Quarterly Question
Q- What is PIPS?
A- The acronym PIPS stands for Polymerization Induced Phase Separation. The PIPS process is one method used to make Kent Displays flexible display products. A PIPS cell has polymer walls encapsulating liquid crystal droplets. The polymer walls ruggedize the display and prevent flow of the liquid crystal allowing the bistable cholesteric image to be unaffected by pressure or flexing.
A- PIPS display starts with a mixture of liquid crystal and monomers. The polymer walls are created by irradiating the display with UV light causing the liquid crystal to phase separate from the recently polymerized monomers. Once cured, a PIPS display will have a rugged and flexible polymer matrix and the liquid crystal will not flow in the display or at the edges of the display. For a more detailed understanding of how PIPS displays are created please refer to: T. Schneider et al.; “Flexible Encapsulated Cholesteric LCDs by Polymerization Induced Phase Separation,” SID ’05 Digest, p. 1568, (2005).
If you have a question regarding Kent Displays' products or technology please submit your questions. We will select a question from those submitted and publish it along with the answer in a future newsletter.
Announcements
Electronica 2006
ACTRON AG
Hall A3, Booth 234
Nov 14 - 17, 2006
Munich, Germany
Army Science Conference
Title: Flexible Cholesteric Displays.
Presenter : Nick Miller et al.
November 27-30, 2006
Orlando, FL
Photonics West SPIE Conference
Title: New Developments in Flexible Cholesteric Liquid Crystals Displays.
Presenter: Dr. Tod Schneider et al.
Jan 20-25, 2007
San Jose, CA
Photonics West SPIE Conference
Title: Recent Advances in Flexible Ink Jet Printed Conductive Polymer Electrode Cholesteric Displays.
Presenter: Dr. Erica Montbach et al.
Jan 20-25, 2007
San Jose, CA
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Editor's Notes
Welcome to Volume 2, issue 4 of Kent Displays, Inc. Quarterly Newsletter: The Liquid Crystal Twist. As the world leader in the research, development and manufacture of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display products, it is our hope to bring you interesting and useful information regarding ChLCD technology, products, distributors/representatives and customers each quarter.
In the News
Kent Displays announces new ChLCD product line.
Kent Displays has expanded its ChLCD product line to include two low cost glass versions of its popular display module products. The two new products are intended for use in applications such as USB memory devices, low cost electronic counters and similar applications. Based on Kent Displays “No Power” ChLCD technology, the product line additions exhibit the same attributes of bistability and superior optical properties found in all Kent Displays products.
The display modules feature:
- Very low cost
- Integrated controller with power supply on flex
- Small form factor
The segmented version has a viewing area of 24 x 8 mm with two lines. The graphic version is 32 x 128 and has a viewing area of 28 x 7 mm. Pricing at the 10K piece level is under $3.00 for the segmented version and under $4.00 for the 32 x 128 graphic version. Pricing includes controller, power supply and interface. Contact sales@kentdisplays.com for additional information.
Kent Displays named NorTech Innovation 2006 Award Winner.
NorTech’s annual Innovation Awards program recognizes “breakthrough innovation--technologies that have the potential to dramatically impact a specific industry or market sector.” Kent Displays, Inc. is pleased to receive the award for its flexible ChLCD products and its ongoing initiative to manufacture flexible and conformable ChLCD products. Kent Displays is pioneering its flexible display manufacturing process at its facility in Kent, Ohio.
Recent Publications and Presentations:
Plastic Electronics
Frankfort, Germany October 2006
Presenter: Dr. Erica Montbach
“Flexible Cholesteric Displays”
Author: Asad Khan et al.
Paper Like Display Conference
Las Vegas, NV October 2006.
Presenter: Joel Domino
“ChLCDs: Low Cost, Flexible and Available!”
25th International Display Research Conference - EuroDisplay 2006
September 19 -22, 2006 Edinburgh, U.K.
Presenter: Dr. Irina Shiyanovskaya
“A Novel Coated and Transferred Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Display” The paper was published in the conference proceedings, pp. 180-183.
Embedded Systems Conference USB Flash drive winners.
Alan Finger
Real-Time Innovations
Medford, MA
Carol Zhang
Schneider Electric
North Andover, MA
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