Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Electrofluidic Displays

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Visual Display Technology

  • 352 Accesses

Abstract

Electrofluidic displays were first reported in 2009, and transpose brilliantly colored pigment dispersions via competition between electromechanical and Young-Laplace pressure. To our knowledge, this is the first display technology to use a three-dimensional (3-D) microfluidic device structure and leverages brilliantly colored aqueous pigment dispersions. Reported herein is a brief review of electrofluidic display technology. The review includes the device operating principle, fabrication, speed, brightness, and color performance. Also presented is recent progress in key areas needed for realizing products, including bistability, fabrication on flexible substrates, and performance in various temperatures (varied from −28 °C to 80 °C).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

C:

Capacitance

CMY:

Cyan, magenta and yellow

d:

Dielectrics thickness

DPI:

Dots per inch

h:

Channel height

l:

Pixel length

p:

Pressure

R :

Radius of curvature

R:

Reflectance

RGB(W):

Red, green, blue (white)

U:

Velocity

V:

Voltage

γ:

Interfacial surface tension

ε:

Dielectric constant

θV :

Wetting angle under voltage

θY :

Young’s angle

References

  • Back U et al (2002) Nanomaterials-based electrochromics for paper-quality display. Adv Mater 14:845–848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berthier J (2008) Microdrops and digital microfluidics. William and Andrew, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown EC et al (2005) Adding a white subpixel. Inf Disp 5:26–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Cristea D, Vilarem G (2006) Improving light fastness of natural dyes on cotton yarn. Dyes Pigm 70:238–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fair R (2007) Digital microfluidics: is a true lab-on-a-chip possible? Microfluid Nanofluid 3:245–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham-Rowe D (2008) Electronic paper targets colour video. Nat Photonics 2:204–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagedon M, Yang S, Russell A et al (2012) Bright e-Paper by transport of ink through a white electrofluidic imaging film. Nat Commun 3:1173, 11/06/online

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hattori R et al (2004) A novel bistable reflective display using quick-response liquid powder. J Soc Inf Disp 12:75–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes RA, Feenstra BJ (2003) Video-speed electronic paper based on electrowetting. Nature 425:383–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heikenfeld J et al (2009) Electrofluidic displays using Young-Laplace transposition of brilliant pigment dispersions. Nat Photonics 3:292–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huitema E et al (2006) Flexible electronic-paper active-matrix displays. J Soc Inf Disp 14:729–733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones TB (2005) An electromechanical interpretation of electrowetting. J Micromech Microeng 15:1184–1187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan A et al (2005) Reflective cholesteric LCDs for electronic paper applications. In: Proceedings of the international display manufacturing conference, pp 397–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Mugele F, Baret J (2005) Electrowetting: from basics to applications. J Phys Condens Matter 17:R705–R774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song J et al (2009) A scaling model for electrowetting-on-dielectric microfluidic actuators. Microfluid Nanofluid 7:75–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang S et al (2010) High reflectivity electrofluidic pixels with zero-power grayscale operation. Appl Phys Lett 97(143501):3

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou K et al (2010a) Reliable electrofluidic display pixels without liquid splitting. SID 10 Digest, pp 1659–1662

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou K et al (2010b) Flexible electrofluidic displays using brilliantly colored pigments. SID 10 Digest, pp 484–486

    Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Heikenfeld J et al (2011) Review paper: a critical review of the present and future prospects for electronic paper. J Soc Inf Disp 19(2):129–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou K et al (2009) A full description of a simple and scalable fabrication process for electrowetting displays. J Micromech Microeng 19(065029):12

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Novel Devices Laboratory, School of Electronics and Computing Systems, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA

    Jason Heikenfeld

  2. Gamma Dynamics, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Kaichang Zhou

Authors
  1. Jason Heikenfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kaichang Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason Heikenfeld .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Technology Research Institute Display Technology Center, Hsin Chu, Taiwan

    Janglin Chen

  2. Nottingham Trent University School of Computing & Informatics, Nottingham, United Kingdom

    Wayne Cranton

  3. Veritas et Visus, Temple, TX, USA

    Mark Fihn

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Heikenfeld, J., Zhou, K. (2015). Electrofluidic Displays. In: Chen, J., Cranton, W., Fihn, M. (eds) Handbook of Visual Display Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35947-7_105-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35947-7_105-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35947-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation