making the life cycle of a television difficult to track.

Once the materials that will make up the television have been extracted and processed, the assembled television is ready to be distributed. Once again, the distribution process of televisions is spread out all around the world. In the case of Americans, televisions are no longer manufactured in the United States. This means that the televisions must be shipped oversea to the United States, which is done by both plane and boat. Thus, the diesel fuel used to power both planes and cargo boats are used as raw materials in the life cycle of a television. The diesel fuel used in planes and cargo boats are usually kerosene based, which is obtained by distilling petroleum. Additionally, when the televisions get to the United States, they must be distributed by means of shipping trucks, which means the natural gasoline that they use are another addition to the raw materials that are involved in the life cycle of a television. As a final step in the distribution process, the televisions are usually packaged in cardboard boxes, which are commonly made from recycled paper. More plastic is then used to protect the television in the form of protective wrap such as bubble wrap. Bubble wrap is also made from the polyethylene that makes up many components of the television, making plastic a material that is essential to every stage thus far of the life cycle of a television, as well as being a material that makes the life cycle difficult to analyze.

Once the televisions reach the home of Americans, an additional stage of raw materials usage takes place. To install and properly use a television, additional items must be used in tandem with the aforementioned television. The television must be plugged into power using wires and power outlets, which use metal and polyethylene plastic, respectively. Specifically, most wires that power televisions are made from copper, as copper is a relatively cheap conductive metal. Televisions are also commonly used in tandem with TV remotes and DVD players. TV remotes are also mainly made from plastic. The plastic most commonly used in TV remotes is a thermoplastic polycarbonate made from acrylic plastic, which is turn derived from a chemical compound made out of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen that produces acrylic acid. The additional components used in a TV remote use largely the same materials as the additional components in the main television, such as silicon. On the same note, DVD players use largely the same materials as a television. DVD players use a fair amount of thermoplastics as well for the outer casing, as well silicon for many of the interior components. Here again, plastic made all over the world is one of the main materials used to fuel the life cycle of a television, leading to the diffusion of many specifics regarding how exactly a televisions’ life cycle comes together.

After installation and the acquirement of accessories, televisions can last for a relatively long time without the need for frequent maintenance. However, when it is time for a television to be replaced, the process of doing away with the old television can be messy. Televisions are illegal to place into dumps in many states because of the hazardous mixture of gases and lead that they contain. Because of this toxic mixture of gases and lead, the majority of televisions are unable to be recycled. The specific way that the materials are combined do not allow for recycling without significant health risks to those people handling the recycling. Due to the hazards that recycling televisions pose, many televisions end up either being placed in dumps with nothing being done to them or being unused around homes. Currently, there are many researchers and research institutes attempting to try and solve this problem, such as a recent experiment done at Purdue University trying to extract the toxic materials out of the television in a cost-effective and efficient manner that still preserves the plastic for recycling. Many of these studies were done about three to five years ago, and as of yet, there is still no concrete solution to the problem of recycling electronic waste such as a television. However, progress in the form of ongoing experimentation is still being made toward a solution for effective electronic waste management.

As that progress is being made, televisions remain one of the main representations of the new digital age. They were one of the first digital products that were able to be distributed commonly across America, and ushered in a new era of consumerism. As of yet, it seems that humanity will have the means to make televisions for the long foreseeable future, though it remains to be seen how the complex life cycle of the raw materials used in a television will affect the planet.

Televisions are globally one of the dominant selling products in the technology sector. China is the primary manufacturer, being home to many of the preeminent selling TV companies such as TCL, Skyworth and others that partner with Chinese manufacturers such as Samsung and LG. Although the number of televisions that are produced per year is not a record the public has access to, it is estimated that there are seven-hundred and fifty-nine point three million TV sets connected worldwide in 2018 [14]. The cradle-to-grave of television production has five steps: the acquisition of raw and synthetic materials, the manufacturing process, the distribution and transportation, the use of televisions, and the disposal and recycling [9]. Energy application is present in each of the five stages of the complete life cycle of televisions, specifically the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) model. The entire life cycle of televisions uses and produces energy that is not environmentally safe to human and animal health and the atmosphere. Even though television companies claim to be decreasing the environmental consequences, the immense presence of energy use throughout the cradle-to-grave of television production continue to result in hazardous effects.

