With OLED technology

Apr 3, 2006 15:13 GMT  ·  By

If you've seen the movie Minority Report and marveled at the transparent computer screens Tom Cruise's character uses, you'll appreciate what German researchers located at the Technical University of Braunschweig have conceived in their labs: entirely transparent OLED (organic light emitting diode).

Their approach is to use transparent TFTs (thin-film transistors) made of a 100-nanometer-thick layer of zinc-tin-oxide, which transmits more than 90 percent of visible light. Such transistors are more often made of silicon, which is used for LCDs (liquid crystal displays) but is highly absorptive in the visible part of the spectrum.

In transparent displays, the TFTs and the OLED pixels are positioned next to each other. The OLED pixel can be placed on top of the TFT driver circuit without interference.

Thomas Riedl, head of the organic and inorganic lasers team of the High-Frequency Institute at the Technical University of Braunschweig, expects the first prototype transparent OLED displays to be available in two years.

Transparent displays could have numerous applications, including screens that supply surgeons with additional information in their field of view or car windshields that allow drivers to view directions, according to Riedl.