LED:A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source.

[3] LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting. Introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962,[4] early LEDs emitted lowintensity red light, but modern versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness. When a light-emitting diode is forward-biased (switched on), electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence and the color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor. LEDs are often small in area (less than 1 mm2), and integrated optical components may be used to shape its radiation pattern.[5] LEDs present many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size, and faster switching. LEDs powerful enough for room lighting are relatively expensive and require more precise current and heat management than compact fluorescent lamp sources of comparable output. Light-emitting diodes are used in applications as diverse as replacements for aviation lighting, automotive lighting (in particular brake lamps, turn signals, and indicators) as well as in traffic signals. LEDs have allowed new text, video displays, and sensors to be developed, while their high switching rates are also useful in advanced communications technology. Infrared LEDs are also used in the remote control units of many commercial products including televisions, DVD players, and other domestic appliances.

Discoveries and early devices

Electroluminescence as a phenomenon was discovered in 1907 by the British experimenter H. J. Round of Marconi Labs, using a crystal of silicon carbide and a cat's-whisker detector.[6][7] Russian Oleg Vladimirovich Losev reported creation of the first LED in 1927.[8][9] His research was distributed in Russian, German and British scientific journals, but no practical use was made of the discovery for several decades.[10][11] Rubin Braunstein of the Radio Corporation of America reported on infrared emission from gallium arsenide (GaAs) and other semiconductor alloys in 1955.[12] Braunstein observed infrared emission generated by simple diode structures using gallium antimonide (GaSb), GaAs, indium phosphide (InP), and silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloys at room temperature and at 77 kelvin.

In 1961 American experimenters Robert Biard and Gary Pittman, working at Texas Instruments,[13] found that GaAs emitted infrared radiation when electric current was applied and received the patent for the infrared LED. The first practical visible-spectrum (red) LED was developed in 1962 by Nick Holonyak Jr., while working at General Electric Company.[4] Holonyak is seen as the "father of the light-emitting diode".[14] M. George Craford,[15] a former graduate student of Holonyak, invented the first yellow LED and improved the brightness of red and red-orange LEDs by a factor of ten in 1972.[16] In 1976, T.P. Pearsall created the first high-brightness, high-efficiency LEDs for optical fiber telecommunications by inventing new semiconductor materials specifically adapted to optical fiber transmission wavelengths.[17] Until 1968, visible and infrared LEDs were extremely costly, on the order of US $200 per unit, and so had little practical use.[2] The Monsanto Company was the first organization to mass-produce visible LEDs, using gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) in 1968 to produce red LEDs suitable for indicators.[2] Hewlett Packard (HP) introduced LEDs in 1968, initially using GaAsP supplied by Monsanto. The technology proved to have major uses for alphanumeric displays and was integrated into HP's early handheld calculators. In the 1970s commercially successful LED devices at less than five cents each were produced by Fairchild Optoelectronics. These devices employed compound semiconductor chips fabricated with the planar process invented by Dr. Jean Hoerni at Fairchild Semiconductor.[18] The combination of planar processing for chip fabrication and innovative packaging methods enabled the team at Fairchild led by optoelectronics pioneer Thomas Brandt to achieve the needed cost reductions. These methods continue to be used by LED producers.[19]

Practical use The first commercial LEDs were commonly used as replacements for incandescent and neon indicator lamps, and in seven-segment displays,[20] first in expensive equipment such as laboratory and electronics test equipment, then later in such appliances as TVs, radios, telephones, calculators, and even watches (see list of signal uses). These red LEDs were bright enough only for use as indicators, as the light output was not enough to illuminate an area. Readouts in calculators were so small that plastic lenses were built over each digit to make them legible. Later, other colors grew widely available and also appeared in appliances and equipment. As LED materials technology grew more advanced, light output rose, while maintaining efficiency and reliability at acceptable levels. The invention and development of the high-power white-light LED led to use for illumination, which is fast replacing incandescent and fluorescent lighting.[21][22] (see list of illumination applications). Most LEDs were made in the very common 5 mm T1 and 3 mm T1

packages, but with rising power output, it has grown increasingly necessary to shed excess heat to maintain reliability,[23] so more complex packages have been adapted for efficient heat dissipation. Packages for state-of-the-art high-power LEDs bear little resemblance to early LEDs.

Continuing development The first high-brightness blue LED was demonstrated by Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Corporation and was based on InGaN[24], borrowing on critical developments in GaN nucleation on sapphire substrates and the demonstration of p-type doping of GaN, which were developed by Isamu Akasaki and H. Amano in Nagoya.[citation needed] In 1995, Alberto Barbieri at the Cardiff University Laboratory (GB) investigated the efficiency and reliability of high-brightness LEDs and demonstrated a very impressive result by using a transparent contact made of indium tin oxide (ITO) on (AlGaInP/GaAs) LED. The existence of blue LEDs and high-efficiency LEDs quickly led to the development of the first white LED, which employed a Y3Al5O12:Ce, or "YAG", phosphor coating to mix yellow (down-converted) light with blue to produce light that appears white. Nakamura was awarded the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize for his invention.[25] The development of LED technology has caused their efficiency and light output to rise exponentially, with a doubling occurring about every 36 months since the 1960s, in a way similar to Moore's law. The advances are in general attributed to the parallel development of other semiconductor technologies and advances in optics and material science. This trend is called Haitz's law after Dr. Roland Haitz. [26] In February 2008, a luminous efficacy of 300 lumens of visible light per watt of radiation (not per electrical watt) and warm-light emission was achieved by using nanocrystals.[27] In 2001[28] and 2002[29], processes for growing gallium nitride (GaN) LEDs on silicon were successfully demonstrated, yielding high power LEDs reported in January 2012[30]. Epitaxy costs could be reduced by up to 90% using six-inch silicon wafers instead of two-inch sapphire wafers.[31]

Technology
Physics The LED consists of a chip of semiconducting material dopedwith impurities to create a p-n junction. As in other diodes, current flows easily from the p-side, or anode, to the n-side, orcathode, but not in the reverse direction. Charge-carriers

electrons andholesflow into the junction fromelectrodes with different voltages. When an electron meets a hole, it falls into a lowerenergy level, and releases energy in the form of a photon. The wavelength of the light emitted, and thus its color depends on theband gap energy of the materials forming the p-n junction. In silicon orgermanium diodes, the electrons and holes recombine by a non-radiative transition, which produces no optical emission, because these areindirect band gap materials. The materials used for the LED have a direct band gap with energies corresponding to near-infrared, visible, or near-ultraviolet light. LED development began with infrared and red devices made with gallium arsenide. Advances in materials science have enabled making devices with ever-shorter wavelengths, emitting light in a variety of colors. LEDs are usually built on an n-type substrate, with an electrode attached to the ptype layer deposited on its surface. P-type substrates, while less common, occur as well. Many commercial LEDs, especially GaN/InGaN, also use sapphire substrate. Most materials used for LED production have very high refractive indices. This means that much light will be reflected back into the material at the material/air surface interface. Thus, light extraction in LEDs is an important aspect of LED production, subject to much research and development. Efficiency and operational parameters Typical indicator LEDs are designed to operate with no more than 30 60milliwatts (mW) of electrical power. Around 1999, Philips Lumiledsintroduced power LEDs capable of continuous use at one watt. These LEDs used much larger semiconductor die sizes to handle the large power inputs. Also, the semiconductor dies were mounted onto metal slugs to allow for heat removal from the LED die. One of the key advantages of LED-based lighting sources is highluminous efficacy. White LEDs quickly matched and overtook the efficacy of standard incandescent lighting systems. In 2002, Lumileds made five-watt LEDs available with a luminous efficacy of 1822 lumens per watt (lm/W). For comparison, a conventional incandescent light bulb of 60100 watts emits around 15 lm/W, and standard fluorescent lights emit up to 100 lm/W. A recurring problem is that efficacy falls sharply with rising current. This effect is known as droop and effectively limits the light output of a given LED, raising heating more than light output for higher current.[39][40][41] In September 2003, a new type of blue LED was demonstrated by the company Cree Inc. to provide 24 mW at 20 milliamperes (mA). This produced a commercially packaged white light giving 65 lm/W at 20 mA, becoming the brightest white LED commercially available at the time, and more than four times as

efficient as standard incandescents. In 2006, they demonstrated a prototype with a record white LED luminous efficacy of 131 lm/W at 20 mA. Nichia Corporation has developed a white LED with luminous efficacy of 150 lm/W at a forward current of 20 mA.[42]Cree's XLamp XM-L LEDs, commercially available in 2011, produce 100 lumens per watt at their full power of 10 watts, and up to 160 lumens/watt at around 2 watts input power. Practical general lighting needs high-power LEDs, of one watt or more. Typical operating currents for such devices begin at 350 mA. Note that these efficiencies are for the LED chip only, held at low temperature in a lab. Lighting works at higher temperature and with drive circuit losses, so efficiencies are much lower. United States Department of Energy (DOE) testing of commercial LED lamps designed to replace incandescent lamps or CFLs showed that average efficacy was still about 46 lm/W in 2009 (tested performance ranged from 17 lm/W to 79 lm/W).[43] Cree issued a press release on February 3, 2010 about a laboratory prototype LED achieving 208 lumens per watt at room temperature. The correlated color temperature was reported to be 4579 K.[44] [edit]Lifetime and failure Main article: List of LED failure modes Solid state devices such as LEDs are subject to very limited wear and tear if operated at low currents and at low temperatures. Many of the LEDs made in the 1970s and 1980s are still in service today. Typical lifetimes quoted are 25,000 to 100,000 hours, but heat and current settings can extend or shorten this time significantly. [45] The most common symptom of LED (and diode laser) failure is the gradual lowering of light output and loss of efficiency. Sudden failures, although rare, can occur as well. Early red LEDs were notable for their short lifetime. With the development of high-power LEDs the devices are subjected to higher junction temperatures and higher current densities than traditional devices. This causes stress on the material and may cause early light-output degradation. To quantitatively classify lifetime in a standardized manner it has been suggested to use the terms L75 and L50, which is the time it will take a given LED to reach 75% and 50% light output respectively.[46] Like other lighting devices, LED performance is temperature dependent. Most manufacturers published ratings of LEDs are for an operating temperature of 25 C. LEDs used outdoors, such as traffic signals or in-pavement signal lights, and that are utilized in climates where the temperature within the luminaire gets very hot, could result in low signal intensities or even failure.[47]

LED light output rises at lower temperatures, leveling off depending on type at around 30C.[citation needed] Thus, LED technology may be a good replacement in uses such as supermarket freezer lighting[48][49][50] and will last longer than other technologies. Because LEDs emit less heat than incandescent bulbs, they are an energy-efficient technology for uses such as freezers. However, because they emit little heat, ice and snow may build up on the LED luminaire in colder climates. [47] This lack of waste heat generation has been observed to cause sometimes significant problems with street traffic signals and airport runway lighting in snowprone areas, although some research has been done to try to develop heat sink technologies to transfer heat to other areas of the luminaire.[51] [edit]Colors and materials Conventional LEDs are made from a variety of inorganic semiconductor materials, the following table shows the available colors with wavelength range, voltage drop and material:

Color Wavelength[nm]

Voltage drop [V]

Semiconductor material

Infrared

> 760

V < 1.9

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) Aluminium gallium arsenide(AlGaAs)

Red

610 < < 760 1.63 < V < 2.03

Aluminium gallium arsenide(AlGaAs) Gallium arsenide phosphide(GaAsP) Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)

Orange

590 < < 610 2.03 < V < 2.10

Gallium arsenide phosphide(GaAsP) Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)

Yellow

570 < < 590 2.10 < V < 2.18

Gallium arsenide phosphide(GaAsP) Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)

Green

500 < < 570 1.9[52] < V < 4.0

Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) /Gallium(III) nitride (GaN) Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP) Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) Aluminium gallium phosphide(AlGaP)

Blue

450 < < 500 2.48 < V < 3.7

Zinc selenide (ZnSe) Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) Silicon carbide (SiC) as substrate Silicon (Si) as substrate (under development)

Violet

400 < < 450 2.76 < V < 4.0

Indium gallium nitride (InGaN)

Purple

multiple types 2.48 < V < 3.7

Dual blue/red LEDs, blue with red phosphor, or white with purple plastic

Ultraviolet

< 400

3.1 < V< 4.4

Diamond (235 nm)[53] Boron nitride (215 nm)[54][55] Aluminium nitride (AlN) (210 nm)[56] Aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) Aluminium gallium indium nitride(AlGaInN) (down to 210 nm)[57]

White

Broad spectrum

V = 3.5

Blue/UV diode with yellow phosphor

OLED
An OLED (organic light-emitting diode) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissiveelectroluminescent layer is a film of organic compoundswhich emit light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductormaterial is situated between two electrodes. Generally, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. There are two main families of OLEDs: those based on small molecules and those employing polymers. Adding mobile ions to an OLED creates a Light-emitting Electrochemical Cell or LEC, which has a slightly different mode of operation. OLED displays can use eitherpassive-matrix (PMOLED) oractivematrix addressing schemes. Active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLED) require a thin-film transistor backplane to switch each individual pixel on or off, but allow for higher resolution and larger display sizes. An OLED display works without a backlight. Thus, it can display deepblack levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display(LCD). In low ambient light conditions such as a dark room an OLED screen can achieve a higher contrast ratio than an LCD, whether the LCD uses cold cathode fluorescent lamps or the more recently developed LED backlight. Due to its low thermal conductivity, an OLED typically emits less light per area than an inorganic LED.

OLEDs are used in television screens, computer monitors, small, portable system screens such as mobile phones and PDAs, watches, advertising, information, and indication. OLEDs are also used in large-area light-emitting elements for general illumination.

History
The first observations of electroluminescence in organic materials were in the early 1950s by A. Bernanose and co-workers at the Nancy-Universit, France. They applied high-voltage alternating current (AC) fields in air to materials such as acridine orange, either deposited on or dissolved in cellulose or cellophane thin films. The proposed mechanism was either direct excitation of the dye molecules or excitation of electrons.[1][2][3][4] In 1960, Martin Pope and co-workers at New York University developed ohmic dark-injecting electrode contacts to organic crystals.[5][6][7] They further described the necessary energetic requirements (work functions) for hole and electron injecting electrode contacts. These contacts are the basis of charge injection in all modern OLED devices. Pope's group also first observed direct current (DC) electroluminescence under vacuum on a pure single crystal of anthracene and on anthracene crystals doped with tetracene in 1963[8] using a small area silver electrode at 400V. The proposed mechanism was field-accelerated electron excitation of molecular fluorescence. Pope's group reported in 1965[9] that in the absence of an external electric field, the electroluminescence in anthracene crystals is caused by the recombination of a thermalized electron and hole, and that the conducting level of anthracene is higher in energy than the exciton energy level. Also in 1965, W. Helfrich and W. G. Schneider of the National Research Council in Canada produced double injection recombination electroluminescence for the first time in an anthracene single crystal using hole and electron injecting electrodes,[10] the forerunner of modern double injection devices. In the same year, Dow Chemical researchers patented a method of preparing electroluminescent cells using high voltage (500 1500 V) AC-driven (1003000 Hz) electrically-insulated one millimetre thin layers of a melted phosphor consisting of ground anthracene powder, tetracene, and graphite powder.[11] Their proposed mechanism involved electronic excitation at the contacts between the graphite particles and the anthracene molecules. Device performance was limited by the poor electrical conductivity of contemporary organic materials. This was overcome by the discovery and development of highly conductive polymers.[12] For more on the history of such materials, see conductive polymers. Electroluminescence from polymer films was first observed by Roger Partridge at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The device consisted of a film of poly(n-vinylcarbazole) up to 2.2 micrometres thick located between two charge injecting electrodes. The results of the project were patented in 1975[13] and published in 1983.[14][15][16][17] The first diode device was reported at Eastman Kodak by Ching W. Tangand Steven Van Slyke in 1987. [18] This device used a novel two-layer structure with separate hole transporting and electron transporting layers such that recombination and light emission occurred in the middle of the organic layer. This resulted in a reduction in operating voltage and improvements in efficiency and led to the current era of OLED research and device production.

Research into polymer electroluminescence culminated in 1990 with J. H. Burroughes et al. at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge reporting a high efficiency green light-emitting polymer based device using 100 nm thick films of poly(p-phenylene vinylene).[19]

Working principle
A typical OLED is composed of a layer of organic materials situated between two electrodes, the anode and cathode, all deposited on asubstrate. The organic molecules are electrically conductive as a result ofdelocalization of pi electrons caused by conjugation over all or part of the molecule. These materials have conductivity levels ranging from insulators to conductors, and therefore are considered organic semiconductors. The highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) of organic semiconductors are analogous to the valence andconduction bands of inorganic semiconductors. Originally, the most basic polymer OLEDs consisted of a single organic layer. One example was the first light-emitting device synthesised by J. H. Burroughes et al., which involved a single layer of poly(pphenylene vinylene). However multilayer OLEDs can be fabricated with two or more layers in order to improve device efficiency. As well as conductive properties, different materials may be chosen to aid charge injection at electrodes by providing a more gradual electronic profile,[20] or block a charge from reaching the opposite electrode and being wasted.[21] Many modern OLEDs incorporate a simple bilayer structure, consisting of a conductive layer and an emissive layer. More recent developments in OLED architecture improves quantum efficiency (up to 19%) by using a graded heterojunction.[22] In the graded heterojunction architecture, the composition of hole and electron-transport materials varies continuously within the emissive layer with a dopant emitter. The graded heterojunction architecture combines the benefits of both conventional architectures by improving charge injection while simultaneously balancing charge transport within the emissive region.[23] During operation, a voltage is applied across the OLED such that the anode is positive with respect to the cathode. A current of electrons flows through the device from cathode to anode, as electrons are injected into the LUMO of the organic layer at the cathode and withdrawn from the HOMO at the anode. This latter process may also be described as the injection of electron holes into the HOMO. Electrostatic forces bring the electrons and the holes towards each other and they recombine forming an exciton, a bound state of the electron and hole. This happens closer to the emissive layer, because in organic semiconductors holes are generally more mobile than electrons. The decay of this excited state results in a relaxation of the energy levels of the electron, accompanied by emission of radiation whose frequency is in the visible region. The frequency of this radiation depends on the band gap of the material, in this case the difference in energy between the HOMO and LUMO. As electrons and holes are fermions with half integer spin, an exciton may either be in a singlet state or a triplet state depending on how the spins of the electron and hole have been combined. Statistically three triplet excitons will be formed for each singlet exciton. Decay from triplet states (phosphorescence) is spin forbidden, increasing the timescale of the transition and limiting the internal efficiency of fluorescent devices.Phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes make use of spinorbit interactions to facilitate intersystem crossing between singlet and triplet states, thus obtaining emission from both singlet and triplet states and improving the internal efficiency. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is commonly used as the anode material. It is transparent to visible light and has a high work function which promotes injection of holes into the HOMO level of the organic layer. A typical

conductive layer may consist of PEDOT:PSS[24] as the HOMO level of this material generally lies between the workfunction of ITO and the HOMO of other commonly used polymers, reducing the energy barriers for hole injection. Metals such as barium and calcium are often used for the cathode as they have low work functions which promote injection of electrons into the LUMO of the organic layer.[25] Such metals are reactive, so require a capping layer of aluminium to avoid degradation. Single carrier devices are typically used to study the kinetics and charge transport mechanisms of an organic material and can be useful when trying to study energy transfer processes. As current through the device is composed of only one type of charge carrier, either electrons or holes, recombination does not occur and no light is emitted. For example, electron only devices can be obtained by replacing ITO with a lower work function metal which increases the energy barrier of hole injection. Similarly, hole only devices can be made by using a cathode comprised solely of aluminium, resulting in an energy barrier too large for efficient electron injection.[26][27][28]

