Plasmon-based color tunable devices
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system comprising:
- a medium having dielectric properties that can be altered through application of an external stimulus;
a plurality of discrete structures adjacent to the medium, wherein each of the discrete structures have a plasmon resonance frequency that depends on the dielectric properties of the medium; and
a tuning system coupled to apply the external stimulus to the medium as needed to set the plasmon resonance to correspond to a desired frequency of light.
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Abstract
A color-tunable, reflective, paper-like display utilizes the unique optical properties of nano-engineered metal and metal-dielectric composite structures that exhibit a plasmon resonance. By changing the dielectric properties of a medium in which these structures are embedded, or by changing the spatial relationship of these structures, their optical absorbance and scattering spectra can be tuned. This enables simpler pixel architectures with better performance than is possible with fixed-color technologies. Low power video rate operation can be achieved in a paper-like display.
64 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a medium having dielectric properties that can be altered through application of an external stimulus; a plurality of discrete structures adjacent to the medium, wherein each of the discrete structures have a plasmon resonance frequency that depends on the dielectric properties of the medium; and a tuning system coupled to apply the external stimulus to the medium as needed to set the plasmon resonance to correspond to a desired frequency of light. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system comprising:
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a plurality of particles having plasmon resonances; a plurality of tethers that in a relaxed state respectively hold the particles in surroundings having first dielectric properties; a structure having second dielectric properties; and a tuning system coupled to move the particles from the surroundings having the first dielectric properties to locations closer to the structure having the second dielectric properties, wherein moving the particles changes a frequency of the plasmon resonance. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system comprising:
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a plurality of particles including particles of a first type that have plasmon resonances; a plurality of tethers, wherein multiple particles from the plurality of particles are attached to each tether; and a tuning system coupled to control forces that alter shapes of the tethers and spacings between the particles attached to the tethers. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system comprising:
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a compliant material; a plurality of particles of a first type embedded in the compliant material, the particles having plasmon resonances; and a tuning system coupled to control compression of the compliant material to thereby control relative spacing of the particles and frequencies of the plasmon resonances. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A system comprising:
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a first fluid; a second fluid that is immiscible with the first fluid and positioned to have an interface with the first fluid; a plurality of particles confined to the interface, the particles having plasmon resonances; and a tuning system coupled to control spacing of the particles to thereby control relative spacing of the particles and frequencies of the plasmon resonances. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A system comprising:
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a structure having discrete features with plasmon resonances; a fluid adjacent to the surface of the structure; a plurality of first particles in the fluid with dielectric properties that are different than those of the fluid; and a tuning system coupled to move the particles relative to the structure and thereby control frequencies of the plasmon resonances. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system comprising:
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a structure having first dielectric properties; a fluid adjacent to the surface of the structure, wherein the fluid has second dielectric properties that differ from the first dielectric properties; a plurality of particles having plasmon resonances; and a tuning system coupled to move the particles relative to the structure and thereby control frequencies of the plasmon resonances. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A system comprising:
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a plurality of particles that are non-spherical and have plasmon resonances; and a tuning system coupled to control orientations of the particles relative to the electric field directions of incident light, where frequencies of the plasmon resonances that interact with the incident light depend on the orientations of the particles relative to the electric field directions of the incident light. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A pixel structure comprising:
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a color-tunable layer having an apparent color that depends on a plasmon resonance in the color tunable layer; a tuning system coupled to control a frequency of the plasmon resonance, the tuning system selecting the frequency from a frequency range; a shutter in a stack with the color-tunable layer; and a back plate in the stack. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A pixel structure comprising:
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a first color-tunable layer having an apparent color that depends on a first plasmon resonance in the first color tunable structure; a first tuning system coupled to control a first frequency of the first plasmon resonance, the first tuning system selecting the first frequency from a first frequency range; a second color-tunable layer having an apparent color that depends on a second plasmon resonance in the second color tunable structure; and a second tuning system coupled to control a second frequency of the second plasmon resonance, the second tuning system selecting the second frequency from a second frequency range. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A light shutter comprising:
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a plurality of discrete structures having a plasmon resonance with a width corresponding to a range of frequencies to be gated by the light shutter; and a tuning system coupled to control a peak frequency of the plasmon resonance, the tuning system being capable of switching the peak frequency between a first frequency within the range and a second frequency outside the range. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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Specification