Fabrication of 5.8‐in. OTFT‐driven flexible color AMOLED display using dual protection scheme for organic semiconductor patterning

Abstract— A 5.8‐in. wide‐QQVGA flexible color active‐matrix organic light‐emitting‐diode (AMOLED) display consisting of organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs) and phosphorescent OLEDs was fabricated on a plastic film. To reduce the operating voltage of the OTFTs, Ta₂O₅ with a high dielectric constant was employed as a gate insulator. Pentacene was used for the semiconductor layer of the OTFTs. This layer was patterned by photolithography and dry‐etched using a dual protection layer of poly p‐xylylene and SiO₂ film. Uniform transistor performance was achieved in the OTFT backplane with QQVGA pixels. The RGB emission layers of the pixels were formed by vacuum deposition of phosphorescent small molecules. The resulting display could clearly show color moving images even when it was bent and operated at a low driving voltage (below 15 V).     

On weighted P‐quantile aggregation

We consider the problem of aggregating ordinal information with quantitative or qualitative importance based on quantile operations. For a bag 〈x₁, x₂, …, x_n〉 in real or in (finite) ordinal scales, the quantile operations used in this paper are operating based on the floating position index of x_i that is determined by its position on the ordered sequence (x₍₁₎, x₍₂₎, …, x_(n)), where x_(i) is the ith smallest element of the bag 〈x₁, x₂, …, x_n〉. We call this type of quantile aggregation as the floating position index‐based quantile (p‐quantile) aggregation. We study on weighted p‐quantile aggregation in real scales and extend the corresponding techniques to p‐quantile aggregation of ordinal information with quantitative importance. The aggregated result of the latter is represented by a general ordinal proportional 2‐tuple. On basis of the notion of importance transformation (that is modified from Yager), we investigate p‐quantile aggregation of ordinal information with qualitative importance. Then, we use p‐quantile aggregation to define the floating position index‐based ordered weighted averaging (P‐OWA) aggregation of ordinal information with qualitative importance and apply it to the problem of multicriteria decision making. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Thin‐film encapsulated white organic light top‐emitting diodes using a WO3/Ag/WO3 cathode to enhance light out‐coupling

An alternative design of a semitransparent cathode for top‐emission white‐fluorescent organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been investigated. The scope of this study was to improve the luminance of OLEDs used for displays while keeping the current density versus voltage characteristic unchanged for addressing purposes. The use of an optical simulation tool allowed the optimization of the tri‐layer cathode WO₃/Ag/WO₃ to increase the light out‐coupling coefficient of the device leading to an increased white emission compared with a reference device with a Ca/Ag cathode. An increase of ~40% in luminance has been calculated by simulation and experimentally confirmed. The p‐i‐n OLED structure underneath the tri‐layer cathode allowed an efficient injection of electrons independently from the work function of WO₃. The WO₃/Ag/WO₃ cathode has been also confirmed to be compatible with the atomic layer deposition technique for thin film encapsulation. Finally, lifetime measurements up to 600 h have been carried out to quantify the enhancements induced by the new cathode compared with the control device. It has been found that lifetimes of both cathode architectures are similar on this time scale, while the WO₃/Ag/WO₃ cathode shows a lower voltage drift versus aging.     

Deep‐UV exciton emission from Mg1 − xCaxO—A first‐principle investigation

In order to investigate the ultraviolet and electron emission properties of rock‐salt Mg_{1 ? x}Ca_xO, first‐principle calculations are carried out with x ranging from 0 to 0.5. The electron–hole interaction is taken into account by solving the Bethe–Salpeter equation. In pure MgO, the calculated exciton binding‐energy value of 83 ± 3 meV is quite close to the published experimental values. The electronic properties of doped MgO are investigated based on the super‐cell model. Both the optical bandgap and the exciton binding energy of the super cell of Mg_{1 ? x}Ca_xO are calculated for five discrete compositions, with an increasing amount x of CaO. The results show that there are strong excitonic effects in all of these materials. A rapid reduction in bandgap value is observed for Mg_{1 ? x}Ca_xO, when increasing the x value. The exciton binding energy of Mg_{1 ? x}Ca_xO shows a minimum value of about 40 meV around x = 0.2. In all of these cases, the exciton is stable at room temperature. The lowest excitation levels in Mg_{1 ? x}Ca_xO are determined by dark excitons. The occurrence of these dark excitons might explain why Mg_{1 ? x}Ca_xO is a strong source of delayed electron emission, after being bombarded by ions in a plasma.     

Advances towards high‐resolution pack‐and‐go displays: A survey

Abstract— Tiled displays provide high resolution and large scale simultaneously. Projectors can project on any available surface. Thus, it is possible to create a large high‐resolution display by simply tiling multiple projectors on any available regular surface. The tremendous advancement in projection technology has made projectors portable and affordable. One can envision displays made of multiple such projectors that can be packed in one's car trunk, carried from one location to another, deployed at each location easily to create a seamless high‐resolution display, and, finally, dismantled in minutes to be taken to the next location — essentially a pack‐and‐go display. Several challenges must be overcome in order to realize such pack‐and‐go displays. These include allowing for imperfect uncalibrated devices, uneven non‐diffused display surfaces, and a layman user via complete automation in deployment that requires no user invention. We described the advances we have made in addressing these challenges for the most common case of planar display surfaces. First, we present a technique to allow imperfect projectors. Next, we present a technique to allow a photometrically uncalibrated camera. Finally, we present a novel distributed architecture that renders critical display capabilities such as self‐calibration, scalability, and reconfigurability without any user intervention. These advances are important milestones towards the development of easy‐to‐use multi‐projector displays that can be deployed anywhere and by anyone.     

Substrate‐free cholesteric liquid‐crystal displays

Abstract— This paper demonstrates the first substrate‐free cholesteric liquid‐crystal displays. The encapsulated cholesteric displays are ultra‐thin (with a total thickness around 20 μm) and ultra‐lightweight (0.002 g/cm²). The displays exhibit unprecedented conformability, flexibility, and drapability while maintaining electro‐optical performance and mechanical integrity. All functional display layers are sequentially coated on a preparation substrate and then lifted‐off from the preparation substrate to form a free‐standing display. The display fabrication process, electro‐optical performance, and display flexibility are discussed.     

High isolation,proximity‐fed monostatic patch antennas with integrated self‐interference cancellation‐taps for ISM band full duplex applications

This work presents two dual polarized proximity‐fed monostatic patch antennas with improved interport isolation for 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical band same frequency full duplex wireless applications. The presented antennas achieves the high interport decoupling through intrinsic isolation of the polarization diversity in conjunction with a simple single‐tap and two‐taps self‐interference cancellation (SIC) topologies. The polarization diversity isolation is achieved through two perpendicular microstrip feeds for proximity feeding to excite orthogonal polarization mode for transmit (T_x) and receive (R_x) modes. The prototype for proposed antenna with integrated single‐tap and two‐taps SIC circuit is tested to record its interport isolation, impedance bandwidths and gains for both T_x and R_x ports. The implemented antenna with single‐tap SIC circuit demonstrates 10 dB return‐loss bandwidth of ≥100 MHz for both T_x and R_x ports. The measured isolation exceeds 40 dB over the 40 MHz bandwidth. Moreover, the recorded peak isolation is better than 74 dB for implemented antenna prototype. Furthermore, the 40 MHz bandwidth with 40 dB isolation can be tuned with the help of SIC‐tap as demonstrated through the experimental results. The measured gain levels are around 4.6 dBi for both T_x and R_x port. The same antenna structure with integrated two‐taps SIC topology features better than 55 dB isolation within 10 dB return loss bandwidth of 100 MHz. The peak isolation exceeds 97 dB and isolation levels are better than 60 and 80 dB over 50 and 20 MHz bandwidths, respectively, for presented antenna with two‐taps SIC configuration. The compact antenna offers comparatively wider impedance and isolation bandwidth with improved SIC levels compared to previous designs.     