Material technologies
Small molecules

Alq3,[18] commonly used in small molecule OLEDs

Efficient OLEDs using small molecules were first developed by Dr. Ching W. Tang et al.[18] at Eastman Kodak. The term OLED traditionally refers specifically to this type of device, though the term SM-OLED is also in use. Molecules commonly used in OLEDs include organometallic chelates (for example Alq3, used in the organic light-emitting device reported by Tang et al.), fluorescent and phosphorescent dyes and conjugated dendrimers. A number of materials are used for their charge transport properties, for example triphenylamine and derivatives are commonly used as materials for hole transport layers. [29] Fluorescent dyes can be chosen to obtain light emission at different wavelengths, and compounds such as perylene, rubrene and quinacridone derivatives are often used.[30] Alq3 has been used as a green emitter, electron transport material and as a host for yellow and red emitting dyes. The production of small molecule devices and displays usually involvesthermal evaporation in a vacuum. This makes the production process more expensive and of limited use for large-area devices than other processing techniques. However, contrary to polymer-based devices, the vacuum deposition process enables the formation of well controlled, homogeneous films, and the construction of very complex multi-

layer structures. This high flexibility in layer design, enabling distinct charge transport and charge blocking layers to be formed, is the main reason for the high efficiencies of the small molecule OLEDs. Coherent emission from a laser dye-doped tandem SM-OLED device, excited in the pulsed regime, has been demonstrated.[31] The emission is nearly diffraction limited with a spectral width similar to that of broadband dye lasers.[32] [edit]Polymer

light-emitting diodes

poly(p-phenylene vinylene), used in the first PLED[19]

Polymer light-emitting diodes (PLED), also light-emitting polymers (LEP), involve an electroluminescentconductive polymer that emits lightwhen connected to an external voltage. They are used as a thin film for full-spectrum colour displays. Polymer OLEDs are quite efficient and require a relatively small amount of power for the amount of light produced. Vacuum deposition is not a suitable method for forming thin films of polymers. However, polymers can be processed in solution, and spin coating is a common method of depositing thin polymer films. This method is more suited to forming large-area films than thermal evaporation. No vacuum is required, and the emissive materials can also be applied on the substrate by a technique derived from commercial inkjetprinting.[33][34] However, as the application of subsequent layers tends to dissolve those already present, formation of multilayer structures is difficult with these methods. The metal cathode may still need to be deposited by thermal evaporation in vacuum. An alternative method to vacuum deposition is to deposit a Langmuir-Blodgett film. Typical polymers used in PLED displays include derivatives of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) and polyfluorene. Substitution of side chains onto the polymer backbone may determine the colour of emitted light[35] or the stability and solubility of the polymer for performance and ease of processing.[36] While unsubstituted poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) is typically insoluble, a number of PPVs and related poly(naphthalene vinylene)s (PNVs) that are soluble in organic solvents or water have been prepared via ring opening metathesis polymerization.[37][38][39]

[edit]Phosphorescent

materials

Ir(mppy)3, a phosphorescent dopant which emits green light.[40]

Main article: Phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode Phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes use the principle of electrophosphorescence to convert electrical energy in an OLED into light in a highly efficient manner,[41][42] with the internal quantum efficiencies of such devices approaching 100%.[43] Typically, a polymer such as poly(n-vinylcarbazole) is used as a host material to which an organometalliccomplex is added as a dopant. Iridium complexes[42] such as Ir(mppy)3[40] are currently the focus of research, although complexes based on other heavy metals such as platinum[41]have also been used. The heavy metal atom at the centre of these complexes exhibits strong spin-orbit coupling, facilitating intersystem crossing between singlet andtriplet states. By using these phosphorescent materials, both singlet and triplet excitons will be able to decay radiatively, hence improving the internal quantum efficiency of the device compared to a standard PLED where only the singlet states will contribute to emission of light. Applications of OLEDs in solid state lighting require the achievement of high brightness with good CIE coordinates (for white emission). The use of macromolecular species like polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) in conjunction with the use of phosphorescent species such as Ir for printed OLEDs have exhibited brightnesses as high as 10,000 cd/m2.[44]

Advantages
Further information: Comparison CRT, LCD, Plasma

Demonstration of a 4.1" prototype flexible display from Sony

The different manufacturing process of OLEDs lends itself to several advantages overflat panel displays made with LCD technology. Lower cost in the future OLEDs can be printed onto any suitable substrate by an inkjet printer or even by screen printing,
[54]

theoretically making them cheaper to produce than LCD or plasma displays. However,

fabrication of the OLED substrate is more costly than that of a TFT LCD, until mass production methods lower cost through scalability. Roll-roll vapour-deposition methods for organic devices do allow mass production of thousands of devices per minute for minimal cost, although this technique also induces problems in that multi-layer devices can be challenging to make due to registration issues, lining up the different printed layers to the required degree of accuracy. Light weight & flexible plastic substrates OLED displays can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates leading to the possibility of flexible organic light-emitting diodes being fabricated or other new applications such as roll-up displaysembedded in fabrics or clothing. As the substrate used can be flexiblesuch as PET,[55] the displays may be produced inexpensively. Wider viewing angles & improved brightness OLEDs can enable a greater artificial contrast ratio (both dynamic range and static, measured in purely dark conditions) and viewing angle compared to LCDs because OLED pixels directly emit light. OLED pixel colours appear correct and unshifted, even as the viewing angle approaches 90 from normal. Better power efficiency LCDs filter the light emitted from a backlight, allowing a small fraction of light through so they cannot show true black, while an inactive OLED element does not produce light or consume power.[56] Response time OLEDs can also have a faster response time than standard LCD screens. Whereas LCD displays are capable of between 2 and 16 ms response time offering a refresh rate of 60 to 480 Hz, an OLED can theoretically have less than 0.01 ms response time, enabling up to 100,000 Hz refresh rate. [edit]Disadvantages Current costs OLED manufacture currently requires process steps that make it extremely expensive. Specifically, it requires the use of Low-Temperature Polysilicon backplanes; LTPS backplanes in turn require laser annealing from an amorphous silicon start, so this part of the manufacturing

process for AMOLEDs starts with the process costs of standard LCD, and then adds an expensive, time-consuming process that cannot currently be used on large-area glass substrates. Lifespan The biggest technical problem for OLEDs was the limited lifetime of the organic materials.[57] In particular, blue OLEDs historically have had a lifetime of around 14,000 hours to half original brightness (five years at 8 hours a day) when used for flat-panel displays. This is lower than the typical lifetime of LCD, LED orPDP technologyeach currently rated for about 25,00040,000 hours to half brightness, depending on manufacturer and model.[58][59]However, some manufacturers' displays aim to increase the lifespan of OLED displays, pushing their expected life past that of LCD displays by improving light outcoupling, thus achieving the same brightness at a lower drive current.[60][61] In 2007, experimental OLEDs were created which can sustain 400 cd/m2 of luminance for over 198,000 hours for green OLEDs and 62,000 hours for blue OLEDs.[62] Color balance issues Additionally, as the OLED material used to produce blue light degrades significantly more rapidly than the materials that produce other colors, blue light output will decrease relative to the other colors of light. This variation in the differential color output will change the color balance of the display and is much more noticeable than a decrease in overall luminance.[63] This can be partially avoided by adjusting colour balance but this may require advanced control circuits and interaction with the user, which is unacceptable for some users. In order to delay the problem, manufacturers bias the colour balance towards blue so that the display initially has an artificially blue tint, leading to complaints of artificial-looking, over-saturated colors. More commonly, though, manufacturers optimize the size of the R, G and B subpixels to reduce the current density through the subpixel in order to equalize lifetime at full luminance. For example, a blue subpixel may be 100% larger than the green subpixel. The red subpixel may be 10% smaller than the green. Efficiency of blue OLEDs Improvements to the efficiency and lifetime of blue OLEDs is vital to the success of OLEDs as replacements for LCD technology. Considerable research has been invested in developing blue OLEDs with high external quantum efficiency as well as a deeper blue color.[64][65] External quantum efficiency values of 20% and 19% have been reported for red (625 nm) and green (530 nm) diodes, respectively.[66][67] However, blue diodes (430 nm) have only been able to achieve maximum external quantum efficiencies in the range of 4% to 6%.[68] Water damage Water can damage the organic materials of the displays. Therefore, improved sealing processes are important for practical manufacturing. Water damage may especially limit the longevity of more flexible displays.[69] Outdoor performance As an emissive display technology, OLEDs rely completely upon converting electricity to light, unlike most LCDs which are to some extent reflective; e-ink leads the way in efficiency with ~ 33% ambient light reflectivity, enabling the display to be used without any internal light source. The metallic cathode in an OLED acts as a mirror, with reflectance approaching 80%, leading to poor readability in bright ambient light such as outdoors. However, with the proper application of a circular polarizer and anti-reflective coatings, the diffuse reflectance can be reduced to less than

0.1%. With 10,000 fc incident illumination (typical test condition for simulating outdoor illumination), that yields an approximate photopic contrast of 5:1. Power consumption While an OLED will consume around 40% of the power of an LCD displaying an image which is primarily black, for the majority of images it will consume 6080% of the power of an LCD: however it can use over three times as much power to display an image with a white background such as a document or website.[70] This can lead to reduced real-world battery life in mobile devices. Screen burn-in Unlike displays with a common light source, the brightness of each OLED pixel fades depending on the content displayed. The varied lifespan of the organic dyes can cause a discrepancy between red, green, and blue intensity. This leads to image persistence, also known as burn-in.[71] UV sensitivity OLED displays can be damaged by prolonged exposure to UV light. The most pronounced example of this can be seen with a near UV laser (such as a Bluray pointer) and can damage the display almost instantly with more than 20 mW leading to dim or dead spots where the beam is focused. This is usually avoided by installing a UV blocking filter over the panel and this can easily be seen as a clear plastic layer on the glass. Removal of this filter can lead to severe damage and an unusable display after only a few months of room light exposure.

