Transcript MIT MRSEC 0819762 IRG-3 Soljacic Transparent Displays.pptx

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Transparent displays have many useful applications: one may
turn a regular window into a projection screen, or display
navigation and dashboard information while looking through
the windshield of a car or plane. A number of technologies
have been developed aiming at a subset of these
applications, but each method has certain limitations.
Researchers in the MIT MRSEC have developed a new type
of transparent display using resonant nanoparticle scattering.
By embedding wavelength-selective nanoparticles in a
transparent film and by projecting images at the resonant
wavelength, a screen is created that scatters most of the
projected light while being almost transparent to the ambient
light. A blue-color transparent display was experimentally
realized this way using silver nanoparticles embedded in a
transparent polymer film. The figure on the right (bottom
panel) shows the transparent display at work, with a blue MIT
logo projected onto the screen from a laser projector. The
projected image shows up clearly on the screen, and is
visible from all directions. In comparison, the same image
projected onto regular glass can barely be seen due to the
lack of scattering.
This approach features simplicity, wide viewing angle,
scalability to large sizes, and low cost. It can turn store
windows, office windows, or the windshield of cars into
projection screens.
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Transparent Displays Enabled By Resonant Nanoparticle Scattering
M. Soljacic, J. D. Joannopoulos (IRG III)
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(a) Resonant nanoparticles are embedded in a polymer film to yield a
material that scatters light strongly at the targeted resonant wavelength
but is otherwise transparent. (b-d) Cross sections of silver-shell silicacore nanoparticles optimized to scatter blue, green, and red lights. (e)
Comparing the transparent projection screen (left) and a regular piece of
glass (right). A blue MIT logo is projected onto both, but only shows up
on the transparent screen. Three cups are placed behind both screens to
visually compare the transparency.
Hsu, C.W., Zhen, B., Qiu, W., Shapira, O., DeLacy, B.G., Joannopoulos, J.D., and Soljacic, M. “Transparent displays enabled by resonant
nanoparticle scattering,” Nature Communications 5, 3152 (2014).
This work was supported primarily by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under award number DMR-0819762.