Characterization of a SAG‐InGaN/AlGaN LED by mixed‐source HVPE with a multi‐sliding boat system

Abstract— The selective area growth (SAG) of a InGaN/AlGaN light‐emitting diode (LED) is performed by using mixed‐source hydride vapor‐phase epitaxy (HVPE) with a multi‐sliding boat system. The SAG‐InGaN/AlGaN LED consists of a Si‐doped AlGaN cladding layer, an InGaN active layer, a Mg‐doped AlGaN cladding layer, and a Mg‐doped GaN capping layer. The carrier concentration of the n‐type Al_xGa_1?xN (x ～ 16%) cladding layer depends on the amount of poly‐Si placed in the Al‐Ga source. The carrier concentration is varied from 2.0 × 10¹⁶ to 1.1 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3. Electroluminescence (EL) characteristics show an emission peak wavelength at 426 nm with a full width at half‐maximum (FWHM) of approximately 0.47 eV at 20 mA. It was found that the mixed‐source HVPE method with a multi‐sliding boat system is a candidate growth method for III‐nitride LEDs.     

A compact proximity‐fed 2.4 GHz monostatic antenna with wide‐band SIC characteristics for in‐band full duplex applications

This article presents a dual polarized, proximity‐fed monostatic patch antenna (single radiator for both transmit and receive modes) with improved interport isolation for 2.4 GHz in‐band full duplex (IBFD) applications. The proximity‐fed radiating patch offers comparatively wider impedance bandwidth for presented design. Very nice self‐interference cancelation (SIC) levels for intended impedance bandwidth have been achieved through differential receive (R_x) mode configuration. The differential R_x mode based on 180° ring hybrid coupler acts as a signal inversion mechanism for effective suppression or cancelation of in‐band self‐interference (SI) that is, the leakage from transmit port. The implemented prototype of proposed antenna achieves ≥87 dB peak isolation for dual polarized IBFD operation. Moreover, the recorded interport isolation for validation model ≥60 dB within 10 dB‐return loss bandwidth of 90 MHz (2.36‐2.45 GHz). The measured radiation characteristics of implemented antenna demonstrate nice gain and low cross‐polarization levels for both transmit (T_x) and receive (R_x) modes. The dimensions of implemented antenna are 70 × 75 × 4.8 mm³. The novelty of this work is wide‐band SIC performance for monostatic antenna configuration with compact structure of presented design.     

Independently controllable dual‐band filter using single quad‐mode silver‐loaded dielectric resonator

This article proposes a novel bandpass filter with two controllable passbands using a single quad‐mode silver‐loaded dielectric resonator (DR). The silver plane is inserted in the middle of the cubic DR and two degenerate pairs are used to build the two passbands. Because of the distinct E‐field distributions, the silver plane has significant effect on the degenerate pair (TE^x₁₁₂ and TE^y₁₁₂), whereas another one (TE^x₁₁₁ and TE^y₁₁₁) remains unchanged. With the aid of the silver plane, both center frequencies and bandwidths of the two bands can be controlled independently. To verify the proposed idea, a prototype dual‐band BPF is designed and fabricated. Good agreement between simulated and measured results can be observed.     

Characteristics of a‐IZO TFTs with high‐κ HfSiOx gate insulator annealed in various conditions

In this work, we investigate the enhanced performance of amorphous indium zinc oxides‐based thin film transistors with hafnium silicate (HfSiO_x) gate insulators. HfSiO_x gate insulators annealed at various conditions are deposited by cosputtering of hafnium oxide and Si. The structural properties of HfSiO_x are investigated using the atomic force microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). techniques. Furthermore, the electrical characteristics of HfSiO_x are analyzed to investigate the effect of annealing conditions. We obtain optimal results for thin film transistors with HfSiO_x gate insulators annealed for 1 h at 100 °C, with a saturation mobility of 1.2 cm²/V · s, threshold voltage of 2.2 V, on current/off current ratio of 2.0 × 10⁶, and an insulator surface roughness of 0.187 nm root mean square.     

