Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OPTICS (Novel optical display technology based on MEMS and metasurface structural colors targeting sustainable displays for consuming electronics)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2025-05-31
Optical displays play a ubiquitous role in daily life, being an essential component of smartphones, computers, televisions, etc. However, these devices make up roughly half of the 50 million tons of e-waste produced globally every year. In estimate, 40 million tons are generally ending up in burn pits or landfills in developing countries, causing environment and health problems. There is an urgent need for alternative display technologies which are easier to recycle and are financially feasible to be incorporated into sustainable consumer electronics. Structural colors could be an ideal technology for next-generation optical displays. Several reports have been published on controllable / tunable structural colors towards optical displays. However, none of them meet the basic requirements, namely: control individual pixel by voltage, control color of individual pixels, and control brightness of individual pixels. We will examine a new type of optical display technology based on structural colors and MEMS to meet the above requirements.
The OPTICS project aims to improve the recent reported display technique of MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) metasurface structural colors (applicant’s previous work), through re-designing the color filers and the MEMS cantilevers, for practical display applications for consuming electronics. The proposed technology combines transmission-based plasmonic structural colors with MEMS micro cantilevers to realise full range RGB displays, while using only common earth-abundant materials, such as Aluminum (Al) and silicon oxide (SiO2), potentially for cost effective products and fast operation performance.
The OPTICS project aims to improve the recent reported display technique of MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) metasurface structural colors (applicant’s previous work), through re-designing the color filers and the MEMS cantilevers, for practical display applications for consuming electronics. The proposed technology combines transmission-based plasmonic structural colors with MEMS micro cantilevers to realise full range RGB displays, while using only common earth-abundant materials, such as Aluminum (Al) and silicon oxide (SiO2), potentially for cost effective products and fast operation performance.
The OPTICS project aims to develop a novel sustainable optical display by using combination of MEMS and metasurfaces technologies. The original project plan is 2 years. However, due to the fellow’s new position, the project was only 5 months in duration. During the 5-months period, color filter designs with numerical simulations were performed and the design targets were roughly achieved.
For the color filer design, the results are at the edge of beyond the state of the art.