Will electronic paper be available shortly?

2001/09/10 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Elektronika
• Materialak

For about twenty years, electronic engineers have been working on the manufacture of a paper device. The common role has very special characteristics and many advantages for everyday life, so it is very difficult to develop any other alternative invention.

However, since the development of personal computers, engineers have proposed to build a computer machine with the advantages of paper. In this sense, it can be said that the laptop is a step towards this goal. In parallel, systems have been developed to make screens increasingly thin. But to make electronic paper it is necessary to carry that research much later.

Electronic ink technology has already been achieved. The idea is very simple. If the paper was a material with many capsules, we could introduce in them a liquid controlled by electric charges. The liquid can be a black solution with white particles, so both colors can appear on the paper. To control this electronic ink you can create electric fields using an electronic circuit.

This work is being done by the companies Gyricon Media and E-ink Corporation, using their respective methodologies and tools. However, the basis is the same. In addition, these companies are looking for applications. The paper can be used to make electronic screens that can change remotely. But, of course, the application expected by many users is another thing: complete books of this type of materials, without large dimensions, in order to save as many long texts as you want.

Despite the attractiveness of the invention, the leaders of these companies do not have for the moment great expectations of marketing, since the support presents largely a screen aspect. Reading from the screen is usually not liked by anyone and that is the main concern of most users.

Therefore, entrepreneurs are waiting for a paper tool to be developed to ensure that the idea is saleable. In any case, research can be useful for many other areas.