Active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode displays with indium gallium zinc oxide thin‐film transistors and normal,inverted, and transparent organic light‐emitting diodes

Abstract— Active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode (AMOLED) displays have gained wide attention and are expected to dominate the flat‐panel‐display industry in the near future. However, organic light‐emitting devices have stringent demands on the driving transistors due to their current‐driving characteristics. In recent years, the oxide‐semiconductor‐based thin‐film transistors (oxide TFTs) have also been widely investigated due to their various benefits. In this paper, the development and performance of oxide TFTs will be discussed. Specifically, effects of back‐channel interface conditions on these devices will be investigated. The performance and bias stress stability of the oxide TFTs were improved by inserting a SiO^x protection layer and an N²O plasma treatment on the back‐channel interface. On the other hand, considering the n‐type nature of oxide TFTs, 2.4‐in. AMOLED displays with oxide TFTs and both normal and inverted OLEDs were developed and their reliability was studied. Results of the checkerboard stimuli tests show that the inverted OLEDs indeed have some advantages due to their suitable driving schemes. In addition, a novel 2.4‐in. transparent AMOLED display with a high transparency of 45% and high resolution of 166 ppi was also demonstrated using all the transparent or semi‐transparent materials, based on oxide‐TFT technologies.     

Highly conductive SnO2 thin films for flat‐panel displays

Abstract— SnO₂ is considered to be a promising alternative material for indium tin oxide (ITO), which is used for thin‐film transparent electrodes in flat‐panel displays (FPDs) and is facing a serious indium depletion problem. However, annealing processes in the manufacture of plasma‐display panels (PDPs), which are major FPDs, cause high resistivity in SnO₂ films. To obtain lower resistivity after the annealing processes, the relationship between deposition conditions and resistivity and the influences of annealing on resistivity, both theoretically and experimentally, were investigated. As a solution, a method involving the formation of a coating of SiO₂ on SnO₂ is proposed, and a SnO₂ resistivity as low as 6.60 × 10^?5 Ω‐m was obtained after annealing.     

Tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon for field‐emission displays

Abstract— Field emission from a series of tetrahedrally bonded amorphous‐carbon (ta‐C) films, deposited in a filtered cathodic vacuum arc, has been measured. The threshold field for emission and current densities achievable have been investigated as a function of sp³/sp² bonding ratio and nitrogen content. Typical as‐grown undoped ta‐C films have threshold fields of the order 10–15 V/μm and optimally nitrogen doped films exhibit fields as low as 5 V/μm. In order to gain further understanding of the mechanism of field emission, the films were also subjected to H₂, Ar, and O₂ plasma treatments and were also deposited onto substrates of different work function. The threshold field, emission current, and emission site densities were all significantly improved by the plasma treatment, but little dependence of these properties on work function of the substrate was observed. This suggests that the main barrier to emission in these films is at the front surface.     

Stress control for overlay registration in a‐Si:H TFTs on flexible organic‐polymer‐foil substrates

Abstract— Mechanical stress in hydrogenated amorphous‐silicon (a‐Si:H) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) is becoming an important design parameter, especially when the TFTs are made on compliant substrates. Excessive stress always has been avoided to prevent film fracture and peeling. Now, attention is turning to the effects of stress on the TFT backplane dimensions and hence on the overlay alignment. The goal is to keep the size of the circuit‐on‐substrate composite structure the same at successive critical photolithographic steps. This is done most easily by keeping the structure flat. We show that a compensating stress can be dialed into the silicon nitride SiN_x) gate dielectric to also keep the substrate size constant. Varying the stress in the SiN_x gate dielectric did not significantly change the as‐fabricated TFT characteristics.     

Detrimental effects of O2 and CO2 on the cathode performance of flat‐matrix CRTs used for large‐scale flat displays

Abstract— The detrimental effects of O² and CO² on the cathode emissions of a flat‐matrix (FM) CRT and some methods which increase its life are described. Cathode emission gradually decreases over long‐term operation when an FM‐CRT is used as a tiling element in a large‐scale flat display. It is necessary that for the FM‐CRT the reduction of the emission current be within 10% in order to keep the operational life longer than 10,000 hours. The reason for the degradation of the cathode emission was clarified by experiments using high‐vacuum equipment. It was found from experiments that O² and CO², which are produced by the dissolution and activation of the oxide‐coated cathodes, are very harmful to emissions. It is, therefore, very important to lower the partial pressure of O² and CO² in the FM‐CRT in order to reduce their harmful influence on the oxide cathodes. Two methods were used to reduce their partial pressure in the FM‐CRT. One was to make the diameter of the evacuation tube larger and the other was to increase the quantity of the getters. It was found that the adoption of twice as many getters in the FM‐CRT was most useful in lowering the partial pressure of O² and CO². This has ensured that the life of an FM‐CRT is longer than 10,000 hours.     

