SBIR Phase II: Bistable Electrofluidic Device for High-Brightness Electronic Paper

SBIR第二期：用于高亮度电子纸的双稳态电流体装置

• 批准号: 1058302
• 负责人: Kenneth Dean
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Gamma Dynamics LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-04-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1058302&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Bistable; Electrofluidic

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will create electronic paper displays from a new e-paper technology that promises substantially improved black and white contrast, bright color images, multimedia/internet update speeds, and zero power image hold. The technology, an electrofluidic pixel that uses voltage to move a colored pigment in a fluid, is capable of achieving twice the reflectivity of existing e-paper solutions. This improvement in reflectivity enables the color saturation found in printed media. The multi-stable pixel designs demonstrated in the Phase I program make possible zero power images with grayscales. The Phase II research project will develop the technology for complete electronic paper displays incorporating this new pixel technology that are robust and manufacturable, and that achieve record reflectance (~ 70%). The first prototypes to be designed and created will be simple information content displays with simple electrical drive, such as electronic shelf labels. The later stage prototypes will be e-Reader displays with active matrix backplanes.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the widespread replacement of paper-media with electronic paper, providing superior low power products to the current burgeoning market. In particular, the improvements demonstrated in this project enable saturated colors and multimedia "video" rates with a zero-power image hold, thereby overcoming performance barriers that have blocked low power color electronic books from entering the market. For example, this technology could replace a stack of textbooks with a single lightweight color multimedia tablet. The market opportunity is easily in excess of $10B, and will support numerous new U.S. jobs under a business model providing a sustainable economic benefit to the U.S.A. Multi-stable electrofluidic technology is also well suited for both small and large electronic signage applications.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将利用一种新的电子纸技术制造电子纸显示器，这种技术有望大幅提高黑白对比度、彩色图像明亮、多媒体/互联网更新速度和零功耗图像保持率。该技术是一种电流体像素，利用电压移动流体中的彩色颜料，其反射率是现有电子纸解决方案的两倍。这种反射率的提高使印刷介质的色彩饱和度得以提高。在第一阶段程序中演示的多稳定像素设计使具有灰度的零功率图像成为可能。第二阶段的研究项目将开发完整的电子纸显示器技术，结合这种新的像素技术，坚固耐用，可制造，并达到创纪录的反射率（~ 70%）。设计和制造的第一个原型将是简单的信息内容显示，带有简单的电力驱动，比如电子货架标签。后期的原型将是带有有源矩阵背板的电子阅读器显示器。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是用电子纸广泛取代纸质媒体，为当前蓬勃发展的市场提供优质的低功耗产品。特别是，本项目所展示的改进使饱和色彩和多媒体“视频”速率能够以零功耗图像保持，从而克服了阻碍低功耗彩色电子书进入市场的性能障碍。例如，这项技术可以用一个轻量级的彩色多媒体平板电脑取代一堆教科书。市场机会很容易超过100亿美元，并将在商业模式下支持许多新的美国就业机会，为美国提供可持续的经济效益。多稳定的电流体技术也非常适合小型和大型电子标牌应用。