Curved Flat Panel Microdisplay (CFPM)

ABSTRACT: The image generating surfaces of existing displays are rectilinear and fabricated on flat glass plates or silicon wafers due to the constraint of lithography and processing. In digital visualization applications such as near-eye advanced helmet mounted systems (HMS), three-dimensional (3D) and other projection designs, the flat image must be transformed into a curved image wavefront representation for projection to the eye. The optics to this transformation are expensive and bulky when the field of view (FOV) is large. If the image generating surface is curved, the transforming optics can be simplified and made light weight. This SBIR Phase II program is aiming to develop a fully functional focal plane OLED array on a curved substrate with R=2.5cm and FOV=40o. A top emission OLED array will be integrated on top of pixel driving array made of metal-oxide thin film transistor on the same substrate. 2T1C pixel circuit will be adopted. The array is in 220x200 format with 50m pixel pitch. The process developed during this SBIR program will also enable commercial display products in non-flat forms, either conformable or flexible. BENEFIT: We anticipate that the proposed work will have an immediate impact on military and commercial applications. The curved broadband flat focal plane array (FPA) will revolutionize imaging devices with large FOV and with low weight and size. In addition to military applications, such a device will also find broad applications in next generation automobiles and security systems. For example, the automatically driving vehicle recently demonstrated by Google requires such a large FOV image sensor as its sensing unit (electronic eye). Broad band, large view cameras and sensors are also needed for general vehicles as a driving aid in foggy or rainy environments. We anticipate that the technology developed during this SBIR program will create new business opportunities for commercial electronics. For example, the area of the display pixel (50umx50um, ~500 pixels per inch) is very close to that in advanced 3G/4G mobile phones under development.