Film with "nanopupyryshkami" turns almost any surface into a touchscreen

Finnish startup Canatu developed a flexible electrically conductive film-touch screen, which can lead to the emergence of fundamentally new mobile gadgets arbitrary shape.

Imagine that your smartphone is bent and folded like a sheet of paper. If you make the screen of such a film, the designers opened a vast field for the implementation of the craziest ideas.

Can be attached to various elements of the touchscreen curved shape. For example, on a car dashboard or steering wheel bicycle, or on the wire from the headphones. So implemented new management interfaces. The commands are touching the wire or the steering wheel.

Moreover, such a material, for example, is sewn into clothing or wound directly on the wrist. That is a touchscreen literally worn on the body.

Conventional touch screens are made from sheets of transparent indium tin oxide (ITO). However, this semiconductor material can be applied only to a flat surface, the sheets also very fragile and easily damaged.



Films Canatu different types made with a coating of so-called carbon "nanopupyryshek» (Carbon NanoBud - registered trademark Canatu). They are depicted in the illustration. These structures are more stable electrical signal is performed, than carbon nanotubes. Researchers have succeeded in improving the quality of the electrical contacts, changing the form of a "pimple". The resulting film is stretched to 200% of its area. This is a much better indicator than other flexible touchscreens that stretch no more than a few percent.

TechProcess passes in one step, which involves the deposition of a carbonaceous gas onto the surface of the film with simultaneous formation of nanostructures desired shape. However, the electrical conductivity of the touchscreen is not high enough to cover very large areas.

Currently Canatu working on prototypes of 40 different films, each of which is designed for your application, including to cover the screens of smartphones, smart hours or more extensive surfaces, such as car dashboard.

Canatu founders believe that for flexible displays - the future and they will become mainstream within 2-5 years. The company expects next year to enter the production capacity sufficient to release touchscreen millions smarftonov per month.

via Technology Review i>

Source: geektimes.ru/post/242616/