Manufacturers and commercial uses

Magnified image of the AMOLED screen on the Google Nexus One smartphone using the RGBG system of the PenTile Matrix Family.

A 3.8 cm (1.5 in) OLED display from a Creative ZEN V media player

OLED technology is used in commercial applications such as displays for mobile phones and portable digital media players, car radios and digital cameras among others. Such portable applications favor the high light output of OLEDs for readability in sunlight and their low power drain. Portable displays are also used intermittently, so the lower lifespan of organic displays is less of an issue. Prototypes have been made of flexible and rollable displays which use OLEDs' unique characteristics. Applications in flexible signs and lighting are also being developed.[72]Philips Lighting have made OLED lighting samples under the brand name "Lumiblade" available online [73] andNovaled AG based in Dresden, Germany, introduced a line of OLED desk lamps called "Victory" in September, 2011.[74] OLEDs have been used in most Motorola and Samsung colour cell phones, as well as some HTC, LG and Sony Ericsson models.[75] Nokiahas also introduced some OLED products including the N85 and the N86 8MP, both of which feature an AMOLED display. OLED technology can also be found in digital media players such as the Creative ZEN V, theiriver clix, the Zune HD and the Sony Walkman X Series. The Google and HTC Nexus One smartphone includes an AMOLEDscreen, as does HTC's own Desire and Legend phones. However due to supply shortages of the Samsung-produced displays, certain HTC models will use Sony's SLCD displays in the future,[76] while the Google and Samsung Nexus S smartphone will use "Super Clear LCD" instead in some countries.[77] Other manufacturers of OLED panels include Anwell Technologies Limited,[78] Chi Mei Corporation,[79] LG, [80] and others.[81] DuPont stated in a press release in May 2010 that they can produce a 50-inch OLED TV in two minutes with a new printing technology. If this can be scaled up in terms of manufacturing, then the total cost of OLED TVs would be greatly reduced. Dupont also states that OLED TVs made with this less expensive technology can last up to 15 years if left on for a normal eight hour day.[82][83] The use of OLEDs may be subject to patents held by Eastman Kodak,DuPont, General Electric, Royal Philips Electronics, numerous universities and others.[84] There are by now thousands of patents associated with OLEDs, both from larger corporations and smaller technology companies [1].

AMOLED
AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) is a display technology for use in mobile devices and televisions. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film display technology in whichorganic compounds form theelectroluminescent material, and active matrix refers to the technology behind the addressing of pixels. As of 2011, AMOLED technology is used in mobile phones, media players and digital cameras,[1] and continues to make progress toward low-power, low-cost and large-size (for example, 40-inch) applications.

Design

Schematic of an active matrix OLED display

An AMOLED display consists of an active matrix of OLED pixels that generate light upon electricalactivation that have been deposited or integrated onto a thin film transistor (TFT) array, which functions as a series of switches to control the current flowing to each individual pixel.[5] Typically, this continuous current flow is controlled by at least two TFTs at each pixel, one to start and stop the charging of a storage capacitorand the second to provide a voltage source at the level needed to create a constant current to the pixel and eliminating the need for the very high currents required for passive matrix OLED operation.[6] TFT backplane technology is crucial in the fabrication of AMOLED displays. Two primary TFT backplane technologies, namelypolycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and amorphous silicon (a-Si), are used today in AMOLEDs. These technologies offer the potential for fabricating the active matrix backplanes at low temperatures (below 150C) directly onto flexible plastic substrates for producing flexible AMOLED displays.[7] [edit]Future

development

Manufacturers have developed in-cell touch panels, integrating the production of capacitive sensor arrays in the AMOLED module fabrication process. In-cell sensor AMOLED fabricators include AU Optronics andSamsung. Samsung has marketed their version of this technology asSuper AMOLED. Clear Black Display or CBD is an AMOLED display with a polarized filter on top. Researchers at DuPont used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to optimize coating processes for a new solution-coated AMOLED display technology that is cost and performance competitive with existing Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technology. Using custom modeling and analytical approaches, they developed shortand long-range film-thickness control and uniformity that is commercially viable at large glass sizes.[8] [edit]Comparison

to other technologies

AMOLED displays provide higher refresh rates than their passive-matrix OLED counterparts[not specific enough to verify] , improving response time often to under a millisecond, and they consume significantly lesspower. [9] This advantage makes active-matrix OLEDs well suited for portable electronics, where power consumption is critical to battery life. The amount of power the display consumes varies significantly depending on the color and brightness shown. As an example, one commercialQVGA OLED display consumes 3 watts while showing black text on a white background, but only 0.7 watts showing white text on a black background.[10] Because the

black pixels actually turn off, AMOLED also has contrast ratios that are significantly better than LCD. AMOLED mobile phone users can save battery power by avoiding white backgrounds and many methods exist to achieve this, such as usingBlack Google Mobile to search with a black background. AMOLED displays may be difficult to view in direct sunlight compared to LCDs because of their reduced maximum brightness.[11] Samsung'sSuper AMOLED technology addresses this issue by reducing the size of gaps between layers of the screen.[12][13]. Additionally, PenTiletechnology is sometimes used, rearranging the subpixels for each color and in the case of PenTile RGBW, adding a white subpixel, which lets through more light, thereby increasing brightness, albeit while introducing graininess. The organic materials used in AMOLED displays are prone to degradation over a period of time. However, technology has been developed to compensate for material degradation.[14][15] Current demand for AMOLED screens is high and, due to supply shortages of the Samsung-produced displays, certain models of HTCsmartphones have been changed to use next-generation LCD displays from the Samsung and Sony joint-venture SLCD in the future.[16]Construction of new production facilities in 2011 will increase the production of AMOLED screens to cope with demand

Super AMOLED
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Super AMOLED Logo

Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology (variant from AMOLED) mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones (see the list below for examples). One of the main differences from other display technologies is that the layer that detects touch is integrated into the screen rather than being overlaid on top. Compared with the first-generation AMOLED, some of the Super AMOLED advantages are brighter screens, less sunlight reflection and reduced power consumption

Super AMOLED Plus

The Samsung Galaxy S II, with a Super AMOLED Plus screen

Super AMOLED Plus, first introduced with the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Droid Charge smartphones, is a further development where the PenTile RGBG pixel matrix (2 subpixels) is replaced with Samsung's "Real Stripe" (3 subpixels) RGB RGB subpixel arrangement. This goes from eight to twelve subpixels per group, resulting in finer details. The screen technology is also brighter, thinner with AMOLED Plus displays being 18% more energy efficient than the old Super AMOLED displays.[3]

HD Super AMOLED
HD Super AMOLED is a new Super AMOLED type display from Samsung. The first device to use it is the Galaxy Note: an Android v2.3 phone with a 5.3" 1280x800 display. The phone (and the display) was announced in September 2011. The second device to use it is Samsung'sGalaxy Nexus phone - with a 4.65" display with 1280x720 resolution.[5] The higherresolution and dpi were made possible due to a change in materials and new manufacturing process, though still using shadow mask (or fine metal mask (FMM)) technology.[6] However this required a change back to pentile RGBG subpixels. Samsung is expected to introduce a new screen using "Real Stripe" RGB subpixels with the move to the laser-induced thermal imaging (LITI) process.[7] This may be called "HD Super AMOLED Plus". The change to LITI is also said to be an important step toward commercializing OLED TVs.[8]

Thin-film transistor
A thin-film transistor (TFT) is a special kind of field-effect transistor made by depositingthin films of a semiconductor active layer as well as the dielectric layer and metallic contacts over a supporting substrate. A common substrate is glass, since the primary application of TFTs is in liquid

crystal displays. This differs from the conventional transistor where the semiconductor material typically is the substrate, such as a silicon wafer.

1 - Glass plates 2/3 - Horizontal and vertical polarisers 4 - RGB colour mask 5/6 - Horizontal and vertical command lines 7 - Rugged polymer layer 8 - Spacers 9 - Thin film transistors 10 - Front electrode 11 - Rear electrodes

Manufacture
TFTs can be made using a wide variety of semiconductor materials. A common material is silicon. The characteristics of a silicon based TFT depend on the crystalline state; that is, the semiconductor layer can be either amorphous silicon,[1] microcrystalline silicon,[1] or it can be annealed into polysilicon. Other materials which have been used as semiconductors in TFTs include compound semiconductors such as cadmium selenide[2][3] and metal oxides such as zinc oxide.[4] TFTs have also been made using organic materials (referred to as an Organic TFT or OTFT). By using transparent semiconductors and transparent electrodes, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), some TFT devices can be made completely transparent.[clarification needed] Because conventional substrates cannot withstand high annealingtemperatures, the deposition process has to be completed under relatively low temperatures. Chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition (usually sputtering) are applied. Also, the first solution-processed transparent TFTs (TTFTs), based on zinc oxide, were reported in 2003 by researchers at Oregon State University.[4] The Portuguese laboratory CENIMAT at the Universidade Nova de Lisboahas produced the worlds first completely transparent TFT at room temperature. CENIMAT also developed the first paper transistor, which may lead to applications such as magazines and journal pages with moving images. [edit]Applications The best known application of thin-film transistors is in TFT LCDs, an implementation of LCD technology. Transistors are embedded within the panel itself, reducing crosstalk between pixels and improving image stability. As of 2008, many color LCD TVs and monitors use this technology.[broken citation] TFT panels are heavily used in digitalradiography applications in general radiography. A TFT is used in both direct and indirect capture as a base for the image receptor in medical radiography. The new AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic light-emitting diode) screens also contain a TFT layer. The most beneficial aspect of TFT technology is a separate transistor for each pixel on the display. As each transistor is small, the amount of charge needed to control it is also small. This allows for very fast re-drawing of the display. Prior to TFT, passive matrix LCD displays could not keep up with fast moving images. A pointer dragged across the screen, for example, from point A to point B, would disappear between the two points. A TFT monitor can track the pointer, resulting in a display that can be used for video, gaming, and other forms of multimedia.

Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display(LCD) is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video displaythat uses the light modulating properties ofliquid crystals (LCs). LCs do not emit light directly. They are used in a wide range of applications, including computer monitors, television, instrument panels,aircraft cockpit displays,signage, etc. They are common in consumer devices such as video players, gaming devices,clocks, watches,calculators, andtelephones. LCDs have replaced cathode ray tube (CRT) displays in most applications. They are available in a wider range of screen sizes than CRT

and plasma displays, and since they do not use phosphors, they cannot suffer image burn-in. LCDs are, however, susceptible to image persistence. [1] LCDs are more energy efficient and offer safer disposal than CRTs. Its low electrical power consumption enables it to be used in battery-poweredelectronic equipment. It is an electronically modulated optical devicemade up of any number of segments filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a light source (backlight) or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome. The most flexible ones use an array of small pixels. The earliest discovery leading to the development of LCD technology, the discovery of liquid crystals, dates from 1888.[2] By 2008, worldwide sales of televisions with LCD screens had surpassed the sale of CRT units.

Reflective twisted nematic liquid crystal display.

1. 2.

Polarizing filter film with a vertical axis to polarize light as it enters. Glass substrate with ITO electrodes. The shapes of these electrodes will determine the shapes that will

appear when the LCD is turned ON. Vertical ridges etched on the surface are smooth. 3. 4. filter. 5. 6. source.) Polarizing filter film with a horizontal axis to block/pass light. Reflective surface to send light back to viewer. (In a backlit LCD, this layer is replaced with a light Twisted nematic liquid crystal. Glass substrate with common electrode film (ITO) with horizontal ridges to line up with the horizontal

Each pixel of an LCD typically consists of a layer of moleculesaligned between twotransparent electrodes, and two polarizing filters, the axes of transmission of which are (in most of the cases) perpendicular to each other. With no actual liquid crystalbetween the polarizing filters, light passing through the first filter would be blocked by the second (crossed) polarizer.

The surface of the electrodes that are in contact with the liquid crystal material are treated so as to align the liquid crystal molecules in a particular direction. This treatment typically consists of a thin polymerlayer that is unidirectionally rubbed using, for example, a cloth. The direction of the liquid crystal alignment is then defined by the direction of rubbing. Electrodes are made of a transparent conductor called Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). The Liquid Crystal Display is intrinsically a passive device, it is a simple light valve. The managing and control of the data to be displayed is performed by one or more circuits commonly denoted asLCD drivers. [3] Before applying an electric field, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is determined by the alignment at the surfaces of electrodes. In a twisted nematic device (still the most common liquid crystal device), the surface alignment directions at the two electrodes are perpendicular to each other, and so the molecules arrange themselves in a helicalstructure, or twist. This reduces the rotation of the polarization of the incident light, and the device appears grey. If the applied voltage is large enough, the liquid crystal molecules in the center of the layer are almost completely untwisted and the polarization of the incident light is not rotated as it passes through the liquid crystal layer. This light will then be mainly polarized perpendicular to the second filter, and thus be blocked and the pixel will appear black. By controlling the voltage applied across the liquid crystal layer in each pixel, light can be allowed to pass through in varying amounts thus constituting different levels of gray.

LCD with top polarizer removed from device and placed on top, such that the top and bottom polarizers are parallel.

The optical effect of a twisted nematic device in the voltage-on state is far less dependent on variations in the device thickness than that in the voltage-off state. Because of this, these devices are usually operated between crossed polarizers such that they appear bright with no voltage (the eye is much more sensitive to variations in the dark state than the bright state). These devices can also be operated between parallel polarizers, in which case the bright and dark states are reversed. The voltage-off dark state in this configuration appears blotchy, however, because of small variations of thickness across the device. Both the liquid crystal material and the alignment layer material containionic compounds. If an electric field of one particular polarity is applied for a long period of time, this ionic material is attracted to the surfaces and degrades the device performance. This is avoided either by applying analternating current or by reversing the polarity of the electric field as the device is addressed (the response of the liquid crystal layer is identical, regardless of the polarity of the applied field). Displays for a small number of individual digits and/or fixed symbols (as in digital watches, pocket calculators etc.) can be implemented with independent electrodes for each segment. In contrast full alphanumericand/or variable graphics displays are usually implemented with pixels arranged as a

matrix consisting of electrically connected rows on one side of the LC layer and columns on the other side, which makes it possible to address each pixel at the intersections. The general method of matrix addressing consists of sequentially addressing one side of the matrix, for example by selecting the rows one-by-one and applying the picture information on the other side at the columns row-by-row. For details on the various matrix addressing schemes see Passive-matrix and active-matrix addressed LCDs. [edit]Brief

history

1888: Friedrich Reinitzer (18581927) discovers the liquid crystalline nature of cholesterol extracted from carrots (that is, two melting points and generation of colors) and published his findings at a meeting of the Vienna Chemical Society on May 3, 1888 (F. Reinitzer: Beitrge zur Kenntniss des Cholesterins, Monatshefte fr Chemie (Wien) 9, 421-441 (1888)).[4] 1904: Otto Lehmann publishes his work "Flssige Kristalle" (Liquid Crystals). 1911: Charles Mauguin first experiments of liquids crystals confined between plates in thin layers.

1922: Georges Friedel describes the structure and properties of liquid crystals and classified them in 3 types (nematics, smectics and cholesterics). 1927: Vsevolod Frederiks devises the electrically switched light valve, called the Fredericksz transition, the essential effect of all LCD technology. 1936: The Marconi Wireless Telegraph company patents the first practical application of the technology, "The Liquid Crystal Light Valve". 1962: The first major English language publication on the subject"Molecular Structure and Properties of Liquid Crystals", by Dr. George W. Gray.[5] 1962: Richard Williams of RCA found that liquid crystals had some interesting electro-optic characteristics and he realized an electro-optical effect by generating stripe-patterns in a thin layer of liquid crystal material by the application of a voltage. This effect is based on an electro-hydrodynamic instability forming what is now called "Williams domains" inside the liquid crystal.[6] 1964: George H. Heilmeier, then working in the RCA laboratories on the effect discovered by Williams achieved the switching of colors by field-induced realignment of dichroic dyes in a homeotropically oriented liquid crystal. Practical problems with this new electro-optical effect made Heilmeier continue to work on scattering effects in liquid crystals and finally the achievement of the first operational liquid crystal display based on what he called the dynamic scattering mode(DSM). Application of a voltage to a DSM display switches the initially clear transparent liquid crystal layer into a milky turbid state. DSM displays could be operated in transmissive and in reflective mode but they required a considerable current to flow for their operation.[7][8][9]George H. Heilmeier was inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame and credited with the invention of LCD.[10] Heilmeier's work is an IEEE Milestone.[11]

 1960s: Pioneering work on liquid crystals was undertaken in the late 1960s by the UK's Royal Radar Establishment at Malvern, England. The team at RRE supported ongoing work by George Gray and his team at the University of Hull who ultimately discovered the cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals, which had correct stability and temperature properties for application in LCDs. 1970: On December 4, 1970, the twisted nematic field effect in liquid crystals was filed for patent by Hoffmann-LaRoche in Switzerland, (Swiss patent No. 532 261) with Wolfgang Helfrich and Martin Schadt (then working for the Central Research Laboratories) listed as inventors.[7] Hoffmann-La Roche then licensed the invention to the Swiss manufacturer Brown, Boveri & Cie who produced displays for wristwatches during the 1970s and also to Japanese electronics industry, which soon produced the first digital quartz wrist watches with TN-LCDs and numerous other products. James Fergason, while working with Sardari Arora and Alfred Saupe at Kent State UniversityLiquid Crystal Institute, filed an identical patent in the United States on April 22, 1971.[12] In 1971 the company of Fergason ILIXCO (nowLXD Incorporated) produced the first LCDs based on the TN-effect, which soon superseded the poor-quality DSM types due to improvements of lower operating voltages and lower power consumption. 1972: The first active-matrix liquid crystal display panel was produced in the United States by Westinghouse, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[13] 1983: Researchers at Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC), Switzerland, invent the super-twisted nematic (STN) structure for passive-matrixaddressed LCDs. H. Amstutz et al. were listed as inventors in the corresponding patent applications filed in Switzerland on July 7, 1983, and October 28, 1983. Patents were granted in Switzerland CH 665491, Europe EP 0131216,[14] U.S. Patent 4,634,229 and many more countries. Scientific details are published in the article referred to [15] 1990: Under different titles inventors conceived electrooptical effects as alternatives to twisted nematic field effect LCDs (TN- and STN- LCDs). One approach was to use interdigital electrodes on one glass substrate only to produce an electric field essentially parallel to the glass substrates (Abstract).[16] To take full advantage of the properties of this In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology further work was needed. After thorough analysis, details of advantageous embodiments are filed in Germany by Guenter Baur et al. and patented in various countries (Abstract).[17] The Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg, where the inventors worked, assigns these patents to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, the world's leading supplier of LC substances. 1992: Shortly thereafter, engineers at Hitachi work out various practical details of the IPS technology to interconnect the thin-film transistor array as a matrix and to avoid undesirable stray fields in between pixels (Abstract).[18] Hitachi also improves the viewing angle dependence further by optimizing the shape of the electrodes (Super IPS). NEC and Hitachi become early manufacturers of active-matrix addressed LCDs based on the IPS technology. This is a milestone for implementing large-screen LCDs having acceptable visual performance for flat-panel computer monitors and television screens.

