Flexible Polymer Guided Light Array Scanning Textile-Mounted Display

To address the Army's need for ultrathin, flexible, high-resolution electronic color displays for use on soldiers' uniforms and on interior and exterior shelter fabrics, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new rollable Polymer Guided Light Array Scanning (POLYGLAS) display that is low-cost, low-power, compact, full-color, rugged, and sunlight readable. The proposed display is based on a unique combination of three technologies: a miniature light scanner based on light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a microelectromechanical (MEM) element; highly flexible polymer waveguide array laminates; and a novel holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal switching fabric. POC's proposed display surpasses current flexible displays in terms of size, power, resolution, color, and speed. This is achieved by direct modulation of light through a flexible polymer waveguide array with an ultrathin coating of holographic polymer switching fabric. With the megahertz speed of LEDs and time-multiplexing, the display will have grayscale capability with high dynamic range and dimming range. In Phase I POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed textile-mounted display approach by design and analysis, demonstration of component fabrication, and integration into a functional demonstration unit.