Structural Color Pixels Activated by Selective Inkjet Deposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing structural color image display devices are expensive and time-consuming, making it impractical to incorporate personalized or customized information, as they require expensive equipment and lengthy processes like electron beam lithography and laser interference lithography.
Innovation Solution
A generic substrate with arrays of microstructures or nanostructures that can display structural colors is used, allowing for selective material deposition to activate or deactivate subpixels, enabling the creation of personalized color image display devices with inkjet printing, which is more cost-effective and efficient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional manufacturing methods like electron beam lithography or laser interference lithography are used to manufacture structural color image display devices, then manufacturing precision and device quality are improved, but manufacturing cost and production time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is segmented into two independent stages: (1) producing a reusable master stamp with precise nanostructures using conventional lithography, and (2) replicating the pattern onto multiple substrates using low-cost inkjet printing. This segmentation allows high precision to be achieved only once in master stamp fabrication, while subsequent reproductions use inexpensive material deposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a master stamp that serves as a template for copying the structural color pattern onto multiple substrates. Instead of directly fabricating each device with expensive lithography, the precise pattern is copied through material deposition from the master stamp, enabling low-cost reproduction while maintaining manufacturing precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional manufacturing methods like electron beam lithography are used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but production time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The process separates the time-consuming precise patterning step (done once in master stamp fabrication) from the rapid replication step (done for all substrates via inkjet printing). This segmentation enables high precision without sacrificing productivity in mass production.
Solution Approach 2:
The master stamp is prepared in advance with the complete precise pattern, allowing subsequent substrate processing to proceed rapidly without repeated lithography steps. The preliminary creation of the master stamp enables fast, simple replication processes for high-volume production.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional manufacturing methods are used, then device quality is improved, but adaptability for personalized information decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system becomes dynamic by allowing the master stamp to be reused with different material deposition patterns for personalized information. The same high-quality structural color substrate can be adapted to display different images or data by varying the inkjet printing parameters, enabling customization without sacrificing device quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the production of color image display devices with personalized information at a lower cost and faster production time, using inkjet printing to selectively deposit materials onto the substrate, enabling the creation of devices with customized content.
Implementation Method 1
an inkjet printing head controlled by the processor to selectively deposit ink material onto individual pixels of the pixel layer in accordance with the pattern
Implementation Method 2
Structural color pixels, such as diffraction gratings, sub-wavelength structures, and plasmonic structures, display colors owing to interaction of light with physical structures
Data Source
AI summary
A color image display device comprising arrays of structural color pixels, where said structural color pixels may be formed on a single substrate layer or multiple substrate layers and are patterned by selective material deposition to display a color image in accordance with input color images or patterns. The structural color pixels comprise a plurality of microstructures and/or nanostructures, including without limitation, diffraction gratings, sub-wavelength structures, to display colors in red, green, blue in RGB color space or cyan, magenta, yellow in CMY color space. Examples include methods of activating and/or deactivating structural pixels using selective material deposition onto at least one layer of the color display device to form a color image. Further examples include product labels, authentication devices and security documents carrying customized or personalized information and methods for their manufacture.