The first step of the television life cycle, the acquisition of the materials, produces and uses the largest amount of energy of the steps. The acquiring process of the materials includes obtainment, collection, extraction, combination, and transformation of the raw and synthetic materials. The main materials are plastics, circuits, circuit boards, glass, metals and various materials such as indium-tin oxide and liquid crystal. Plastics make up the exterior pieces and layout of the television, as well as a fewer small pieces inside. Plastic is formed from crude oil or natural gas like fossil fuels, which have to first be mined from the earth’s core and then must be processed before the polymerisation process can be carried out. This process is used to chemically combine carbon monomers in order to form carbon polymers which make up plastic and give it it’s individual properties. Overall, plastics require motion energy and electricity to be mined and chemical energy to turn oil or natural gas into plastic. Circuits make up the various circuit boards along with minor metal or plastic pieces. The circuits are originally made of silicon dioxide, or silica, which must be extracted from the earth’s crust. More modernly, silica is being replaced by quartz by some manufacturing companies. Silica and quartz are both extracted from the earth using electricity and thermal energy through mining and extraction. Silicon dioxide is used in the circuit boards because it is a semiconductor, so it must be processed with drilling or thermal techniques to obtain the desired shape and form. The obtainment of materials for the circuits involves thermal energy and electricity through the multiple steps. Silicon dioxide is also the main component in glass which is made from heating sand or quartz with waste glass and soda ash into a liquid mixture to be molded into the desired solid shape. Thermal energy is the prime energy source in the transformation process of glass, but also the minor electricity source for the silica. The various metals that are found scattered through modern televisions include gold, lead and copper. Each of these metals must be mined and extracted from the earth requiring electricity and thermal energy must be applied in order to change the form into liquid to modify the shape for parts. Liquid crystal that is used in the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels is found in various mineral forms and must be extracted using electricity. Indium-tin oxide (ITO) is “a scattered and rare element” that is found in the Earth’s crust, but is “challenging to [extract]” [4]. It actually does not exist as an ore itself but it is “mainly produced as a by-product of zinc mining” or lead mining [11]. The zinc and lead are mined using electricity and then using smelting techniques, which apply thermal energy, indium-tin oxide is processed out of the ores. The collection of the materials involves the extensive energy application of the varying types of energy. Once the materials are acquired, the manufacturing stage begins and the precarious energy utilization continues to grow.

The manufacturing phase applies the second most impactful energy use behind the first step, emitting hazardous effects in large, concentrated volumes. The production processes vary by manufacturer, but they generally contain assembly lines, machine tools and technology, automated robots and packaging. The plastic parts found throughout the structure and the inner parts are made using the well-adopted injection molding process. This process uses thermal energy to liquify plastic in order to be injected into the definite molds [5]. After they cool, they must be cut and sized-down to perfection with saws and cleaned manually for safety as well as appeal [5]. This requires electricity to function the saws and kinetic energy in human movements for the manual work [9]. The LCD panels are composed of a variety of substances and materials, the most prominent being indium-tin oxide, liquid crystal and metal pieces [2]. The panels are manually made adding the liquid crystal layer, the ITO layer and a few other metal and glass layers using either adhesives or screws to connect them all together. This process of building the LCDs exerts immense kinetic and mechanical energy by human labor. The glass flat screen for the television must be laser-cut to shape utilizing thermal energy and electricity. All of this electricity and thermal energy that is used in manufacturing requires incredible amounts of coal or fossil fuel consumption. The greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) resulting from the energy application are inordinately unsafe for the Earth in the short and long term. They are destroying our atmosphere which can damage plant life and harm the human and animal health. The manufacturing phase, although it is the second step most in energy consumption and emission, the concentrated levels of emission make it detrimental nonetheless. This stage includes the packaging and loading of the finished television sets in order to be ready for the next step, transportation and distribution worldwide.

Television companies sell their products across their country, continent and even overseas; the transportation systems used to accomplish this apply a sizable quantity of energy consumption. Aircrafts, automobiles, and ships are the most efficient means of distributing televisions to consumers. Fossil fuels, ranging in quantity, are what fuel the combustion engines inside all of the transportation services. Chemical energy is applied inside the engines to convert the fuel into mechanical energy to propel the truck, ship or airplane forward [8]. Efficient fuel consumption is still being studied for vehicles, airplanes and ships in order to decrease the energy intensiveness (EI) [8]. The EI includes many factors such as speed, to travel longer distances, carry more weight and be as environmentally safe as possible[8]. Combustion engines release GHG emissions dire to the atmosphere causing problems related to the health of the populations on Earth. Human labor is the other, non GHG emitting, component to move the TV products the shorter distances such as from the manufacturing factory to the trucks to the plane or ships to the stores that then sells them to consumers. The human interaction with the transportation stage only entails kinetic energy. Transportation is also employed in the acquisition of materials stage to move the inputs from the site to factories and the disposal and recycling stage from consumers to the facilities. Energy conservation of means of transportation is intensively studied to lower the consumed energy and the GHG emissions, but a permanently sustainable solution has not been discovered yet.