 1996 Samsung develops the optical patterning technique that enablesmulti-domain LCD. Multidomain and In Plane Switching subsequently remain the dominant LCD designs through 2010.[19] 2007: In the 4Q of 2007 for the first time LCD televisions surpass CRT units in worldwide sales.[20]

2008: LCD TVs become the majority with a 50% market share of the 200 million TVs forecast to ship globally in 2008 according to Display Bank.[21] In October 2011, Toshiba has announced 2560x1600 pixels on an 6.1-inch LCD panel, suitable for use in a tablet computer,[22] especially for Chinese character display. A detailed description of the origins and the complex history of liquid crystal displays from the perspective of an insider during the early days has been published by Joseph A. Castellano in Liquid Gold: The Story of Liquid Crystal Displays and the Creation of an Industry.[23] Another report on the origins and history of LCD from a different perspective until 1991 has been published by Hiroshi Kawamoto, available at the IEEE History Center.[24] [edit]Illumination As LCD panels produce no light of their own, they require an external lighting mechanism to be easily visible. On most displays, this consists of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp that is situated behind the LCD panel. For battery-operated units (e.g. laptops) this requires an inverter to convert DC to AC. Passivematrix displays are usually not backlit, but active-matrix displays almost always are, with a few exceptions such as the display in the original Gameboy Advance. Recently, two types of LED backlit displays have appeared in some televisions as an alternative to conventional backlit LCDs. In one scheme, the LEDs are used to backlight the entire LCD panel. In another scheme, a set of red, green and blue LEDs is used to illuminate a small cluster of pixels, which can improve contrast and black level in some situations. For example, the LEDs in one section of the screen can be dimmed to produce a dark section of the image while the LEDs in another section are kept bright. Both schemes also allow for a slimmer panel than on conventional displays. [edit]Passive-matrix

and active-matrix addressed LCDs

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may bechallenged and removed. (June 2009)

A general purpose alphanumeric LCD, with two lines of 16 characters.

Monochromepassive-matrixLCDs were standard in most early laptops (although a few used plasma displays) and the original Nintendo Game Boy[25] until the mid-1990s, when color active-matrix became standard on all laptops. The commercially unsuccessful Macintosh Portable (released in 1989) was one of the first to use an active-matrix display (though still monochrome). Passive-matrix LCDs are still used today for applications less demanding than laptops and TVs. In particular, portable devices with less information content to be displayed, where lowest power consumption (no backlight), low cost and/or readability in direct sunlight are needed, use this type of display. Displays having a passive-matrix structure are employing super-twisted nematic STN or double-layer STN (DSTN) technology (the latter of which addresses a color-shifting problem with the former), and color-STN (CSTN) in which color is added by using an internal filter. STN LCDs have been optimized for passive-matrix addressing. They exhibit a sharper threshold of the contrast-vs-voltage characteristic than the original TN LCDs. This is important, because pixels are subjected to partial voltages even while not selected. Crosstalk between activated and non-activated pixels has to be handled properly by keeping the RMS voltage of non-activated pixels below the threshold voltage,[26] while activated pixels are subjected to voltages above threshold.[27] STN LCDs have to be continuously refreshed by alternating pulsed voltages of one polarity during one frame and pulses of opposite polarity during the next frame. Individual pixels are addressed by the corresponding row and column circuits. This type of display is called passive-matrix addressed, because the pixel must retain its state between refreshes without the benefit of a steady electrical charge. As the number of pixels (and, correspondingly, columns and rows) increases, this type of display becomes less feasible. Slow response times and poor contrast are typical of passive-matrix addressed LCDs with too many pixels. New zero-power (bistable) LCDs do not require continuous refreshing. Rewriting is only required for picture information changes. Potentially, passive-matrix addressing can be used with these new devices, if their write/erase characteristics are suitable. High-resolution color displays, such as modern LCD computer monitorsand televisions, use an active matrix structure. A matrix of thin-film transistors (TFTs) is added to the electrodes in contact with the LC layer. Each pixel has its own dedicated transistor, allowing each column line to access one pixel. When a row line is selected, all of the column lines are connected to a row of pixels and voltages corresponding to the picture information are driven onto all of the column lines. The row line is then deactivated and the

next row line is selected. All of the row lines are selected in sequence during a refresh operation. Activematrix addressed displays look "brighter" and "sharper" than passive-matrix addressed displays of the same size, and generally have quicker response times, producing much better images. [edit]Active

matrix technologies

A Casio 1.8 in color TFT LCD, which equips the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P93Adigital compact cameras

Main articles: Thin film transistor liquid crystal displayand Active-matrix liquid crystal display [edit]Twisted

nematic (TN)

See also: twisted nematic field effect Twisted nematic displays contain liquid crystals that twist and untwist at varying degrees to allow light to pass through. When no voltage is applied to a TN liquid crystal cell, polarized light passes through the 90degrees twisted LC layer. In proportion to the voltage applied, the liquid crystals untwist changing the polarization and blocking the light's path. By properly adjusting the level of the voltage almost any grey level or transmission can be achieved. [edit]In-plane

switching (IPS)

In-plane switching is an LCD technology that aligns the liquid crystals in a plane parallel to the glass substrates. In this method, the electrical field is applied through opposite electrodes on the same glass substrate, so that the liquid crystals can be reoriented (switched) in the same plane. This requires two transistors for each pixel instead of the single transistor needed for a standard thin-film transistor (TFT) display. Before LGEnhanced IPS was introduced in 2009, the additional transistors resulted in blocking more transmission area, thus requiring a brighter backlight and consuming more power, making this type of display less desirable for notebook computers. This newer, lower power technology can be found in the Apple iMac, iPad, and iPhone 4, the Hewlett-Packard EliteBookmobile workstations and the Nokia 701. Currently Panasonic is using an enhanced version eIPS for their large size LCD-TV products as well as Hewlett-Packard in its WebOS based TouchPad tablet. IPS LCD vs AMOLED

LG claimed the smartphone LG Optimus Black with an IPS LCD (LCD NOVA) has the brightness up to 700 nits, while the competitor has only IPS LCD with 518 nits and double an Active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display with 305 nits. LG also claimed the NOVA display to be 50 percent more efficient than regular LCDs and to consume only 50 percent of the power of AMOLED displays when producing white on screen.[28]When it comes to contrast ratio, AMOLED display still performs best due to its underlying technology, where the black levels are displayed as pitch black and not as dark grey. On August 24, 2011, Nokia announced the Nokia 701 and also made the claim of the world's brightest display at 1000 nits. The screen also had Nokia's Clearblack layer, improving the contrast ratio and bringing it closer to that of the AMOLED screens. [edit]Advanced

fringe field switching (AFFS)

Known as fringe field switching (FFS) until 2003,[29] advanced fringe field switching is similar to IPS or SIPS offering superior performance and color gamut with high luminosity. AFFS was developed by Hydis Technologies Co., Ltd, Korea (formally Hyundai Electronics, LCD Task Force).[30] AFFS-applied notebook applications minimize color distortion while maintaining a wider viewing angle for a professional display. Color shift and deviation caused by light leakage is corrected by optimizing the white gamut which also enhances white/grey reproduction. In 2004, Hydis Technologies Co.,Ltd licensed AFFS to Japan's Hitachi Displays. Hitachi is using AFFS to manufacture high-end panels. In 2006, HYDIS licensed AFFS to Sanyo Epson Imaging Devices Corporation. Shortly thereafter, Hydis introduced a high-transmittance evolution of the AFFS display, called HFFS (FFS+). Hydis introduced AFFS+ with improved outdoor readability in 2007. AFFS panels are mostly utilized in the cockpits of latest commercial aircraft displays. [edit]Vertical

alignment (VA)

Vertical alignment displays are a form of LCDs in which the liquid crystals naturally align vertically to the glass substrates. When no voltage is applied, the liquid crystals remain perpendicular to the substrate creating a black display between crossed polarizers. When voltage is applied, the liquid crystals shift to a tilted position allowing light to pass through and create a gray-scale display depending on the amount of tilt generated by the electric field. [edit]Blue

Phase mode

Main article: Blue Phase Mode LCD Blue phase mode LCDs have been shown as engineering samples early in 2008, but they are not in mass-production yet. The physics of blue phase mode LCDs suggest that very short switching times (~1 ms) can be achieved, so time sequential color control can possibly be realized and expensive color filters would be obsolete. For details refer to Blue Phase Mode LCD. [edit]Quality

control

Some LCD panels have defective transistors, causing permanently lit or unlit pixels which are commonly referred to as stuck pixels or dead pixelsrespectively. Unlike integrated circuits (ICs), LCD panels with a few defective transistors are usually still usable. Manufacturers' policies for the acceptable number of

defective pixels vary greatly. At one point, Samsung held a zero-tolerance policy for LCD monitors sold in Korea.[31]As of 2005, though, Samsung adheres to the less restrictive ISO 13406-2standard.[32] Other companies have been known to tolerate as many as 11 dead pixels in their policies.[33] Dead pixel policies are often hotly debated between manufacturers and customers. To regulate the acceptability of defects and to protect the end user, ISO released the ISO 13406-2 standard.[34] However, not every LCD manufacturer conforms to the ISO standard and the ISO standard is quite often interpreted in different ways. LCD panels are more likely to have defects than most ICs due to their larger size. For example, a 300 mm SVGA LCD has 8 defects and a 150 mm wafer has only 3 defects. However, 134 of the 137 dies on the wafer will be acceptable, whereas rejection of the LCD panel would be a 0% yield. In recent years, quality control has been improved. An SVGA LCD panel with 4 defective pixels is usually considered defective and customers can request an exchange for a new one.[according to whom?]Some manufacturers, notably in South Korea where some of the largest LCD panel manufacturers, such as LG, are located, now have "zero defective pixel guarantee", which is an extra screening process which can then determine "A" and "B" grade panels.[original research?] Many manufacturers would replace a product even with one defective pixel. Even where such guarantees do not exist, the location of defective pixels is important. A display with only a few defective pixels may be unacceptable if the defective pixels are near each other. LCD panels also have defects known as clouding (or less commonlymura), which describes the uneven patches of changes in luminance. It is most visible in dark or black areas of displayed scenes.[35] [edit]Zero-power

