Helsinki, June 20 (IANS) ‘Can you imagine a television that can be rolled up?’ asked a research scientist in this Finnish capital.
Curiosity led straight to Prof. Richard Friend of Britain’s Cambridge University, a knighted scientist who was among the invitees to Finland’s Millennium Technology Prize event recently, often touted as the Nobel for innovation.
‘Plastic electronics are now the starting point for a whole new research field. It has tremendous potential now and in the future,’ said the professor, explaining the finer points of his research work to a visiting IANS correspondent.
Organic light-emitting diodes are already used in MP3 players and the latest mobile phones. The next generation will be on the wall side television and large area wall-to-wall low-energy lighting,’ he explained.
Unlike the traditional liquid crystal display technology, organic light- emitting diodes do not require backlight because of the self-luminous polymer used. This means lower power, larger viewing angle, brighter displays and very high resolution.
Mark Allen, research scientist at VTT, Finland’s premier technical research centre, said Friend’s plastic electronics will have far- reaching impact.
‘Well we are talking about that kind of future where television sets can be rolled up. It is not possible now, but as technology improves, we will look at much more advanced and energy efficient television sets.’
Sir Richard has also set up a company by the name of Cambridge Display Technology Ltd to capitalise on the technology and bring to the market the first products using this latest innovation in semiconductors.
‘Friend’s innovation promises great applications: A laptop made of plastic or rubber would be virtually unbreakable,’ said Ainomaija Haarla, chief executive of Technology Academy, the main organisation that gives away the Millennium Technology Prize.
‘In the future, it might even be possible to fabricate organic lead paint and then use it to transform a whole wall into a lamp or a display.’
(Rahul Dass can be reached at rahul.d@ians.in and biz@ians.in)
