Advantage and Core Benefit
- Simple structure completed by a counter electrode and a droplet.
- Droplets are extremely stable chemically and thermally, as well as mechanically stable and resistant to vibration and shock.
- Inkjet printer technology can be applied to create large laser arrays extremely easily
Background and Technology
Display technology has a history of progress with the development of new light-emitting elements, from cathode-ray tubes to liquid crystals, plasma, organic EL, and quantum dots. Laser displays are expected to be the next generation of display technology capable of producing clear images using laser light with high brightness and a wide color gamut. Until now, (1) optical scanning type (doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08834-6), in which pixels printed with organic laser ink on a substrate are made to emit light by scanning an excitation beam, and (2) current excitation type (doi.org/10.7567/10.7567 /1882-0786/ab1b90) and other technologies have been proposed. However, there are several technical barriers to creating large screen displays, such as the space required to scan the light (optical scanning type) and the difficulty of creating solid-state elements (current excitation type).
Inventors have developed an extremely stable 100% liquid laser source (https://doi.org/10.1002/lpor.202200874). The tiny droplet lasers are deformable by a weak force and can be controlled on/off by an electric field; they have devised a method to print RGB organic droplet lasers, emit them with an excitation light and control the RBG laser emission in each pixel by an electric field, like LCD displays. Currently, work is underway to improve the On/Off ratio and develop multi-color technology, which, if realized, could lead to the practical application of a new type of laser display with excellent processability.
Data
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- Droplet laser realized by holding a non-volatile ionic liquid containing laser dye in an almost spherical shape on a substrate with a superhydrophobic surface (left) Laser display with droplet deformation by an electric field and RGB arraying.
Patent & Publication
Patent-pending
Yamagishi et. al. Laser Photon. Rev. Vol 17, 5, 2200874 (2023)
Researcher
Hiroshi Yamagishi and Yohei Yamamoto (University of Tsukuba)
Expectations
We are seeking joint development partner companies for the development of next-generation laser displays. We are particularly interested in joint research with companies that possess the following technologies.
(1) Organic or inorganic dyes that can be dissolved in ionic liquids (especially blue and green)
(ii) Waveguide construction for excitation light
(iii) Technology for printing on substrates and assembling into displays
Project.WL-04689