(bistable) displays

See also: Ferro Liquid Display The zenithal bistable device (ZBD), developed by QinetiQ (formerlyDERA), can retain an image without power. The crystals may exist in one of two stable orientations ("Black" and "White") and power is only required to change the image. ZBD Displays is a spin-off company from QinetiQ who manufacture both grayscale and color ZBD devices. Kent Displays has also developed a "no power" display that uses polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal (ChLCD). Kent has recently[when?]demonstrated the use of a ChLCD to cover the entire surface of a mobile phone, allowing it to change colors, and keep that color even when power is cut off.[36] In 2004 researchers at the University of Oxford demonstrated two new types of zero-power bistable LCDs based on Zenithal bistable techniques.[37] Several bistable technologies, like the 360 BTN and the bistable cholesteric, depend mainly on the bulk properties of the liquid crystal (LC) and use standard strong anchoring, with alignment films and LC mixtures similar to the traditional monostable materials. Other bistable technologies, e.g., BiNem technology, are based mainly on the surface properties and need specific weak anchoring materials. [edit]Specifications Important factors to consider when evaluating an LCD: Resolution versus range: Fundamentally resolution is the granularity (or number of levels) with which a performance feature of the display is divided. Resolution is often confused with range or the total end-to-end output of the display. Each of the major features of a display has both a resolution

and a range that are tied to each other but very different. Frequently the range is an inherent limitation of the display while the resolution is a function of the electronics that make the display work. Spatial performance: LCDs come in only one size for a variety of applications and a variety of resolutions within each of those applications. LCD spatial performance is also sometimes described in terms of a "dot pitch". The size (or spatial range) of an LCD is always described in terms of the diagonal distance from one corner to its opposite. This is an historical remnant from the early days of CRT television when CRT screens were manufactured on the bottoms of glass bottles, a direct extension of cathode ray tubes used inoscilloscopes. The diameter of the bottle determined the size of the screen. Later, when televisions went to a more square format, the square screens were measured diagonally to compare with the older round screens.[38] The spatial resolution of an LCD is expressed in terms of the number of columns and rows of pixels (e.g., 1024768). This had been one of the few features of LCD performance that was easily understood and not subject to interpretation. Each pixel is usually composed of a red, green, and blue sub pixel. However there are newer schemes to share sub-pixels among pixels and to add additional colors of sub-pixels. So going forward, spatial resolution may be more subject to interpretation. One external factor to consider in evaluating display resolution is the resolution of your own eyes. For a normal person with 20/20 vision, the resolution of your eyes is about one minute of arc. In practical terms that means for an older standard definition TV set the ideal viewing distance was about 8 times the height (not diagonal) of the screen away. At that distance the individual rows of pixels merge into a solid. If you were closer to the screen than that, you would be able to see the individual rows of pixels. If you are further away, the image of the rows of pixels still merge, but the total image becomes smaller as you get further away. For an HDTV set with slightly more than twice the number of rows of pixels, the ideal viewing distance is about half what it is for a standard definition set. The higher the resolution, the closer you can sit to the set or the larger the set can usefully be sitting at the same distance as an older standard definition display. For a computer monitor or some other LCD that is being viewed from a very close distance, resolution is often expressed in terms of dot pitch or pixels per inch. This is consistent with the printing industry (another form of a display). Magazines, and other premium printed media are often at 300 dots per inch. As with the distance discussion above, this provides a very solid looking and detailed image. LCDs, particularly on mobile devices, are frequently much less than this as the higher the dot pitch, the more optically inefficient the display and the more power it burns. Running the LCD is frequently half, or more, of the power consumed by a mobile device. An additional consideration in spatial performance are viewing cone and aspect ratio. The Aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height (for example, 4:3, 5:4, 16:9 or 16:10). Older, standard definition TVs were 4:3. Newer High Definition televisions (HDTV) are 16:9, as are most new notebook computers. Movies are often filmed in much different (wider) aspect ratios, which is why there will frequently still be black bars at the top and bottom of an HDTV screen. The Viewing Angle of an LCD may be important depending on its use or location. The viewing angle is usually measured as the angle where the contrast of the LCD falls below 10:1. At this point, the colors usually start to change and can even invert, red becoming green and so forth. Viewing angles for LCDs used to be very restrictive however, improved optical films have been developed that give almost 180

degree viewing angles from left to right. Top to bottom viewing angles may still be restrictive, by design, as looking at an LCD from an extreme up or down angle is not a common usage model and these photons are wasted. Manufacturers commonly focus the light in a left to right plane to obtain a brighter image here. Temporal/timing performance: Contrary to spatial performance, temporal performance is a feature where smaller is better. Specifically, the range is the pixel response time of an LCD, or how quickly you can change a sub-pixel's brightness from one level to another. For LCD monitors, this is measured in btb (black to black) or gtg (gray to gray). These different types of measurements make comparison difficult.[39] Further, this number is almost never published in sales advertising. Refresh rate or the temporal resolution of an LCD is the number of times per second in which the display draws the data it is being given. Since activated LCD pixels do not flash on/off between frames, LCD monitors exhibit no refresh-induced flicker, no matter how low the refresh. rate.[40]High-end LCD televisions now feature up to 240 Hz refresh rate, which requires advanced digital processing to insert additional interpolated frames between the real images to smooth the image motion. However, such high refresh rates may not be actually supported by pixel response times and the result can be visual artifacts that distort the image in unpleasant ways. Temporal performance can be further taxed if it is a 3D display. 3D displays work by showing a different series of images to each eye, alternating from eye to eye. For a 3D display it must display twice as many images in the same period of time as a conventional display and consequently the response time of the LCD becomes more important. 3D LCDs with marginal response times, will exhibit image smearing. It is actually greater in your black and white vision (rod cells) than in color vision (cone cells). You are more able to see flicker or any sort of temporal distortion in a display image by not looking directly at it as your rods are mostly grouped at the periphery of your vision. Color performance: There are many terms to describe color performance of an LCD. They include color gamut which is the range of colors that can be displayed and color depth which is the color resolution or the resolution or fineness with which the color range is divided. Although color gamut can be expressed as three pairs of numbers, the XY coordinates within color space of the reddest red, greenest green, and bluest blue, it is usually expressed as a ratio of the total area within color space that a display can show relative to some standard such as saying that a display was "120% of NTSC". NTSC is the National Television Standards Committee, the old standard definition TV specification. Color gamut is a relatively straight forward feature. However with clever optical techniques that are based on the way humans see color, termed color stretch,[41] colors can be shown that are outside of the nominal range of the display. In any case, color range is rarely discussed as a feature of the display as LCDs are designed to match the color ranges of the content that they are intended to show. Having a color range that exceeds the content is a useless feature.[42] Color depth or color support is sometimes expressed in bits, either as the number of bits per sub-pixel or the number of bits per pixel. This can be ambiguous as an 8-bit color LCD can be 8 total bits spread between red, green, and blue or 8 bits each for each color in a different display. Further, LCDs sometimes use a technique calleddithering which is time averaging colors to get intermediate colors such as alternating between two different colors to get a color in between. This doubles the

number of colors that can be displayed; however this is done at the expense of the temporal performance of the display. Dithering is commonly used on computer displays where the images are mostly static and the temporal performance is unimportant. When color depth is reported as color support, it is usually stated in terms of number of colors the LCD can show. The number of colors is the translation from the base 2-bit numbers into common base-10. For example, 8-bit, in common terms means 2 to the 8th power or 256 colors. 8-bits per color or 24-bits would be 256 x 256 x 256 or over 16 Million colors. The color resolution of the human eye depends on both the range of colors being sliced and the number of slices; but for most common displays the limit is about 28bit color. LCD TVs commonly display more than that as the digital processing can introduce color distortions and the additional levels of color are needed to ensure true colors. There are additional aspects to LCD color and color management, such as white point and gamma correction, which describe what color white is and how the other colors are displayed relative to white. LCD televisions also frequently have facial recognition software, which recognizes that an image on the screen is a face and both adjust the color and the focus differently from the rest of the image. These adjustments can have important effects on the consumer, but are not easily quantifiable; people like what they like and everyone does not like the same thing. There is no substitute for looking at the LCD one is going to buy before buying it. Portrait film, another form of display, has similar adjustments built in to it. Many years ago, Kodak had to overcome initial rejection of its portrait film in Japan because of these adjustments. In the U.S., people generally prefer a more colorful facial image than in reality (higher color saturation). In Japan, consumers generally prefer a less saturated image. The film that Kodak initially sent to Japan was biased in the wrong direction for Japanese consumers. Television monitors have their builtin biases as well. Brightness and contrast ratio: Contrast ratio is the ratio of the brightness of a full-on pixel to a full-off pixel and, as such, would be directly tied to brightness if not for the invention of the blinking backlight (or burst dimming). The LCD itself is only a light valve, it does not generate light; the light comes from a backlight that is either a florescent tube or a set of LEDs. The blinking backlight was developed to improve the motion performance of LCDs by turning the backlight off while the liquid crystals were in transition from one image to another. However, a side benefit of the blinking backlight was infinite contrast. The contrast reported on most LCDs is what the LCD is qualified at, not its actual performance. In any case, there are two large caveats to contrast ratio as a measure of LCD performance. The first caveat is that contrast ratios are measured in a completely dark room. In actual use, the room is never completely dark, as one will always have the light from the LCD itself. Beyond that, there may be sunlight coming in through a window or other room lights that reflect off of the surface of the LCD and degrades the contrast. As a practical matter, the contrast of an LCD, or any display, is governed by the amount of surface reflections, not by the performance of the display. The second caveat is that the human eye can only image a contrast ratio of a maximum of about 200:1. [citation needed] Black print on a white paper is about 1520:1. That is why viewing angles are specified to the point where they fall below 10:1. A 10:1 image is not great, but is discernable. Brightness is usually stated as the maximum output of the LCD. In the CRT era, Trinitron CRTs had a brightness advantage over the competition, so brightness was commonly discussed in TV advertising.

