'Nano-Pixels' Pave Way for Thin, Flexible Displays

"We found that not only were we able to create images in the stack but, to our surprise, thinner layers of GST actually gave us better contrast. We also discovered that altering the size of the bottom electrode layer enabled us to change the color of the image," Bhaskaran said.

The layers of the GST sandwich are created using a sputtering technique where a target is bombarded with high energy particles so that atoms from the target are deposited onto another material as a thin film.

"Because the layers that make up our devices can be deposited as thin films they can be incorporated into very thin flexible materials - we have already demonstrated that the technique works on flexible Mylar sheets around 200 nanometers thick," said Bhaskaran.

"This makes them potentially useful for 'smart' glasses, foldable screens, windshield displays, and even synthetic retinas that mimic the abilities of photoreceptor cells in the human eye," he said.

The research suggests that flexible paper-thin displays based on the technology could have the capacity to switch between a power-saving 'color e-reader mode', and a backlit display capable of showing video.

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