Exciting development for all E-book connoisseurs from IEEE Spectrum.
Plasmonic nanostructures leverage the oscillations in the density of electrons that are generated when photons hit a metal surface. Researchers have used these structures for applications including increasing the light absorption of solar cells and creating colors without the need for dyes. As a demonstration of how effective these nanostructures are as a replacement for color dyes, a the technology has been used to produce a miniature copy of the Mona Lisa in a space smaller than the footprint taken up by a single pixel on an iPhone Retina display.
It has also been shown that if you combine these plasmonic nanostructures with electrochromic polymers that change color when a voltage is applied—the kind used in windows that can be turned from clear to opaque with a flip of a switch—you can make a display.
Now researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, in Göteborg, Sweden, have used these plasmonic nanostructures in combination with a electrochromic polymer to create a micrometer-thin display capable of rendering all the colors of traditional light-emitting diode (LED) displays. What’s more, it does so on one-tenth the energy needed to run a Kindle.