The multiple loop antenna for enhanced readability performances of near‐field UHF RFID applications

This research is concerned with a multiple loop antenna applicable to near field ultra‐high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID). The proposed multi‐loop antenna is configured to induce the robust and even magnetic field distributions in the H_x, H_y, and H_z orientations so as to achieve the enhanced readability performances in all directions (i.e., x, y, and z). Simulations were carried out using CST Microwave Studio to determine the impedance bandwidth (|S₁₁|H_x‐, H_y‐, and H_z‐oriented magnetic field distributions. A prototype antenna of 14 cm × 16 cm × 0.6 mm (W × L × H) in overall dimension was subsequently fabricated on an FR4 substrate connected to a coaxial cable. In this research, the H_x‐, H_y‐, and H_z‐oriented magnetic field distributions of the prototype antenna were measured in the x‐axis, y‐axis, and x–y plane and are in good agreement with the simulation results. The measured readability performances in the x‐, y‐, and z‐directions in which seven near field UHF RFID tags were deployed unobstructed (i.e., in open air) are respectively 25.27%, 31.73%, and 85.43%. Furthermore, the performances on the antenna readability with the tags attached to the microcentrifuge tubes are 30.55%, 25.90%, and 69.09% for the x‐, y‐, and z‐directions. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:402–417, 2016.     

Reduced cross‐talk in shutter‐glass‐based stereoscopic LCD

Abstract— It is expected that 3‐D will be the next step in the enhanced viewing experience. At present, there are two competing 3‐D technologies for glasses‐based consumer TVs: active shutter glasses and passive polarized glasses. With the ongoing reduction in response time of liquid‐crystal displays (LCDs), this article will focus on shutter‐glass‐based stereoscopic LCDs. In this paper, the properties of such a display system is described and it is demonstrated that by adding a line‐scanning backlight, the cross‐talk can be reduced to less than 1.4%, allowing for excellent 3‐D portrayal. For images of extreme contrast, this is perceivable, but not judged annoying by a panel of expert viewers. Which characteristics of the display and shutter glasses that should be optimized to create an inexpensive, cross‐talk‐free, 3‐D LCD are discussed.     

Sliding‐mode control of a three‐degrees‐of‐freedom nanopositioner

This paper presents the sliding‐mode control of a three‐degrees‐of‐freedom nanopositioner (Z, θ_x, θ_y). This nanopositioner is actuated by piezoelectric actuators. Capacitive gap sensors are used for position feedback. In order to design the feedback controller, the open‐loop characteristics of this nanopositioner are investigated. Based on the results of the investigation, each pair of piezoelectric actuators and corresponding gap sensors is treated as an independent system and modeled as a first‐order linear model coupled with hysteresis. When the model is identified and the hysteresis nonlinearity is linearized, a linear system model with uncertainty is used to design the controller. When designing the controller, the sliding‐mode disturbance (uncertainty) estimation and compensation scheme is used. The structure of the proposed controller is similar to that of a proportional integral derivative controller. Thus, it can be easily implemented. Experimental results show that 3‐nm tracking resolution can be obtained. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

Thin‐film micromirror array (TMA) for large information‐display systems

Abstract— The thin‐film micromirror array (TMA) is a new reflective‐type spatial light modulator fabricated with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Micromachined thin‐film piezoelectric actuators are used to control the tilt angle of each micromirror, which defines the gray scale of the matching screen pixel. A working projector prototype of 5400 true ANSI lumens was presented at Asian Display '98 with three VGA‐format TMAchips and a 1‐kW xenon lamp. The prototype showed a light‐transmitting efficiency of 22%. An XGA‐format TMA was developed for commercial purposes. The size of each micromirror of the XGA‐format TMA is reduced to half the size of the micromirror of a VGA‐format TMA. Efforts have been made to maintain the light‐transmitting efficiency of the XGA TMA projector over 21%, as well as to improve the uniformity.