Nanowires are 20 nanometer cylindrical structures that are assembled on glass or flexible substrates. Researchers at Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center used nanowires as transistors as part of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. David Janes, a researcher at Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center and a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, commented that this “is a step toward demonstrating the practical potential of nanowire transistors in displays…”
OLEDs require a complex process and is difficult to manufacture pixels small enough for displays with high resolutions. Nanowire-transistor electronics are billed as a possible solution for both reducing cost and enabling high resolutions on OLED displays.
Since so many LCD manufacturers are on the OLED bandwagon, there will need to be a tremendous amount of R&D and positive results in the short term for reducing the complexity and cost of manufacturing OLEDs, ensuring picture quality over 50,000 hours (brightness deteriorates at different rates among red, green and blue elements) and reducing power consumption. I think most are underestimating the enormous amount of work needed to scale OLED displays to much larger sizes, but I optimistically wait for 32″ OLED TVs to hit the market in a few years. I’m not holding my breath though.
Source: Purdue University
[tags]Nanowire, OLED, Organic Light Emitting Diode, Purdue University[/tags]
