Engineers make first 'active matrix' display using nanowires

"Even in this first demonstration, we are fairly close to the brightness you'd see in an LCD television," Janes said.

The researchers also demonstrated they could create OLEDS of the proper size for commercial displays, about 176 by 54 microns, or millionths of a meter. OLEDS that size would be ideal for small displays in cell phones, personal digital assistants and other portable electronics.

The research has been funded by NASA through the Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing, based at Purdue's Discovery Park.

The Nano Letters paper was authored by Sanghyun Ju, a postdoctoral research associate in Purdue's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; doctoral students Jianfeng Li and Jun Liu at Northwestern; doctoral students Po-Chiang Chen, Hsiaokang Chang and Fumiaki Ishikawa at the University of Southern California; graduate student Young-geun Ha at Northwestern; Chongwu Zhou, an associate professor of electrical engineering at USC; Antonio Facchetti, a research associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University; and Marks and Janes.

Related Web sites:

David Janes: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECE/People/profile?resource_id=2934

Tobin J. Marks: http://www.chem.northwestern.edu/faculty/details?assetID=1433

Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing: http://www.inac.purdue.edu/

PHOTO CAPTION:

Purdue postdoctoral research associate Sanghyun Ju, sitting, and professor David B. Janes work at a "micro-manipulation probe station" in research using nanotechnology to create transparent transistors and circuits. The innovation represents a step that promises a broad range of applications, from e-paper and flexible color screens for consumer electronics to "smart cards" and "heads-up" displays in auto windshields. The transistors are made of single "nanowires," or tiny cylindrical structures that were assembled on glass or thin films of flexible plastic. Some of the research is being conducted at Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center at the university's Discovery Park. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)

A publication-quality photo is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2007/janes-nanowire.jpg

Abstract on the research in this release is available at: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080331JanesOleds.html