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.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.
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heh...
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.
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Re: heh...
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