Nano Light-Emitting Fibers In the Lab

moscowde writes "Researchers at Cornell University have created a so-called Nano-Lamp — a microscopic collection of light-emitting fibers with dimensions of only a few hundred nanometers. The fibers are made of a polymer spiked with ruthenium molecules in a process dubbed 'electrospinning.' The bright spots on the fibers are smaller than the wavelength of the light they emit. The nanofiber glows bright orange when exposed to an electric field and can be seen in the dark with the naked eye. A professor at Princeton University called this 'a breakthrough in the way nanosize light sources are made.' Since the nanofibers are flexible, they could potentially be used in clothing or bendable computer displays."

Re:Bendable screens

[Anonymous Coward]

For bendable LCD screens, look at this article ( http://www.physorg.com/news5142.html [physorg.com] ).

1. This is not true. If you have a LG, Samsung, Motorola cell phone, then you are using the current technology, OLED (organic LEDs). Please look-up Samsung. On the "open market," Samsung has released their OLED screens (2005; http://www.physorg.com/news5318.html [physorg.com]). A possible outcome for the technology presented here is increasing the number of pixels/cm, smaller screen devices.

2. See item before, cell phones uses lithium batteries that last for about 2-6 hours depending on type of OLED screen. The next generation will use even less energy and possibly last for 8-12 hours, see Samsung.

3. Yes, see item 1.

4. No, see item 1.

Re:Bendable screens

[dissy]

100 volts of electricity to make light that can only be seen in a dark room? Would we be able to power this via a battery for any length of time, and would I get electricuted if I dropped it?

The fluorescent backlighting in your current laptop requires much more than this to light up right now, usually in the range of 400 - 10000 volts.

So scale down that voltage to this 'high' voltage of 100v, and compare to your current battery life and frequency of getting shocked when you drop it.

Re:flexible displays

[Nullav]

I'm pretty sure you could do that with current technology, as none of that requires anything to actually bend during use. Come to think of it, you can also bend OLED displays.

Re:World's smallest incandescant bulb?

[spitefulcrow]

Voltage is not the same thing as power. Power is the product of voltage with current, so these could use a small amount of current at 100 V and not dissipate that much power.

Re:Bendable screens

[evanbd]

100 volts of electricity to make light that can only be seen in a dark room? Would we be able to power this via a battery for any length of time, and would I get electricuted[sic] if I dropped it?

Voltage != Power. Power is voltage times current (amps). Increased voltage is not directly connected to power usage, it all depends how much current goes with it. Current CCFL laptop display lights use voltages usually > 1000 volts without any problems with battery life or electrocution hazards.

Re:"potentially be used in clothing"

[RSKennan]

Yeah, people who ride bikes, run, work on the highways, or do just about anything at night where you can get hit by a car would find it useless. I think it would be useful to anyone who wears an orange vest, except for hunters.