Researchers at Purdue University have created the first active matrix display that uses a new class of transparent transistors and circuits. The researchers say this is a first step towards flexible color monitors and heads-up displays in car windshields.
The transistors used in the display are made of nanowires, which are tiny cylindrical structures assembled on thin glass or plastic films. The nanowires used by the researchers for the display are as small as 20 nanometers or about a thousand times thinner than the average human hair. The nanowires were used to create an OLED display that rivals current flat-panel TVs in brightness.
One major challenge remains according to the researchers before the technology they developed can rival current TVs. Janes says, Displays in television sets are able to illuminate a particular pixel located, say, in the 10th row, fifth column. We aren't able to do that yet. We've shown that we can select a whole row at a time, not a single OLED, but we're getting close."
The researchers created their nanowire transistors out of a semiconductor called indium oxide, considered a potential replacement for silicon in future transparent circuits. Electrodes used in the OLEDs are made up of these transistors and electrodes made from indium tin oxide and plastic capacitors.