With current LCD technology, brightness, though important, is usually the same from maker to maker and is consequently not discussed much except for notebook LCDs and other displays that will be viewed in bright sunlight. In general, brighter is better, but there is always a trade-off between brightness and battery life in a mobile device. [edit]Military

use of LCD monitors

The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with USA and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (January 2012) LCD monitors have been adopted by the United States military, instead ofCRT displays, because they are smaller, lighter and more efficient, although monochrome plasma displays are also used, notably for the M1 Abrams tank. For use with night vision imaging systems a U.S. military LCD monitor must be compliant with MIL-STD-3009 (formerly MIL-L-85762A). These LCD monitors go through extensive certification so that they pass the standards for the military. These include MIL-S-901D High Shock (Sea Vessels), MIL-STD-167B Vibration (Sea Vessels),MIL-STD-810F Field Environmental Conditions (Ground Vehicles and Systems), MIL-STD-461E/F EMI/RFI (Electromagnetic Interference/Radio Frequency Interference), MIL-STD-740B Airborne/Structureborne Noise, and TEMPEST Telecommunications Electronics Material Protected from Emanating Spurious Transmissions.[43] [edit]Advantages

and disadvantages

Further information: Comparison CRT, LCD, Plasma In spite of LCDs being a well proven and still viable technology, as display devices LCDs are not perfect for all applications. Advantages Very compact and light. Low power consumption. No geometric distortion. Little or no flicker depending on backlight technology. Not affected by screen burn-in. Can be made in almost any size or shape. No theoretical resolution limit.

Disadvantages Limited viewing angle, causing color, saturation, contrast and brightness to vary, even within the intended viewing angle, by variations in posture.

 Bleeding and uneven backlighting in some monitors, causing brightness distortion, especially toward the edges. Smearing and ghosting artifacts caused by slow response times (>8 ms) and "sample and hold" operation. Only one native resolution. Displaying resolutions either requires avideo scaler, lowering perceptual quality, or display at 1:1 pixel mapping, in which images will be physically too large or won't fill the whole screen. Fixed bit depth, many cheaper LCDs are only able to display 262,000 colors. 8-bit S-IPS panels can display 16 million colors and have significantly better black level, but are expensive and have slower response time. Low bit depth results in images with unnatural or excessive contrast. Input lag Dead or stuck pixels may occur during manufacturing or through use.

In a constant-on situation, thermalization may occur, which is when only part of the screen has overheated and looks discolored compared to the rest of the screen. Not all LCDs are designed to allow easy replacement of the backlight. Cannot be used with light guns/pens. Loss of contrast in high temperature environments.

Active matrix
Active matrix is a type of addressing scheme used in flat panel displays. The term describes a method of switching individual elements of a flat panel display, using a CdSe or Silicon-based thin-film transistor(TFT) for each pixel. The technology was invented and first demonstrated by T Peter Brody and his Thin-Film Devices department at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1968, and the term was introduced into the literature in 1975.[1][2][3] Given a m n matrix, the number of connectors needed to address the display is m + n. Each pixel is attached to a switch-device, which activelymaintains the pixel state while other pixels are being addressed, which also prevents crosstalk from inadvertently changing the state of an unaddressed pixel. The most common switching devices are Thin Film Transistors (TFT), i.e. a FET based on either the cheaper non-crystallinethin-film silicon (a-Si), polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), or CdSesemiconductor material. Another variant is to use diodes or resistors, but neither diodes (e.g.Metal insulator metal diodes), nor non-linear voltage dependent resistors(i.e. varistors) are currently used. The latter of these is not yet economical when compared to TFT.

Electroluminescence
Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical phenomenon andelectrical phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to the passage of anelectric current or to a strongelectric field. This is distinct fromblack bodylight emission resulting from heat (incandescence), from a chemical reaction (chemiluminescence), sound (sonoluminescence), or other mechanical action (mechanoluminescence).

Spectrum of a blue/green electroluminescent light source for a clock radio (similar to the one seen in the above image). Peak wavelength is at 492 nm and the FWHM spectral bandwidth is quite wide at about 85 nm.

Mechanism
Electroluminescence is the result of radiative recombination of electronsand holes in a material, usually a semiconductor. The excited electrons release their energy as photons - light. Prior to recombination, electrons and holes may be separated either by doping the material to form a p-n junction (in semiconductor electroluminescent devices such as light-emitting diodes) or through excitation by impact of high-energy electrons accelerated by a strong electric field (as with the phosphors in electroluminescent displays). [edit]Examples

of electroluminescent materials

Electroluminescent devices are fabricated using either organic or inorganic electroluminescent materials. The active materials are generally semiconductors of wide enough bandwidth to allow exit of the light. The most typical inorganic thin-film EL (TFEL) is ZnS:Mn with yellow-orange emission. Examples of the range of EL material include: Powdered zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing greenish light) orsilver (producing bright blue light) Thin-film zinc sulfide doped with manganese (producing orange-red color) Naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace of boron that acts as a dopant.

Semiconductors containing Group III and Group V elements, such asindium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN). Certain organic semiconductors, such as [Ru(bpy)3]2+(PF6-)2, where bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine

[edit]Practical

implementations

An electroluminescent nightlight in operation (uses 0.08 W at 230 V, and dates from 1960; lit diameter 59 mm)

The most common electroluminescent (EL) devices are composed of either powder (primarily used in lighting applications) or thin films (for information displays.) Electroluminescent automotive instrument panel backlighting, with each gauge pointer also an individual light source, entered production on 1960 Chrysler and Imperial passenger cars, and was continued successfully on several Chrysler vehicles through 1967. Sylvania Lighting Division in Salem and Danvers, MA, produced and marketed an EL night lamp (right), under the trade name Panelescent at roughly the same time that the Chrysler instrument panels entered production. These lamps have proven incredibly reliable, with some samples known to be still functional after nearly 50 years of continuous operation. Later in the 1960s, Sylvania's Electronic Systems Division in Needham, MA developed and manufactured several instruments for the Apollo Lunar Lander and Command Module using electroluminescent display panels manufactured by the Electronic Tube Division of Sylvania at Emporium, PA. Raytheon, Sudbury, MA, manufactured the Apollo guidance computer, which used a Sylvania electroluminescent display panel as part of its display-keyboard interface (DSKY). Powder phosphor-based electroluminescent panels are frequently used as backlights to liquid crystal displays. They readily provide a gentle, even illumination to the entire display while consuming relatively little electric power. This makes them convenient for battery-operated devices such as pagers, wristwatches, and computer-controlled thermostats, and their gentle green-cyan glow is a common sight in the technological world. They do, however, require relatively high voltage (between 60 and 600 volts).[1] For battery-operated devices, this voltage must be generated by a converter circuit within the device; this converter often makes an audible whine or siren sound while the backlight is activated. For line-voltage-operated devices, it may be supplied directly from the power line. Electroluminescent nightlights operate in this fashion. Brightness per unit area increases with increased voltage and frequency.[1] Thin film phosphor electroluminescence was first commercialized during the 1980s by Sharp Corporation in Japan, Finlux (Oy Lohja Ab) in Finland, and Planar Systems in the USA. Here, bright, longlife light emission is achieved in thin film yellow-emitting manganese-doped zinc sulfide material. Displays using this technology were manufactured for medical and vehicle applications where ruggedness and

wide viewing angles were crucial, and liquid crystal displays were not well developed. In 1992, Timex introduced its Indiglo EL display on some watches. Recently, blue-, red-, and green-emitting thin film electroluminescent materials that offer the potential for long life and full color electroluminescent displays have been developed. In either case, the EL material must be enclosed between two electrodes and at least one electrode must be transparent to allow the escape of the produced light. Glass coated with indium tin oxide is commonly used as the front (transparent) electrode while the back electrode is coated with reflective metal. Additionally, other transparent conducting materials, such as carbon nanotube coatings or PEDOT can be used as the front electrode. The display applications are primarily passive (i.e., voltages are driven from edge of the display cf. driven from a transistor on the display) Similar to LCD trends, there have also been Active Matrix EL (AMEL) displays demonstrated, where circuitry is added to prolong voltages at each pixel. The solid-state nature of TFEL allows for a very rugged and high-resolution display fabricated even on silicon substrates. AMEL displays of 1280x1024 at over 1000 lines per inch (lpi) have been demonstrated by a consortium including Planar Systems.[2][3]

The world's first electroluminescent billboard campaign, Canada, Winter 2005

Electroluminescent technologies have low power consumption compared to competing lighting technologies, such as neon orfluorescent lamps. This, together with the thinness of the material, has made EL technology valuable to the advertising industry. Relevant advertising applications include electroluminescent billboards and signs. EL manufacturers are able to control precisely which areas of an electroluminescent sheet illuminate, and when. This has given advertisers the ability to create more dynamic advertising that is still compatible with traditional advertising spaces. An EL film is a so-called Lambertian radiator: unlike with neon lamps, filament lamps, or LEDs, the brightness of the surface appears the same from all angles of view; electroluminescent light is not directional and therefore hard to compare with (thermal) light sources measured in lumens or lux. The light emitted from the surface is perfectly homogeneous and is well-perceived by the eye. EL film produces single-frequency (monochromatic) light that has a very narrow bandwidth, is absolutely uniform and visible from a great distance.

1966 Dodge Charger instrument panel with electroluminescent lighting. Chryslerbegan building cars with EL panel lighting for the 1960 model year.

In principle, EL lamps can be made in any color. However, the commonly-used greenish color closely matches the peak sensitivity of human vision, producing the greatest apparent light output for the least electrical power input. Unlike neon and fluorescent lamps, EL lamps are notnegative resistance devices so no extra circuitry is needed to regulate the amount of current flowing through them.