SBIR Phase I: Liquid Crystal-based Next Generation e-paper Devices by Micro-engineered Surfaces

本课题为小企业创新研究第1期课题，拟开发基于微工程表面对准（MESA）技术的具有彩色和视频显示能力的低功耗双稳态液晶显示器（LCD），应用于电子书/电子纸和其他低功耗显示，如可重写价格标签和手机。MESA-LCD的独特之处在于它是一种表面感应双稳态显示器，因此在显示文本或静态图像时功耗极低，同时，在必要时可以轻松实现视频显示和彩色显示。此外，由于MESA-LCD与当前成熟的LCD生产工艺相兼容，它具有其他技术无法比拟的低成本。第一阶段的关键目标是演示开关电压降低和对比度提高，以使第二阶段的商业化成功。第一阶段的目标将通过研究光对准材料和工艺的优化，以及制造第一阶段的概念验证原型来实现。随着该项目的成功，将实现低功耗、视频显示和彩色显示的电子书。同时，本研究项目提高了对光与微结构表面材料相互作用的认识。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为现在生活在信息时代的人们带来各种低功耗显示产品，包括具有全彩色显示功能的电子书和电子纸，以及应用于教育和娱乐的视频显示。这个项目主要针对快速增长的电子书/电子纸市场，亚马逊推出的Kindle电子书产品已经证明了这一点。拟议的MESA技术还可用于零售、广告、医疗显示和军事应用，这些应用需要关注功耗，潜在产品包括太阳能可重写价格标签、手机和其他手持设备，以及智能身份证/信用卡/医疗卡。该项目的技术领域包括液晶/聚合物材料、LCD工艺、光与微结构表面材料的相互作用。项目市场领域包括教育、娱乐、零售、广告、医疗展示、军事等。

Project AbstractThis Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop low power consumption bistable liquid crystal display (LCD) with capability of color and video display based on micro-engineered surface alignment (MESA) technology, for application of e-book/e-paper and other low power display such as rewritable price tags and cell phones. The uniqueness of MESA-LCD is that it is a surface-induced bistable display thus power consumption is extremely low for displaying text or static picture, meanwhile, both the video display and color display can be easily achieved whenever it is necessary. Also as a MESA-LCD is compatible to the current mature LCD production process, it has a low cost unmatchable for other technologies. The key Phase-I objective is to demonstrate the switching voltage reduction and contrast Improvement, to enable the success of commercialization success in Phase-II. The phase-I objective will be achieved through research on optimization of photoalignment materials and processes, and fabrication of a phase-I concept-proving prototype. With success of this project, e-book with low power consumption, and capability of video display and color display will be enabled. Meanwhile, this research project improves the understanding of the interaction of the light and micro-structured surface materials.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to bring to market various low-power display products including e-book and e-paper with full function of color display and video display with application in education and entertainment, for people who are now living in Information Era. This project is mainly targeting a fast growing e-book/e-paper market which has been proven by the launch of the Kindle e-book products by Amazon. The proposed MESA technology can also be used for retail, advertisement, medical display and military application where power consumption is a concern, with potential products including solar powered rewritable price tags, cell phones and other hand-hold devices, and smart ID/credit/medical cards. Technology areas of this project cover liquid crystal/polymer materials, LCD process, and interaction of the light and micro-structured surface materials. Market sector of this project include education, entertainment, retail, advertisement, medical display and military.