Printing Photonic Circuits With Your Everyday Inkjet Printer

from the hey,-I've-got-a-few-of-those-around... dept

EETimes has an article about some researchers who have figured out ways to "print" computer displays or photocell arrays onto any surface using a basic inkjet printer. This is pretty cool. It's letting them create certain devices that are cheaper and better than was otherwise available. The process replaces regular ink cartridges with "polymer-based electro-optic ink" (I'll leave it for Techdirt's polymer chemist to explain what this means in a comment) - which is invisible. Thus, the printing can allow people to create useful "clear" items. For example, they "printed" solar arrays on clear plastic - so imagine when all of your windows might double as solar cells. It sounds like there are a number of potentially very useful applications of this technology.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    mhh5, 14 Apr 2002 @ 2:26am

    heh...

    So "polymer-based electro-optic ink" means "we're not telling exactly, but we can put together a bunch of technical terms that vaguely describe the material and sound impressive"....

    But if you're looking for some examples of a "polymer-based electro-optic ink", just imagine that the naturally-occurring materials are what make fireflies and jellyfish glow.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Ryan, 14 Apr 2002 @ 5:00pm

    Re: heh...

    We can probably go back even further to offer the genetically engineered picks and shovels for this new revolution. Lets genetically engineer jellyfish to grow these inks and people never need run out of ink ... ahh ... the joy of freshly squeezed jelly ink (no more rip off inkjet refills).

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.