Televisions notoriously require electricity to function, which entails an incomparable utilization of coal, natural gas or solar sources. The average household in developed countries has at least one connected television set, but many have numerous. Televisions are used in many other settings such as public places like hospitals, restaurants, schools, stores, salons, arenas and even transportation services more modernly, like airplanes, cars and trains. The absurd amount of TVs used around the world necessitates the massive ratio of natural gas and coal. Solar power for electricity is accessible but is not a widely adopted method. The burning of natural gases and coal for electricity exudes GHG emissions, obviously detrimental consequences to the environment. The consumer use stage, though it’s embodied energy is hazardous to Earth and its inhabitants, it is minor in the comparison of manufacturing and procurement of materials. A larger concern with televisions is the end-of-life care after consumers desire upgrades or replacements.

TV sets inevitably must be replaced, but disposal techniques are still being experimented in terms of safety, procurement of materials and the energy application, including the effects. If televisions are not recycled and disposed properly, the materials can leak into the ground contaminating clean water systems and the plant life or harm humans who do not disassemble the TVs safely [6]. The best method for dismantling has proven to be to retrace the manufacturing process backwards to disassemble it most cost-effectively and with the most recovery of materials [12]. A comprehensive study by Ardente and Mathieux (2014) initiated an ideal method that consists of five steps to dismantle LCD panels as well as other electronic devices: “reusability, recyclability, recoverability, recycled and use of hazardous substance” [15]. Experiments to retrieve and reuse all of the materials have yet to be successful, but a few of the materials have favorable results including plastics, precious metals, glass and ITO. The basis of the disassembly from LCD panels has the highest efficiency when dismantled and extracted manually rather than mechanically which applies large amounts of kinetic and mechanical energy [1]. The numerous plastic parts are best recycled using two techniques: energy recovery (or thermal recycling) and mechanical recycling (or material recycling) [10]. Energy recovery is incineration of plastic waste to be used as electricity involving kinetic and mechanical energy by manual labor, but mostly uses electricity and thermal energy to incinerate the plastics[10]. Mechanical recycling is plastic waste being recycled into other resources utilizing kinetic or mechanical energy by manual labor as well as potential energy and gravitational energy of the materials [10]. Precious metals and glass both use kinetic, mechanical and thermal energies to be extracted manually, crushed down and then typically sold to be melted down to reform for other products. Indium-tin oxide is the most recycled raw material in LCD panels and can be fully extracted by numerous techniques encompassing leaching [11], sorption [4], and pyrolysis [1]. These each include exposing the LCD panels to varying chemicals, high temperatures and a range of pressures [4]. Overall, the recovery of ITO by means of recycling involves intensive chemical, thermal and pressure energies. This final stage of disposal and recycling of LCD televisions has the most exposure to research and experimenting. It encompasses the second highest levels of energy application, relatively identical to the manufacturing phase, but there is vast potential to lower this energy consumption and waste to a more environmentally friendly approach.

The life cycle analysis of televisions is years from being complete; the manufacturer companies do not give public access to the details of each step yet and there has not been an abundance of research. The embodied energy is the least investigated aspect of the life cycle of television sets. Televisions, being abundantly produced and sold to consumers, are constantly being upgraded in terms of design, environmentally friendly, and energy capacity. Recycling of the raw materials, as well as plastics and glass, is being experimented with the most. Indium is the most prominent to be extracted and reused for more technology since indium is being mined at a rate that is running out. Television companies are competing to find safer procedure to carry out all five steps of the cradle-to-grave of TV sets. The main take away from this analysis: energy that is used and produced from the life cycle is still hazardous to the environment and the health of humans and animals. If TV manufacturer companies do not find new techniques for the acquisition of raw and synthetic materials, the manufacturing process, the distribution and transportation, the use of televisions, and the disposal and recycling, we will run out of materials and further destroy the atmosphere and the human and animal health.

