STTR Phase I: Nano-Structured Surfaces for Advanced Liquid Crystal Displays and Electro-Optic Devices

这个小型企业技术转移阶段（STTR） I研究项目旨在测试将铁电液晶的最新科学和技术进展与纳米级特征工程（溅射波纹）的进展相结合的可行性，以生产新一代显示器和先进的电光器件。这种新型液晶不仅能提供新颖、高性能的显示器，还能在光学数据存储、光束转向、自适应光学和电信等方面实现迄今为止不切实际的进步。然而，目前的液晶电池技术还没有为这种新型液晶的正常运行提供必要的条件。通过纳米工程形成的无机导电表面为这一问题提供了解决方案。它们也有可能取代传统液晶产品中使用了几十年的电池技术，因为它们具有更大的均匀性和与先进制造工艺的兼容性。该项目将在适合液晶电池的无机导电表面上产生各种纳米级表面形貌，并测试它们排列液晶的能力。由实验表面制成的电池将进行测试，以确定它们是否能产生预期的性能优势。如果成功，该技术将使高亮度微型投影仪在外形相似的情况下，性能优于平板显示器。预计这些优势在汽车导航和娱乐显示方面尤其引人注目。这些技术进步还将使用于光束转向和自适应光学的空间光调制器，以及具有更高数据速率并能够纠正HDS光学不均匀性的全息数据存储（HDS）写入头成为可能。该项目将探索利用溅射波纹在无机导电表面形成各向异性纳米结构的新领域，如玻璃上的铟锡氧化物和硅上的铝（用于FLC微显示器的材料）。这项工作还将推进对重要的液晶-表面相互作用力的认识，这是开发先进电光器件的关键。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase (STTR) I research project aims to test the feasibility of combining recent advances in the science and technology of ferroelectric liquid crystals with advances in nanoscale feature engineering (sputter rippling) to produce a new generation of displays and advanced electro-optic devices. Not only do the new liquid crystals offer novel, high performance displays, they would also enable heretofore impractical advances in optical data storage, optical beam steering, adaptive optics, and telecommunications. However, present day liquid crystal cell technology does not provide the conditions needed for proper operation of the new liquid crystals. Inorganic conducing surfaces formed through nanoscale engineering offer a solution to this problem. They also have the potential to displace decades-old cell technologies used in conventional liquid crystal products due to their greater uniformity and their compatibility with advanced manufacturing processes. The project will produce a variety of nanoscale surface topographies on inorganic conductive surfaces that are suitable for liquid crystals cells, and to test their ability to align liquid crystals. Cells made from the experimental surfaces will be tested to determine whether or not they produce the expected performance benefits. If successful, the proposed technology will enable high brightness microprojectors with performance superior to flat panel displays while being similar in form. It is expected the advantages to be especially compelling for automotive navigation and entertainment displays. These technical advances will also enable spatial light modulators for beam steering and adaptive optics, and holographic data storage (HDS) write heads capable of higher data rates and capable of correcting for HDS optical non-uniformities. The project will be exploring new territory in using sputter rippling to form anisotropic nanostructures on inorganic conducting surfaces such as indium-tin-oxide on glass, and aluminum on silicon (materials used in FLC microdisplays). This work will also advance knowledge of important liquid crystal-surface interaction forces, key to developing advanced electro-optic devices.