Thin film display based on polymer waveguides

Abstract

This paper reports thin, transparent, and soft displays based on polymer waveguides that are compliant with curvilinear interfaces. In order to prove a feasibility of optical waveguide for a flexible display, we suggest the waveguide fabricated by a multi-step lithography process using two photo-curable pre-polymers with different refractive index. The displays are composed of light sources, polymer waveguides, and scatter patterns. The light signal propagating through the waveguides forms images of the scatter patterns by deflecting the light signals to outer surface. The scatter patterns are configured to a seven-segment. The seven-segment design with a switching methodology of the light sources contributes to selectively representing all decimal numbers from 0 to 9 by combination of activated segments. For a large area display based on the proposed methodology, a single light source interconnected to multi-waveguide section is integrated with a QWERTY key pad design. The display shows high transparency and flexibility without visual distortion. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America