Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hagedon, Matthew A.
Language:English
Published: University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378109126
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin13781091262021-08-03T06:19:39Z Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper Hagedon, Matthew A. Electrical Engineering e-Paper Displays Optics Microfluidics Electrofluidics As technology has developed and become pervasive, more and more daily activities occur through interaction with electronic displays. More than 40 years of development have resulted in emmisive liquid crystal displays (LCD) and organic light emitting displays (OLED) which not only create extremely sharp, vibrant images but also are thin and portable, however emissive displays suffer from large power drains and low readability in high ambient light conditions. Reflective displays solve these two problems by reflecting ambient light thereby reducing the need for a back light in most reading conditions. Though LCD was used for many years in reflective display applications, however liquid crystal light valves are not ideal for reflective displays due to the heavy light loss which occurs in the polarization layers. The reflectance levels of these displays were too low to be referred to as an electronic paper (e-Paper). Electrophoretic Displays (EPD), commercialized by Eink, combine high reflectivity, paper like reflection, and zero-voltage stability to create the first commercial technology which was assigned the term e-Paper. Improvements to the Eink product have placed it as the dominant display technology in e-readers today. However, with a 40% reflectance efficiency and >100ms switching times, Eink cannot achieve full color reflectance or video speed operation leaving a lot of room for improvement in the e-Paper space, yet no technology to date has been successfully commercialized which can compete with Eink. To do so, a technology must not only offer significantly increased performance, but it must also be manufactured at a competitive cost point and ideally provide zero-power stability for extreme low-power operation. This dissertation introduces a technology which is referred to as the electrofluidic imaging film which specifically targets increased performance to enable the next generation of reflective e-Paper displays with color and video speed operation while retaining the unique advantages of the Eink EPD display. The new display architecture utilizes the principals developed by previous electrofluidic displays to achieve high performance but utilizes a novel configuration to enable zero-voltage stability and a non-aligned fabrication without a need for pixel walls. First the requirements for the optics of an e-Paper display are discussed. This develops the understanding of the optical problems which must be overcome when making an efficient reflective display which has a paper like appearance. Then the EFD imaging film is demonstrated and the structure and operating principals are reviewed. We demonstrate a >70% white state reflectance and a >15ms switching time at a resolution of 150 pixels per inch. A novel fabrication technique is then demonstrated for the key display components, the fluid transfer membrane. The process integrates an engineered gain diffuser into the film creating a highly paper like reflectance profile using principals developed earlier in the dissertation. Finally, a predictive model is developed which demonstrates the dominant microfluidic phenomena that are involved in the display switching. 2013-10-25 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378109126 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378109126 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Electrical Engineering
e-Paper
Displays
Optics
Microfluidics
Electrofluidics
spellingShingle Electrical Engineering
e-Paper
Displays
Optics
Microfluidics
Electrofluidics
Hagedon, Matthew A.
Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper
author Hagedon, Matthew A.
author_facet Hagedon, Matthew A.
author_sort Hagedon, Matthew A.
title Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper
title_short Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper
title_full Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper
title_fullStr Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper
title_full_unstemmed Electrofluidic Imaging Films for Simultaneous Advancements in Performance and Simplicity for Electronic Paper
title_sort electrofluidic imaging films for simultaneous advancements in performance and simplicity for electronic paper
publisher University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate 2013
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1378109126
work_keys_str_mv AT hagedonmatthewa electrofluidicimagingfilmsforsimultaneousadvancementsinperformanceandsimplicityforelectronicpaper
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