STTR Phase II: Photochemically Switched Chiral Materials for Chiral Nematic Displays

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目将开发一种极低成本的照片显示器，用于礼品卡、工资卡和收入支持卡等储值卡，首次将卡的价值和其他信息显示给用户，每次使用都可更新。 基于光可切换手性材料的使能显示器技术提供了薄的、柔性的、坚固的显示器，并且最重要的是，具有低成本，使得它们几乎不增加卡的成本。 这样的光电显示器可以提供高分辨率图像，而不需要电子显示器所必需的驱动和控制电子器件，并且不需要电子显示器所必需的驱动和控制电子器件的成本。光电显示器由显示写入器光学地更新，其中诸如数字、条形码和其它数字数据的图像可以重复地更新。这项技术的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将通过设计、合成和研究新化合物来利用其独特的光学和电光效应，推动用于液晶材料的光化学手性化合物的基础和应用科学。 由这些材料开发的薄的柔性光电显示器类似于照相胶片，但具有图像可以被擦除、重写、隐藏和再现的优点。 光显示膜具有电子显示器的性质，其中图像可以改变，但没有迫使电子显示器退出许多市场的驱动电子器件。 光显示器的另一个优点是，它可以通过已经为标签工业开发的连续卷对卷制造设备来大规模生产。 因此，光显示器在许多应用中打开了新的显示器市场，例如储值卡、购物点标志、身份和安全标签、标牌和许多其它用途，其中可更新的显示器以前由于现有电子显示器的成本、体积和可扩展性而不可能。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will develop an extremely low cost photodisplay for stored value cards such as gift cards, payroll and income support cards where, for the first time, the value of the card and other information can be displayed to the user updateable with each use. The enabling display technology based on photo switchable chiral materials provides displays that are thin, flexible, rugged, and above all, of such low cost that they add little to the cost of a card. Such photodisplays can provide a high resolution image without the need and cost of drive and control electronics necessary for electronic displays. The photodisplays are optically updated by a display writer in which images such as, numerical, bar codes, and other digital data can be repeatedly updated. The broader impact/commercial potential from this technology will advance the basic and applied science of photochemical chiral compounds for use in liquid crystalline materials by designing, synthesizing and studying new compounds to exploit their unique optical and electro optical effects. Thin, flexible photodisplays developed from these materials are similar to a photographic film, but with the advantage that the image can be erased, rewritten, hidden from view and made to reappear. The photodisplay films have the properties of an electronic display in which the image can be changed but without the driving electronics that forces electronic displays out of many markets. A further advantage of the photodisplay is that it can be mass produced by continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing equipment of the type already developed for the label industry. The photodisplay therefore opens new display markets in many applications such as stored value cards, point of purchase signs, identity and security tags, signage and many other uses where updatable displays were not possible before because of cost, bulkiness and inflexibility of existing electronic displays.