[4]Assefi, Mohammad, et al. "Selective recovery of indium from scrap LCD panels using macroporous resins." Journal of Cleaner Production 180 (2018): 814-822.

[7]Curran, Mary Ann. "Life cycle assessment: a review of the methodology and its application to sustainability." Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2.3 (2013): 273-277.

[12]Ryan, Alan, Liam O’Donoghue, and Huw Lewis. "Characterising components of liquid crystal displays to facilitate disassembly." Journal of cleaner Production 19.9-10 (2011): 1066-1071.

The manufacturing of televisions has continuously been monitored as a part of the life cycle assessment in the modern day society. A television is simply a machine powered by electricity that displays images on a screen and sounds out of the speakers. Current models of TVs are mainly focused on the LCD TV, which is a liquid crystal display television. LEDs, light-emitting diodes, are the source for illuminating light by the movement of electrons on a semiconductor that gives off the variation of colors behind the display. Creating the televisions by incorporating LEDs and additional metal elements into a contained liquid crystal display with a plastic frame is the main concept for the TV. During the production of an LCD TV, the detrimental effects to the environment of the waste and emissions such as greenhouse gases from the materials of the metals can be observed through the assembly process of the television and the disposal of the substances.

As the amount of TVs are increasing for demand, the air pollution worsens in relations to the increase of metals for compact designs of the monitors. In the initial phase, the screen is created with silicon oxide and indium tin oxide that are used for polishing the glass layers. The silicon oxide is a colorless material consisting of quartz as the main ingredient while the indium tin oxide is a yellow colored substance that acts as a coating for clearness. According to the Laboratory Chemical Safety Summary, the National Institutes of Health states that silicon dioxide “may cause mechanical irritation to the eyes, respiratory tract and skin” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2008). The substance is hazardous as a solid form of dust particles that can be inhaled through the air. Though, silicon dioxide is applied to the glass screens in a liquid form ,which is not toxic to the workers, to smoothen the surface and correctly position the liquid crystals. Air borne inhalation of the chemical is not as harmful as the physical contact with the substance itself. Therefore, factories enforce workers to wear protective gear from the head to feet to prevent exposure to the liquids. Likewise, the indium tin oxide is cautioned with safety equipment and masks. In the Chemical Information Profile by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indium tin oxide, ITO for short, also “may cause severe irritation and burns to the skin or eyes” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009). Similarly, the substance is effective in a powdered form that may cause lung infection through inhalation. The screen is then made more transparent with ITO in a liquid state. Both substances obtain a fine quality of a glass screen and are not considered devastating to the surrounding. However, ingesting and direct contact with the chemicals can be severe with the side effects in mind. Refining the glass is not the most detrimental of the process but still requires attentive measures to prevent a high accumulation of the liquids.

Another substance that is harmful to the environment within the procedure mainly revolves around the nitrogen trifluoride on the LCD television. Nitrogen trifluoride is the main component for allowing the surfaces of the TV to be water and fingerprint resistant. The substance is physically applied by the hands of human workers. By adding on the substance to the screen, the fumes released in the factories are vacated through vacuums that lets the gas into the atmosphere of the earth. Otherwise, the chemicals may be trapped within the factories during production. The National Institutes of Health evaluated that the symptoms of inhaling nitrogen fluoride affects the “blood, liver, and kidneys” and targets humans and animals such as “dogs, monkeys, and rats” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2018). While workers wear a suit and gloves to protect themselves from the fumes in the factories, the concentration of the gas remains toxic to wildlife that breathe on land. Although the process of coating the glass pieces are done in a sealed room to prevent leakage of the scent from the nitrogen trifluoride to the rest of the factory, the outer perimeter of the buildings are not safe to breathe. In The Guardian, a report from Michael Prather, the director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine notes that “as a driver of global warming, nitrogen trifluoride is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide” (Sample, 2008). Carbon dioxide is already a major role played in polluting the atmosphere including the carbon emissions of the trucks during the shipment process. The amount of nitrogen trifluoride released is not a widespread issue with the concentration from the substance being contained. However, the growth is noticeable that nitrogen trifluoride is listed as a major “greenhouse gas” reported from Michael Prather in the Four Materials Illustrate Hazards Of Electronics Manufacturing (Gordon, 2017). Additionally, the composition of the air quality depicts a growing accumulation of the gas as the development of monitors of the television continue to flourish. Nitrogen trifluoride is a crucial factor to protecting and prolonging the televisions’ lifespan but contains a cost that endangers humans and animals.

