High Chromaticity Aluminum Plasmonic Pixels for Active Liquid Crystal Displays

Abstract

Chromatic devices such as flat panel displays could, in principle, be substantially improved by incorporating aluminum plasmonic nanostructures instead of conventional chromophores that are susceptible to photobleaching. In nanostructure form, aluminum is capable of producing colors that span the visible region of the spectrum while contributing exceptional robustness, low cost, and streamlined manufacturability compatible with semiconductor manufacturing technology. However, individual aluminum nanostructures alone lack the vivid chromaticity of currently available chromophores because of the strong damping of the aluminum plasmon resonance in the visible region of the spectrum. In recent work, we showed that pixels formed by periodic arrays of Al nanostructures yield far more vivid coloration than the individual nanostructures. This progress was achieved by exploiting far-field diffractive coupling, which significantly suppresses the scattering response on the long-wavelength side of plasmonic pixel resonances. In the present work, we show that by utilizing another collective coupling effect, Fano interference, it is possible to substantially narrow the short-wavelength side of the pixel spectral response. Together, these two complementary effects provide unprecedented control of plasmonic pixel spectral line shape, resulting in aluminum pixels with far more vivid, monochromatic coloration across the entire RGB color gamut than previously attainable. We further demonstrate that pixels designed in this manner can be used directly as switchable elements in liquid crystal displays and determine the minimum and optimal numbers of nanorods required in an array to achieve good color quality and intensity.

Mechanotunable Plasmonic Properties of Colloidal Assemblies

“…The linear response of the plasmonic lattice toward mechanical deformation renders such mechanotunable colloidal assemblies suitable for dynamic color tuning which is of interest for tunable filters and display technology . The narrow linewidth of the SLR results in strong and brilliant colors .…”

Active Color Control in a Metasurface by Polarization Rotation

“…As its geometric dimensions are comparable to the wavelength of visible light, a periodic array of nanostructures exhibits optical resonances at visible wavelength, thereby producing color that corresponds to the scattering spectrum. The structural color generation by the metasurfaces has been successfully demonstrated in plasmonics [1][2][3][4][5][6] and dielectric systems [7][8][9][10][11] using a variety of designs (See review papers [12][13][14][15][16] for details). However, as the geometry of nanostructures specifies scattering properties, an array of nanostructures usually produces only one fixed color.…”

Electrochromic‐Polymer‐Based Switchable Plasmonic Color Devices Using Surface‐Relief Nanostructure Pixels

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Plasmonic colors are structural colors generated by the resonant interaction of light with metallic nanostructures through surface plasmons. [13] The potentials of applying plasmonic colors in active displays have been increasingly recognized and various novel device configurations implementing plasmonic colors have been demonstrated, such as metal-nanostructures-array-based color filters for imaging devices, [14][15][16] metal-insulator-metal resonators tuned by modulating refractive index, [17,18] plasmonic color substrates controlled by liquid crystals, [19][20][21] electrochromically switchable plasmonic color devices, [22][23][24] plasmonic colors operated via reversible electrodeposition, [25,26] and aluminum nano-antenna arrays for high-chromaticity color filters in displays. [13] The potentials of applying plasmonic colors in active displays have been increasingly recognized and various novel device configurations implementing plasmonic colors have been demonstrated, such as metal-nanostructures-array-based color filters for imaging devices, [14][15][16] metal-insulator-metal resonators tuned by modulating refractive index, [17,18] plasmonic color substrates controlled by liquid crystals, [19][20][21] electrochromically switchable plasmonic color devices, [22][23][24] plasmonic colors operated via reversible electrodeposition, [25,26] and aluminum nano-antenna arrays for high-chromaticity color filters in displays.

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“…[13] In recent years, plasmonic colors have drawn considerable attention due to their super-high printing resolution, tunable color properties, excellent chemical stability, scalable manufacturability, and environment-friendly recyclability. [20] Recently, integrating EC polymers onto plasmonic color substrates has emerged as a very promising direction for developing ECD-based full-color flexible electronic papers. [20] Recently, integrating EC polymers onto plasmonic color substrates has emerged as a very promising direction for developing ECD-based full-color flexible electronic papers.…”