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."

Bendable screens

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Four questions about bendable screens (which I love the idea of. I would have to update my laptop if they come out with those.) I am not a scientist, so I have no clue what the answers could be.

1. Since we don't have LED monitors yet, only plasma, DLP, CRT and LCD, would we actually be able to make Nano-light fiber monitors
2. 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?(1)
3. Is there any degree of control for which elements in the strand light up?
4. Are we limited to monochrome screens, or will we use three elements (Lithium, Copper and Cobolt??) for RGB?

Re:Light

[fireslack]

Why not cover an entire wall with this stuff? throw in some nano-speakers for the ultimate home entertainment center.

flexible displays

[drDugan]

i want to see curved displays - like a giant earth globe/sphere that is a display, or a mounted movable sphere you can be inside of, with your head at the center that displays inward to the viewer. you run around inside and the globe spins, moving you in a virtual environment - 3D WOW fun!

Clothes

[blhack]

I was telling an engineer friend of mine that if she could make clothes that had dynamic writing on them, she would make a fortune. Imagine, a t-shirt that says: GOT ROOT? at one point, and GOT ROOT! at another ;-) Or a tshirt with a short animation playing across it. Instead of riding' spinnaz', rappers could make songs about wearin' scrollaz'!

I don't get it

[goombah99]

1) take any fluorescent or electro luminescent material
2) put down a drop of it smaller than a wavelength
3) excite it with UV light or electrons
4) viola and arbitrarily small light source much smaller than a wavelength

Coat the tip of any nano fiber this way and it's still true.

Wha's the big deal? Atoms emit light from source smaller than a wavelength all the time.

What's tricky is that short of negative index materials you can't propagate light or confine light beyond the near field in areas less than the wavelength squared (or thereabouts). This is not to say that light guides can't be smaller than the wavelength because some guides don't actually confine the light inside.

TFA does not give me enough info to see if they are beating this last effect.

Re:Clothes

[Angry Black Man]

so something like this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yd99gyE4jCk [youtube.com]

Re:Bendable screens

[Ignorance Enabled]

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.

We're talking a bendable screen here, and average personal intelligence. I'd never take a laptop anywhere it could get wet, but say I had something resembling a piece of paper--I know I'll end up treating it like one every so often. As things get less klunky, they need to also get more dummy resistant. As an over-obvious example, I wonder how many people accidentally drowned their phones before cell phones came out!... scratch that thought.. the number would be too large for me to maintain my withering dignity.

Re:Bendable screens

[Agripa]

Fluorescent tubes are still more efficient then high power LEDs so even with the converter losses and lower efficiency of space constrained cold cathode tubes, it will be still be a while before improved LED technology catches up. Where LEDs really pay off is in smaller form factors where the disadvantage of high voltage wiring and the space needed for the converter can not be accepted. The real gain will happen if any of the emissive technology displays can become viable since they do not have to discard a major portion of their light with filters.

I have noticed LED back lights becoming available in desktop LCD displays where power is not as significant an issue.