Joyce H. Wu

Reliability studies on MEMS shutters and displays

Mobile devices have become an integral part of everyday life, and as the primary input/output interface, the display now represents a key factor of user experience. The display also consumes increasingly more of the power budget than ever before, resulting in a challenge for device makers to reduce display power consumption without negatively impacting perceived image quality. Pixtronix displays are digital, trans-flective and offer a low-power advantage, without sacrificing brightness or color gamut. Incumbent display technologies such as LCD, lose over 90% of backlight output due to polarizers and color filters. The core of the Pixtronix MEMS-based display technology is the Digital Micro Shutter (DMS). The micro-shutters are fabricated on active TFT backplanes in conventional LCD fabrication facilities. To complete the DMS display system, an aperture plate and backlight are added, and the display is filled with a fluid. This display technology promises a significant reduction in power consumption over conventional LCD displays, while maintaining the high-brightness, wide color gamut, 24-bit color video capabilities that users expect from todays mobile devices.

P-84: Mechanical Reliability of Digital Micro Shutter (DMS™) Displays

The Pixtronix DMS display technology is based on MEMS shutters on an active TFT backplane. The mechanical reliability of MEMS shutters in displays has been tested in standard display tests and is presented for the first time. Prototype displays have passed drop, vibration, and press tests. Also, displays were tested to failure in drop tests to find the failure mode of the MEMS shutters.