Monolayer gyricon display
First Claim
1. A material comprising:
- a substrate; and
a plurality of optically anisotropic particles disposed substantially in a monolayer in the substrate, the particles being closely packed with respect to one another in the monolayer, a rotatable disposition of each particle being achievable while said particle is thus disposed in the substrate, said particle, when in said rotatable disposition, not being attached to the substrate.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A gyricon or twisting-ball display having superior reflectance characteristics comparing favorably with those of white paper. The display is based on a material made up of optically anisotropic particles, such as bichromal balls, disposed substantially in a monolayer in a substrate. The particles are closely packed with respect to one another in the monolayer, preferably so that adjacent particle surfaces are as close to one another as possible. A rotatable disposition of each particle is achievable while the particle is thus disposed in the substrate; for example, the particles can already be rotatable in the substrate, or can be rendered rotatable in the substrate by a nondestructive operation performed on the substrate. In particular, the particles can be situated in an elastomer substrate that is expanded by application of a fluid thereto so as to render the particles rotatable therein. A particle, when in its rotatable disposition, is not attached to the substrate. A reflective-mode display apparatus can be constructed from a piece of the material together a mechanism (e.g., addressing electrodes) for facilitating rotation of at least one of the particles. The light reflected from the display is reflected substantially entirely from the monolayer of balls, so that lower layers are not needed. By eliminating the lower layers, the display can be made thinner, which in turn provides further advantages, such as lower drive voltage and better resolution due to better control of fringing fields.
248 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A material comprising:
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a substrate; and a plurality of optically anisotropic particles disposed substantially in a monolayer in the substrate, the particles being closely packed with respect to one another in the monolayer, a rotatable disposition of each particle being achievable while said particle is thus disposed in the substrate, said particle, when in said rotatable disposition, not being attached to the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. Apparatus comprising:
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a member having an optically transmissive viewing surface; a plurality of optically anisotropic particles rotatably disposed substantially in a monolayer, the particles being closely packed with respect to one another in the monolayer, the particles of the monolayer being disposed behind the viewing surface with respect to an observer situated favorably to observe the viewing surface, the particles thus being observable by the observer through the viewing surface, each particle having an anisotropy for providing an electrical dipole moment, the electrical dipole moment rendering the particle electrically responsive such that when the particle is rotatably disposed in an electric field while the electrical dipole moment of the particle is provided, the particle tends to rotate to an orientation in which the electrical dipole moment aligns with the field; means for keeping in place with respect to the viewing surface the particles thus disposed; and means for facilitating a rotation of at least one of the particles thus disposed by selectively applying an electric field to a particle for which the electrical dipole moment is provided. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. Apparatus comprising:
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a substrate having a surface; and a plurality of particles disposed in the substrate, each particle having an anisotropy for providing an electrical dipole moment, the electrical dipole moment rendering the particle electrically responsive such that when the particle is rotatably disposed in an electric field while the electrical dipole moment of the particle is provided, the particle tends to rotate to an orientation in which the electrical dipole moment aligns with the field, each particle comprising first and second component regions associated with, respectively, first and second optical modulation characteristics, the first component region having a first region surface, the second component region having a second region surface, the first and second region surfaces being disposed relative to one another such that the particle, when rotatably disposed in the substrate, can be rotated to an orientation in which the first region surface is relatively proximate to the substrate surface and the second region surface is relatively distal to the substrate surface, at least some of the particles of the plurality being disposed in a single layer in the substrate, the single layer being substantially parallel to the surface of a portion of the substrate, the single layer having an areal extent, the areal extent being coextensive with at least said portion of the substrate, the particles of the layer being disposed in the layer in a manner such that over substantially all of the areal extent of the layer, a line segment constructed perpendicular to the substrate surface from any given point on the substrate surface and extending towards the layer and further extending through the layer intersects at most one particle of the layer before exiting the layer, each particle of the layer having a projected area with respect to the substrate surface, the projected area being that area of the substrate surface covered by a projection of said particle'"'"'s first region surface onto the substrate surface when said particle is rotationally orientated such that said particle'"'"'s first region surface is maximally proximate to the substrate surface, the particles of the layer being situated sufficiently close to one another in the layer such that the sum of the projected areas of the particles of the layer exceeds two-thirds of the area of the surface of said portion of the substrate throughout which the layer areally extends.
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Specification