Functional Active-matrix Roll-up Displays

Subcapsule addressing enables hi-resolution display capability 

Integration of the active-matrix backplane and the electronic ink frontplane is a simple lamination process at a low temperature. After lamination the final stage of display processing is removal of the display from its rigid support. This support can then be re-used in the fabrication process. The cross-section of the complete stack of the Tollable active-matrix display is shown in Fig. 14.11. The complete display is only 100 pm thick, which is the same thickness as a normal piece of paper. 

Pictures of a functional display are shown in Fig. 14.12. Images containing four gray levels are displayed. The black to white switching time is 600 ms and a complete image update takes 1.5 s. A summary of the display specifications is shown in Table 14.2. 

Display lifetime is a crucial aspect of market acceptance. Shelf and operational lifetime are general measures of the lifetime of displays For Tollable displays the bending lifetime is an another consideration. The current operational lifetime is 168 h when operating the display at a 10% duty cycle (every 10 s the display is addressed for 1 s) at room temperature. The operational lifetime test must be performed with a duty cycle, because the display is multi-stable. The current shelf lifetime at room temperature is 6 months. Bending lifetime is excellent - the display has been rolled to a radius of 7.5 mm more than 10000 times without any degradation. 

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