Abstract
 
Displays
 
Helena Gleskova
  
Department of Electrical Engineering and Center for Photonics and Optoelectronic Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
 
 
Novel display applications, like electronic paper, smart labels, and automotive displays, require flexibility. Therefore, the traditional rigid glass substrate must be replaced with foils of plastic or metal. A new flexible display media that provides the optical image needs to be developed. The thin-film transistors that drive the individual pixels of the display must tolerate the strain induced by the bending of the display.

We will start by describing the structure and function of the active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) that are currently used in laptop computers. Even though this is a very successful and mature technology, AMLCDs are rigid, fragile, and cannot be easily, if at all, transferred into flexible displays. Next, we will describe current approaches to flexible display media. Finally, we will discuss the performance of amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFT), often used as pixel switches, under compressive or tensile strain.