SBIR-STTR Award

Etalon has recently demonstrated a fundamentally new display technology based on Microelectromechanical (MEM) Structures. Exploiting the phenomena of interference, these interferometric modulators (IMods) are simple membrane structures whose colors change when deformed electrostatically. IMods have already demonstrated drive voltages of 25 volts, response times of 1 microsecond, and prominent hysteresis. The latter is due to the electromechanical behavior of the device which precludes the need for TFTs in the fabrication of large arrays. The nature of the IMods is such that it can be designed to switch from any color to black, white, or any other color, with theoretical pixel contrast ratios of 900:1. Currently fabricated on glass substrates, the IMod is being developed as the core for a new generation of full-color, video rate, refelective Flat Panel Displays. These displays are expected to consume as little as 5 milliwatts of power excluding driver circuits. Power consumption could be further reducedby a factor of 8 or more if spatial dithering were used instead of pulse width modulation to provide gray-scale. The goal of this effort will be to explore the potential of spatially dithered IMod arrays in fabricating high performance FPDs which draw only hundreds of microwatts of display power.

Etalon has demonstrated a fundamentally new reflective display technology based on a novel Microelectromechanical (MEM) Structure. Relying on interference, these Interferometric Modulators (IModsª) are simple membrane structures whose colors change when deformed electrostatically. This innovative device and process exploit the unique marriage of the vast range of thin film optical designs and MEMs. IMods arrays (of 1500 x 2300 elements) have already demonstrated drive voltages of 20 volts, response times of <20 µsecs, and mechanical memory. The small size of the core IMod device allows resolutions up to 1,000 dpi without added complexity. Efficient interference effects make possible exceptionally bright reflective displays with theoretical pixel contrast ratios exceeding 100:1. The leveraging of existing of the LCD infrastructure of production tools and drivers should help accelerate commercialization. Fabricated monolithically, unlike assembled FPD alternatives, the IMod could establish the core of anew generation of full-color, video rate, reflective FPDs - or Digital Paperª. Such displays could represent the first commercial application for very large area MEMS arrays. The goal of this effort will be to create an integrated model of several IMod configurations, relate the model to empirical results, and optionally produce a small IMod matrix (30 x 40) display demonstration.