PFI-TT: Development of a Bubble Printer for Low-cost, Rapid Fabrication of High-Resolution Displays

该创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种新型打印机，该打印机将能够低成本快速制造高分辨率显示面板。这种显示器对于许多新兴应用至关重要，例如虚拟现实和增强现实，可用于手术训练，军事训练和虚拟旅游。目前，显示器制造的高成本限制了广泛的实施。所提出的气泡打印机有望克服大规模实现高分辨率显示器的成本和分辨率障碍。拟议的项目将在研究、开发、销售和营销等各个层面创造就业机会，并帮助建立工业界和学术界之间的合作。该项目将通过市场研究，最终客户验证和显示器成本分析的实践经验，使工程专业的学生接触创业。鼓励来自代表性不足群体的学生参与创业，研究和开发。拟议的项目将解决制造高分辨率显示器的高成本问题，这与提高亮度和对比度有关，同时降低显示器的像素尺寸。利用所提出的气泡印刷，将使用专有的光刻技术将发光材料高分辨率地图案化成小像素。像素发射特性将通过衬底与有源层之间的等离子体相互作用而增强。该项目完成后，该团队预计通过研究高速Marangoni流并通过使用表面活性剂分子实现气泡的稳定化，在1000 mm/s的激光扫描速度下实现图案化面积增加100倍（增加10倍）。为了增加气泡打印在不同基底上的通用性，连续波和飞秒激光器将用于气泡生成和图案化。一个独立的气泡打印机将证明其集成到当前的显示器制造生产线。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to develop a novel printer that will enable low-cost, rapid fabrication of high-resolution display panels. Such displays are critical for many emerging applications such as virtual reality and augmented reality, which can be used for surgical training, military training, and virtual tourism. Currently, the high cost of display fabrication limits wide implementation. The proposed bubble printer is expected to overcome the cost and resolution barriers for the large-scale implementation of the high-resolution displays. The proposed project will create jobs at various levels in research, development, sales, and marketing and help establish collaborations among industry and academia. The project will expose engineering students to entrepreneurship through hands-on experiences with market research, end-customer validation, and cost analysis of displays. Students from underrepresented groups are encouraged to participate in entrepreneurship, research, and development. The proposed project will tackle the high cost of fabricating high-resolution displays, which is associated with enhancing the brightness and contrast while reducing the pixel size of the displays. With the proposed bubble printing, a proprietary lithography technique will be used for high-resolution patterning of light-emitting materials into small pixels. Pixel emission characteristics will be enhanced by plasmonic interactions between the substrates and the active layers. Upon completion of the project, the team expects to achieve a 100-fold increase in patterning area at a laser-scanning speed of 1000 mm/s (a 10-fold increase) by studying high-speed Marangoni flows and achieving stabilization of bubbles through use of surfactant molecules. To increase the versatility of bubble printing on different substrates, both continuous wave and femtosecond lasers will be utilized for bubble generation and patterning. A stand-alone bubble printer will demonstrate its integrability into current display manufacturing production lines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.