Researchers are
planning to dominate the display market in ten years’ time with a
technique that can be used on any device from large-screen TVs to
digital cameras.
Research teams
from three UK universities – the University of Dundee, Napier
University in Edinburgh and the University of Surrey – are
collaborating on a project to develop an improved and cheaper
display alternative to LCDs.
The
high-resolution, flat-panel display the research teams are working
on could also help extend battery life on laptop PCs and cut the
cost of electronic products.
Currently, devices
such as notebooks use a combination of thin-film transfer
technology and liquid crystal displays. However, LCDs are both
power-hungry and expensive to produce.
The new form of
display being developed by the universities uses a technology
called field emission display (FED), and could provide a low-cost,
low-power, high-performance alternative to LCDs. Mervyn Rose, the
man behind the two-year old research project, said, “The aim is to
use one quarter less power than an LCD.”
Rose, who is a
reader in physics at the University of Dundee’s department of
electronic engineering and physics, believed that the project, as
well as extending battery life, could eventually bring broader cost
reductions; mainly because FEDs are cheaper to produce than
traditional LCDs.
Unlike thin film
transfer (TFT) displays, FEDs are effectively tiny, flat
cathode-ray tubes. The technology works by using a two-dimensional
electron source and a phosphor material to emit the light, which
creates the image. However, development of FEDs has been held back
until now by the sheer complexity of the manufacturing process.
Overcoming this
problem has been a focus of Rose’s research. By using thin-film
amorphous silicon and laser processing techniques, the three
universities are now able to make an FED that avoids the need for
lithography, the complex and expensive technique used today in the
production of TFT displays.
The end result
should be a high-brightness, high-resolution FED that can be driven
by substantially less power than existing displays, according to
Rose. He said, “The main benefit of this is that it will give a
very low-power display that is very stable and uniform.”
Rose said, “The
most important benefit for IT managers will be a dramatic reduction
in the cost of a display when compared to an LCD.”
Rose, whose
previous research work covered memory devices, x-ray sensors and
solar cells, said FEDs could be used in a number of areas, notably
as an alternative to flat-screen plasma TVs.
“Potentially, you
can use this technology for anything from miniature displays on
digital cameras to large-screen TVs, notebooks and medical and
aircraft displays,” he said.
Along with cheaper
manufacturing, FEDs promise to deliver far crisper and more
colourful images than is possible on a TFT display. The viewing
angle for FEDs will be equivalent to the 180 degrees offered by
cathode ray tubes. In contrast, the viewing angles offered by LCDs
vary greatly.
Rose also aims to
shorten the time it will take the new technique to appear on the
market. He said, “Displays usually take a long time to make it to
the market – sometimes up to 15 years – but we aim to cut that
dramatically as we have found a way to simplify the manufacturing
process.”
As FEDs can be
manufactured with existing technologies, users will only have to
wait five to 10 years before FEDs are deployed on devices such as
notebooks and flat-screen TVs, Rose said.
So far, teams from
Dundee and Napier have received a total of £200,000 as “proof of
concept” funding from Scottish Enterprise to develop the
project.
The fund, which is
now in its fourth year, currently supports 120 projects worth over
£19m which have already created 290 new jobs in Scotland.
The next stage for
the universities involved in the research project is to forge
closer links with industry. Rose said, “We now plan to spin out
some form of commercial venture for the research project, which
will enable us to work more closely with the private sector.
“We are aiming to
make a robust demonstrator device that we can show to industry,” he
added.
Benefits
of FEDs
According to
research at the three universities, field emission displays (FEDs)
should offer distinct advantages over liquid crystal displays
(LCDs), including:
- Lower power
- High definition images
- Lower production costs.
Connect
Scotland
Connect Scotland
is a non-profit-making organisation founded in 1996 to nurture the
creation, development and growth of emerging technology
companies.
It provides a
nationwide support infrastructure which brings together
universities, venture capitalists, banks and technology experts, as
well as corporates, local enterprise companies, lawyers and
individuals with specific management or sector experience.
A spin-off of the
University of Edinburgh, Connect Scotland is supported by all 14 of
Scotland’s universities.
www.connectonthenet.com
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