Flexible Displays
Carbon nanotubes’ unique electronic properties make them promising as, among other things, ultra-efficient “electron emitters” for bright, low-power displays. Now, researchers have found a way to pattern nanotubes onto plastic sheets for flexible displays.
The new method, developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Northeastern University, and New Mexico State University, starts with a surface prepatterned to specify where multiwalled nanotubes will grow on it. The researchers pour a liquid over the nanotubes and cook it until it forms a polymer. They then peel off the polymer and nanotubes. The polymer preserves the pattern right down to the positions of indi-vidual nanotubes, which it keeps aligned.
For displays, where single nanotubes must be isolated from others to get the best efficiencies, the researchers strip off a layer of polymer to expose the tips of nanotubes, then burn off long or tangled nanotubes, leaving isolated ones. “The results we’ve seen are some of the best that have been reported in the literature,” says Swastik Kar, a postdoctoral researcher at RPI and a lead author of the paper. Prototype displays are still a few years off.
Keep Reading
Most Popular

The gene-edited pig heart given to a dying patient was infected with a pig virus
The first transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart into a human may have ended prematurely because of a well-known—and avoidable—risk.

Meta has built a massive new language AI—and it’s giving it away for free
Facebook’s parent company is inviting researchers to pore over and pick apart the flaws in its version of GPT-3

Saudi Arabia plans to spend $1 billion a year discovering treatments to slow aging
The oil kingdom fears that its population is aging at an accelerated rate and hopes to test drugs to reverse the problem. First up might be the diabetes drug metformin.

The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images
Google Brain has revealed its own image-making AI, called Imagen. But don't expect to see anything that isn't wholesome.
Stay connected

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.