AVS 46th International Symposium
    Flat Panel Displays Topical Conference Tuesday Sessions
       Session FP-TuM

Invited Paper FP-TuM10
Plastic Liquid Crystal Displays from Conducting Polymer

Tuesday, October 26, 1999, 11:20 am, Room 604

Session: Novel Materials for Field Emission Displays and Technologies for Flexible Displays
Presenter: R. Shashidhar, Naval Research Laboratory
Authors: R. Shashidhar, Naval Research Laboratory
L. Huang, Geo-Centers Inc./Naval Research Laboratory
C. O’Ferrall, Geo-Centers Inc./Naval Research Laboratory
W. Fritz, Liquid Crystal Institute
J. Doane, Liquid Crystal Institute
Correspondent: Click to Email
In a conventional liquid crystal display device (LCD), glass substrates coated with an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer are typically used for the application of an electric field to the liquid crystal material. For many applications, there is a need for a LCD with a plastic substrate. Polypyrrole is a well known conducting polymer for its high conductivity and chemical stability. Compared with the currently used ITO conducting layer, polypyrrole is more compatible mechanically with plastic. Because it is an organic material, it should be able to bend and flex with the substrate. Here we describe the preparation of polypyrrole films on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate by an in-situ solution deposition process and their patterning by conventional photolithography techniques. We will discuss their important physical properties, such as surface resistance and optical transmission and their suitability as a substitute for ITO as an electrode for a plastic reflective Cholesteric reflective LCD. We have demonstrated for the first time the operation of a fully multiplexed plastic (LCD) using conducting polymers (on plastic) as the substrates and the reflective cholesteric display technology. The resultant display has several features like lightweight, low power consumption, increased ruggedness, bistability, sunlight readability and flicker-free operation. The functioning of the conducting polymer-based LCD is demonstrated and the features that make it attractive for many applications are discussed.