Display

Abstract

The display element(s) (14, 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F, 14′, 14″, 14′″, 14″″) have i) a substrate (12, 13), ii) an electrode (24, 24′) adjacent to, and disposed on at least a portion of the substrate (12, 13), iii) another electrode (26) distal to the substrate and opposed to the electrode (24, 24′), iv) a dielectric layer (16) established on the substrate (12, 13) and/or the electrode (24, 24′) or distal electrode (26), v) an electrically activatable medium including colorant particles (22) disposed between the electrode (24, 24′) and the distal electrode (26), vi) at least one reservoir (18) having an area that is less than an area of the display element(s) (14, 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F, 14′, 14″, 14′″, 14″″), and vii) a gate electrode (28, 28′) having at least a portion thereof disposed between the electrode (24, 24′) and the distal electrode (26). The display element(s) (14, 14A, 14E, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F, 14′, 14″, 14′″, 14″″) form a visible image by in-plane motion of the colorant particle(s) (22) when electric potential is applied to the electrode (24, 24′), the distal electrode (26), and/or the gate electrode (28, 28′).

1 . A display ( 10 ,  10 ′), comprising:
 at least one display element ( 14 ,  14   A ,  14   B ,  14   C ,  14   D ,  14   E ,  14   F ,  14 ′,  14 ″,  14 ′″,  14 ″″), comprising:
 a substrate ( 12 ,  13 ); 
 an electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) adjacent to, and disposed on at least a portion of the substrate ( 12 ,  13 ), and an other electrode ( 26 ) distal to the substrate ( 12 ,  13 ) and opposed to the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′); 
 a dielectric layer ( 16 ) established on one of i) the substrate ( 12 ,  13 ), or ii) at least one of the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) or the distal electrode ( 26 ); 
 an electrically activatable medium disposed between the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) and the distal electrode ( 26 ), the medium including a plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ); 
 at least one reservoir ( 18 ) defined in the dielectric layer ( 16 ); and 
 a gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) having at least a portion thereof operatively disposed between the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) and the distal electrode ( 26 ); 
 
 wherein the at least one display element ( 14 ,  14   A ,  14   B ,  14   C ,  14   D ,  14   E ,  14   F ,  14 ′,  14 ″,  14 ′″,  14 ″″) is configured to form a visible image by in-plane motion of the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) when a sufficient electric potential is applied to at least one of the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′), the distal electrode ( 26 ), or the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′); 
 and wherein an area of the at least one reservoir ( 18 ) is substantially less than an area of the at least one display element ( 14 ,  14   A ,  14   B ,  14   C ,  14   D ,  14   E ,  14   F ,  14 ′,  14 ″,  14 ′″,  14 ″). 
 
     
     
         2 . The display as defined in  claim 1  wherein at least one of the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′), the distal electrode ( 26 ), or the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) is a continuous electrode, a segmented electrode, a pixelated electrode, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The display as defined in any of  claims 1  or  2  wherein the dielectric layer ( 16 ) is established on the substrate ( 12 ,  13 ), and wherein the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) is operatively disposed in the at least one reservoir ( 18 ). 
     
     
         4 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) is established on the substrate ( 12 ,  13 ), and wherein the dielectric layer ( 16 ) is established on the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′). 
     
     
         5 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) includes particles i) of the same type; or ii) of different types, and wherein the display ( 10 ,  10 ′) further comprises an other gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) opposed to the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′), wherein the other gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) has at least one portion thereof operatively disposed between the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) and the distal electrode ( 26 ). 
     
     
         6 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein there is at least a second reservoir ( 18 ) defined in the dielectric layer ( 16 ), and wherein the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) includes particles having at least two different colors, one of the at least two different colors collecting in the at least one reservoir ( 18 ), and the other of the at least two different colors collecting in the second reservoir ( 18 ). 
     
