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The U.S. Navy seeks to commercialize U.S. Patent 7,274,413 (Flexible video display apparatus and method).
Background
Flexible video displays are similar to traditional, flat video displays, but are thin enough to be flexible and bend. They have commercial applications in entertainment, medicine, training, and defense; and can be attached to curved surfaces for more realistic virtual reality training, used as heads-up displays in wearable computer systems, or used to display electronic maps that can be rolled up in a back pocket. Traditional flexible display technologies typically do not integrate electronics directly on the display layer, instead they use complex interconnections. In the few cases where electronics are integrated, the materials used do not support high-performance electronics such as video due to their poor crystalline structure.
The Technology
SSC Pacific has developed a method and apparatus for a flexible video display that is made of extremely thin layers of polymers or other synthetic materials, and overcomes the integration limitations by using single crystal silicon to form the electronics layer. The method covers the use of a light-emitting layer that can be used to produce images when voltage is applied by the electronics layer. Electronics can be added for additional capabilities such as wireless transmission or video signal. Integrating the video display with high-performance electronics on a single chip allows for full-motion video capabilities, wireless transfer of information without the need for complex interconnections, and reduced overall power consumption. As a window rattles and bends without breaking in a windstorm, this thin-layer technology allows the flexible video display to bend without breaking.
Key Benefits
Development Status
- For more information on technology transfer, please contact us at (619) 553–5118 or email ssc_pac_t2@navy.mil
- SD 783, March 2008. SSC Pacific, San Diego, CA 92152–5001. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.