In 3 electrode reflective displays using a plastic substrate, unstable packaging induces particle clumping and optical degradation due to external air inflow and electronic ink evaporation. In this work, we fabricate 3 electrode electronic paper using glass wafer, ITO/plastic film, and ITO/glass/gas barrier film as an upper substrate after injecting electronic ink onto the lower substrate. Then, we studied its properties. After operating under stress conditions for 336 hours at 85℃ and 75% humidity, the reflectivity of driven e-paper panels with white color was 25.5% for the panels using glass wafer, 22.5% for plastic film including a gas barrier layer, and 16% for plastic film only. From these optical properties, we conclude that gas barrier film improves upper film isolation as a desirable packaging method.
We realize a color reflective display without any color filter and sub-pixelation concept, by which the full or single color realization is basically impossible. In this study, we use a 3-electrode on the lower substrate with indium tin oxide (ITO) glass. The width of a rib is 30 ㎛, a cell size is 150 ㎛ × 150 ㎛, and the space of lower electrodes is 10 ㎛. To get the single color, we drive this panel by a identical algorithm based on the movement of charged particle in color fluid within a cell with hermetic seal. According to the driving method, the lifetime of panel is different.
To compare an electrical and optical characteristics of indium tin oxide (ITO) and carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode on flexible and reflective display, we fabricate two charged particle-type display panels under the same panel condition of which the width of ribs is 10 ㎛, the cell size is 300 ㎛ × 300 ㎛, the q/m value of the white particles is -4.3 μC/g and that for the black is +1.3 μC/g, and the cell gap is 75 ㎛, 125 ㎛, and 175 ㎛. We use plastic substrates coated with ITO and CNT electrode. To evaluate optical property, we measure a response time of particles using a laser and a photodiode. Threshold and driving voltages of CNT electrode according to the sheet resistance of 300, 600, 1,000 (ohm/sq) are compared with ITO electrode of 10 (ohm/sq). A response time of the CNT panel is similar to that of ITO panel, but the threshold and driving voltages of CNT panel are higher than that of ITO panel, inducing a large bombardment of the particles and shortening the lifetime of the panel. High difference of a threshold and a driving voltage of CNT panel will induce an particle clumping, resulting degradation of the panel. A bending radius of the fabricated CNT panel is 18 ㎛.