In the creation of the LCD TV, there are waste factors that take place in removing the product after its lifespan. The plastic frame of the television is salvageable such that the product can be melted and reused again. But, metal components and chemicals that are built upon the circuit boards and monitors remain difficult to reattain the materials. In fact, recycling the flat-screen TV is not possible with another material within the components of the circuit boards, which is mercury. Denise Wilson of the WEEE: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipmentreports that “inhaling mercury can lead to a myriad of behavioral and neurological problems such as insomnia, memory loss, tremors, and cognitive dysfunction” (Wilson, 2016). Even a low concentration of mercury is fatal for humans to take in while attempting to dismantle the television for deconstruction. Since the materials are not replaceable through recycling the LCD TVs, material costs are risen due to the rarity of finding the natural raw materials such as gold, silver, and copper for the circuit boards. Other materials that include indium tin oxide are nonrenewable which also limits the maximum amount of TVs produced. Furthermore, removing the metals from the television has a drawback of releasing toxicity. Wilson adds that dioxins exposed from deconstructing LCD TVs “lead to impairment of the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems as well as alter liver function” (Wilson, 2016). Dioxins are a pollutant to the air that is toxic for humans to inhale. The collective chemicals can be seen through both the production for the screen and the elimination of the product after usage. To prevent the releases of the gases into the air, depleted televisions are brought into specialized recyclers to harvest the remains of the electronics. Despite the efforts of replenishing the components, factories that melt away the components are still in existence to removing the waste. According to the author of Recycle Nation, Sophia Bennett states that “as televisions are run over by crushing equipment in a landfill, or burned in an incinerator, they release those heavy metals that can seriously affect human health” (Bennett, 2014). The physical process of “crushing” the materials is a wasteful method of removing the scarce resources from the circuit boards. Meanwhile, the chemical process of burning the metals secretes carbon and dioxin emissions and leaves solid wastes of mineral compounds. With that in mind, the electronic device must carefully be readjusted to contain friendly environmental substances that are reusable and reduce the harmful symptoms to the atmosphere.

Transporting the product of the LCD TVs also contributes to the pollution of the environment with greenhouse gases after the assembly is finished. In the delivery phase, the televisions are encased in large cardboard boxes and can be shipped to designated locations on land, water, and air. Trucks, ships, and planes all produce carbon dioxide as fuel is burned within the respective engines for the mobile vehicles. For instance, the internal combustion engine for trucks burns diesel fuel to power the pistons while the ships use coal to supply energy to the propulsion engines. Planes have the similar effect with the design of an engine that requires diesel fuel or gas. The modes of transportation mentioned beforehand increase in relations to the rising production of LCD TVs for consumers which results in a higher output of carbon dioxide as well. Thus, the carbon emissions from transporting the television is observed as a factor of damaging the ecosystem from the shipment process of the vehicles.

In essence, acknowledging the existence of the chemical substances released into the atmosphere from the waste and emissions of manufacturing and deconstructing an LCD TV is crucial for an understanding of the environmental impact it has on humans and the wildlife. As the production of televisions continue to develop the flat screen panels that incorporate toxic materials, more waste is produced as a result of the amount of TVs needed for the increase in supply and demand. In fact, electronic devices that focus heavily upon the usage of the chemical substances involves not only televisions but any creations with screens and monitors. Recording the findings of the symptoms from the chemical activities within the factories and the atmosphere allow producers and consumers to identify safer and more reliable resources that reduces the harm to the environment and life on earth. The life cycle of the television remains as an important subject for careful observations of the advancements developed upon electronic devices towards the future.

“Chemical Information Profile.” National Toxicology Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, June 2009, ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/noms/support_docs/ito060309_508.pdf.

“F-GHG Emissions Reduction Efforts: Flat Panel Display Supplier Profiles.” F-GHG Emissions Reduction Efforts: Flat Panel Display Supplier Profiles, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 2013, www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-09/documents/supplier_profiles_fy2011.pdf.

“Nitrogen Trifluoride.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/nitrogen_trifluoride#section=Top.

“Silicon Dioxide.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Silica#datasheet=lcss§ion=Threshold-Limit-Values.