Non-contact method for computer displays

IBM research has established a process to increase screen quality and viewing angles, whilst reducing manufacturing costs.

IBM is considering licensing the process, which uses beams of ions to align the liquid crystal molecules inside flat-panel displays in electronic devices such as desktop and laptop computers. The flat-panel display market is worth $20 billion a year. When correctly aligned, molecules inside liquid crystal displays turn pixels on and off by rotating in response to electronic signals sent by the processor. The current method to align the molecules is rubbing a polymer substrate with a velvet cloth. If the molecules are not aligned the flat-panel display is useless.

IBM research has shown that by using a thin layer of diamond-like carbon, instead of a polymer substrate, and then firing atoms from an ion gun at an angle that push aside many of the surface carbon atoms, atomic-scale rows are formed. When the crystal molecules are added, one end of each molecule attaches to an exposed carbon atom, so the alignment of all the liquid crystal molecules is in the direction of the rows.