Full-color laser displays based on organic printed microlaser arrays

Jinyang Zhao,Yongli Yan,Yuxiang Du,Yong Sheng Zhao,Jiannian Yao,Haiyun Dong,Zhenhua Gao

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-08834-6

Abstract

Laser displays, which exploit characteristic advantages of lasers, represent a promising next-generation display technology based on the ultimate visual experience they provide. However, the inability to obtain pixelated laser arrays as self-emissive full-color panels hinders the application of laser displays in the flat-panel sector. Due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and processability, organic materials have great potential for the production of periodically patterned multi-color microlaser arrays. Here, we demonstrate for the first time full-color laser displays on precisely patterned organic red-green-blue (RGB) microlaser matrices through inkjet printing. Individual RGB laser pixels are realized by doping respective luminescent dyes into the ink materials, resulting in a wide achievable color gamut 45% larger than the standard RGB space. Using as-prepared microlaser arrays as full-color panels, we achieve dynamic laser displays for video playing through consecutive beam scanning. These results represent a major step towards full-color laser displays with outstanding color expression.

Highlights

Laser displays, which exploit characteristic advantages of lasers, represent a promising nextgeneration display technology based on the ultimate visual experience they provide
The lack of appropriate self-emissive laser display panels has impeded the actualization of full-color laser displays in portable devices such as PDAs, cell phones and laptops
The acquisition of full-color microlaser arrays has been hindered by the difficulties in precisely patterning individual RGB microlasers onto an identical pixelated display panel

Summary

Introduction

Laser displays, which exploit characteristic advantages of lasers, represent a promising nextgeneration display technology based on the ultimate visual experience they provide. The inability to obtain pixelated laser arrays as self-emissive full-color panels hinders the application of laser displays in the flat-panel sector Due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and processability, organic materials have great potential for the production of periodically patterned multi-color microlaser arrays. An effective strategy is to integrate discrete red, green, and blue microlasers into periodic arrays to construct display panels, where each set of RGB microlasers forms a pixel[8,9] Realizing such a device with traditional semiconductors has been challenging because of the intrinsic difficulties in the growth and patterning of individual semiconductor materials onto an identical substrate as a result of poor material compatibility[10,11]. The outstanding performance and feasible fabrication of the organic printed microlaser arrays as display panels will support the innovation of concepts and device architectures in display technologies

Methods

Results

Conclusion