     
         7 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the at least one reservoir ( 18 ) has a predetermined depth and wherein the at least one reservoir ( 18 ) is a plurality of reservoirs forming a periodic lattice arrangement or an aperiodic stochastic arrangement, the plurality of reservoirs ( 18 ) including at least one of dot structures, line structures, two-dimensional areas, three-dimensional shapes, or fractal shapes. 
     
     
         8 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims, further comprising a passivation layer ( 21 ) established on the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′). 
     
     
         9 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the display ( 10 ,  10 ′) is configured to be driven via direct addressing, passive matrix addressing, or active matrix addressing. 
     
     
         10 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the at least one display element ( 14 ,  14   A ,  14   B ,  14   C ,  14   D ,  14   E ,  14   F ,  14 ′,  14 ″,  14 ′″,  14 ″″) is further configured to exhibit a gray scale by controlling the electric potential applied to the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′), the distal electrode ( 26 ), the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′), or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the area of the at least one reservoir ( 18 ) is less than or equal to about half of the area of the at least one display element ( 14 ,  14   A ,  14   B ,  14   C ,  14   D ,  14   E ,  14   F ,  14 ′,  14 ″,  14 ′″,  14 ″″). 
     
     
         12 . The display as defined in any of the preceding claims wherein the at least one display element ( 14 ,  14   A ,  14   B ,  14   C ,  14   D ,  14   E ,  14   F ,  14 ′,  14 ″,  14 ′″,  14 ″″) is configured to be selected or unselected when driving the display ( 10 ,  10 ′) by controlling the electric potential applied between the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) and the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′). 
     
     
         13 . Circuitry for driving the display ( 10 ,  10 ′) of any of the preceding claims, the circuitry configured to perform the following steps:
 during a reset stage, applying a first electric potential to the electrically activatable medium, driving the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) toward the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′); 
 during a write stage, applying a second electric potential to the electrically activatable medium i) to pull at least a portion of the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) from the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′), while an other portion of the plurality of colorant particle ( 22 ) is located proximate the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′), and ii) to introduce the portion of the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) into a viewing area (VA); and 
 during a hold stage, applying a third electric potential to the electrically activatable medium to i) hold the other portion of the plurality of the colorant particles ( 22 ) proximate the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′), and ii) spread the portion of the plurality of the colorant particles ( 22 ), introduced into the viewing area (VA), across at least a portion of the viewing area (VA). 
 
     
     
         14 . The circuitry as defined in  claim 13 , further configured to, during the write stage, control a gray scale of color viewable by the portion of the plurality of colorant particles ( 22 ) by adjusting at least one of the first, second, or third electric potentials applied between the gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) and at least one of the electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) or the distal electrode ( 26 ). 
     
     
         15 . A method of making a display ( 10 ,  10 ′), comprising:
 establishing a material stack (S) on a substrate ( 12 ,  13 ), the material stack (S) including at least a dielectric layer ( 16 ), a first conductor layer (C 1 ), and a resin (R); 
 embossing a pattern on the resin (R); 
 removing at least a portion of the material stack (S), thereby defining a gap (G) in the material stack (S); 
 establishing a second conductor layer (C 2 ) in the gap (G), the second conductor layer (C 2 ) forming an electrode ( 24 ,  24 ′) proximate to the substrate ( 12 ,  13 ); and 
 removing the resin (R) and a portion of the first conductor layer (C 1 ), thereby forming a gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) from a remaining portion of the first conductor layer (C 1 ). 
 
     
     
         16 . A method of making a display ( 10 ,  10 ′), comprising:
 establishing a material stack (S) on a continuous electrode layer (L CON ) disposed on a substrate ( 12 ,  13 ), the material stack (S) including at least a dielectric layer ( 16 ), a conductor layer (C 1 ) and a resin (R); 
 embossing a pattern on the resin (R); 
 removing at least a portion of the material stack (S), thereby defining a gap (G) in the material stack (S) to expose at least a portion of the continuous electrode layer (L CON ); and 
 removing the resin (R), thereby forming a gate electrode ( 28 ,  28 ′) from a remaining portion of the conductor layer (C 1 ).