Nanowires Grown for Ultra-Thin Displays
10 May 2008, 10:58
Categories: nano-emissive-displays nanotubes-wires-fullerenes
Researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign have developed a simple process to grow copper nanowires on different surfaces; each wire is between 70 nanometers and 250 nanometers wide. The nanowire arrays could find use in field-emission displays (FED), a new type of display technology that promises to provide brighter, more vivid pictures than existing flat-panel displays.
FEDs work in a manner that is similar, in principle, to cathode-ray-tube (CRTs) televisions, but they are only a few millimeters thick and use millions of tiny electron emitters instead of using a single electron gun. In FEDs, the copper nanowires would be used to fire electrons at red, green and blue phosphor particles that are coated on a screen, lighting them up. The nanowires are uniform and have a very pointed tip, and they emit electrons at low voltages, unlike the tungsten filament used in conventional, bulky CRTs, which require many kiloVolts.
Posted by: The Editors
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