A늌W

2010 Seminar

20110129(Stanford, CA)

                 Liquid Crystal Displays: Technology Development and Future Prospects

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Abstract:

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is an interdisciplinary technology involving various research areas in optics, photonics as well as materials. The display of information serving as the main interface between humans and machines is becoming increasingly essential in many aspects of our daily life. This requires display systems utilizing cathode ray tubes (CRTs), field emission devices (FEDs), plasma display devices, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), etc. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are becoming the dominant display systems for televisions, computer monitors and various applications. The success of LCDs is a result of many enabling technology developments. These include the discovery and development of liquid crystal materials that offer a large electro-optical effect at low driving voltages, the development of active-matrix addressing using arrays of semiconductor thin film transistors (TFTs), the development of thin film polymers with superior birefringent optical properties, a good understanding of the transmission of polarized light in liquid crystal displays, etc. In this paper, the author will first review some of the key technology developments that lead to the success of the commercialization of high quality liquid crystal displays, particularly the principle of operation of various modes of LCDs, properties ofpolarizers and the function of birefringent thin films. The author will then discuss some future prospects of the displays systems, including energy efficiency improvement, 3D holographic LCDs, etc.

Biography:

Pochi Yeh obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Caltech in 1977. Before he joined the ECE faculty as a Professor at UCSB in 1989, Dr.Yeh was the Principal Scientist of the Optics Department and Acting Department Manager of Applied Optics at Rockwell Science Center in Thousand Oaks. Pochi Yeh is currently a visiting professor at NationalChiao Tung University. Dr. Yeh is known for several important contributions in optics and photonics, including the development of a matrix method for optics of layered media, extended Jones matrix method for liquid crystal displays as well as the development of a theory of wave mixing in nonlinear optical media. Dr. Yeh's classic paper on layered media entitled, "Electromagnetic Propagation in Periodic Stratified Media: I. General Theory" (with A. Yariv, C.S. Hong, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67, 423, 1977) has been cited about 600 times. This classic paper is one of the most-cited papers in the Journals published by Optical Society
of America. In the area of applications, he is the originator of several new photonic device concepts, including photonic crystal waveguides, Bragg fibers, thin film compensators for viewing angle improvement in liquid crystal displays (LCDs), as well as various birefringent filters for strategic laser communications. Dr. Yeh was named "Engineer of the Year," at Rockwell Science Center and received the Leonardo da Vinci Award in 1985. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Dr. Yeh received the Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize from the International Optical Engineering Society in 1989, Pan Wen Yuan outstanding research award in 2010, Outstanding Scholar Award in 2010. He is the author and co-author of over four hundred technical papers, thirty US patents and the following five textbooks: "Optical Waves in Crystals," (with Amnon Yariv, Wiley, 1984), "Optical Waves in Layered
Media," (Wiley, 1988), "Introduction to Photorefractive Nonlinear Optics," (Wiley, 1993), "Optics of Liquid Crystal Displays," (with C. Gu, Wiley, 1st edition 1999, 2nd edition 2010), and "Photonics: Optical Electronics in Modern Communications, 6-th Edition," (with Amnon Yariv, Oxford, 2006). Several of these textbooks have been translated into Russian, Japanese and Chinese. Dr. Yeh served as chair, co-chair and committee member of various major national and international conferences. Dr.Yeh's current research interest includes thin film optics, nonlinear optics, holography, display optics, polarizers and birefringentmedia, optical communications, fundamental optical properties of photonic crystal structures.