Science! By Ryan Whitwam Jul. 11, 2014 3:27 pm
How many pixels is enough? It’s a question technology enthusiasts have been struggling with for years, but it seems the answer is simply “always more.” It looks like 1080p smartphones are about to make way for 1440p displays and 4K TV is slowly creeping up on regular HD. At some point, the pixels just can’t get any smaller, but that might be much further away than we thought. A group of scientists from Oxford University have succeeded in creating “nano-pixels” just a few hundred nanometers across.
The miniscule size of the pixels produced in Oxford’s new phase change material study is a bit mind-boggling. At 300 nanometers square, each pixel is the size of a small bacterial cell. They were created by sandwiching a layer of phase changing material between two transparent electrodes. The team found that small currents applied to the electrode could essentially draw images on the material.
The pixels can be switched on and off at will, making them potentially revolutionary for next generation display technology. Displays based on this technology would have something in common with e-paper in that they wouldn’t need to constantly refresh, which would be great for battery life. Unlike e-paper, the nano-pixels aren’t limited to one color. The team has figured out how to generate an array of colors, including the red, green, and blue sub-pixels needed for full color displays.
Oxford sees this as more than a theoretical laboratory material — it’s already working with its commercialization arm, known as Isis Innovation, to license the nano-pixel material to companies. Because the central phase shifting material is so thin (just 7 nanometers), it could be used to finally make flexible displays a reality. Yeah, we’ve heard that before, but Oxford seems pretty serious about this material.
The images above show what researchers were able to do in the lab, but before you scoff, just know each picture is only 70 micrometers across. That’s thinner than a human hair. I’d call that impressive pixel density.
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The miniscule size of the pixels produced in Oxford’s new phase change material study is a bit mind-boggling. At 300 nanometers square, each pixel is the size of a small bacterial cell. They were created by sandwiching a layer of phase changing material between two transparent electrodes. The team found that small currents applied to the electrode could essentially draw images on the material.
The pixels can be switched on and off at will, making them potentially revolutionary for next generation display technology. Displays based on this technology would have something in common with e-paper in that they wouldn’t need to constantly refresh, which would be great for battery life. Unlike e-paper, the nano-pixels aren’t limited to one color. The team has figured out how to generate an array of colors, including the red, green, and blue sub-pixels needed for full color displays.
Oxford sees this as more than a theoretical laboratory material — it’s already working with its commercialization arm, known as Isis Innovation, to license the nano-pixel material to companies. Because the central phase shifting material is so thin (just 7 nanometers), it could be used to finally make flexible displays a reality. Yeah, we’ve heard that before, but Oxford seems pretty serious about this material.
The images above show what researchers were able to do in the lab, but before you scoff, just know each picture is only 70 micrometers across. That’s thinner than a human hair. I’d call that impressive pixel density.
More...
