Steven M. Zimmerman

Field emitter displays for future avionics applications

Field emitter array-based display technology offers CRT-like characteristics in a thin flat-panel display with many potential applications for vehicle-mounted, crew workstation, and helmet-mounted displays, as well as many other military and commercial applications. In addition to thinness, high brightness, wide viewing angle, wide temperature range, and low weight, field emitter array displays also offer potential advantages such as row-at-a-time matrix addressability and the ability to be segmented.

FIELD EMITTER ARRAY BASED DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY FOR CONSUMER APPLICATIONS

The promise of field einitter array based displays as a display techizology has been discirssed sirice the 1960s. Field einitter displays theoretically ofer inaiiy advmitages iiicliidiiig liigli eiiei-g?. eficiency, high hrightiiess, wide dimmirig range, CRT like-color, high video speed, Iiiglz resoliition, wide vietviiig aitgle, thiii packages Fvith lovt! vveight. aid lou3 nianitjactiirriig cost ht ith low yield defect serlsitivip. The rechilology has only receiitly begiiii to deinoiistrate the potential to fulfill some of those pi-omises Dejlonrl the tlr eo r~j. Several coiiiparz ies pu rsiiiizg tli is techizologv have prodiced demoiistrators aiicl/or iiiitial products. This talk fi,ill revie\ti the basic fiindaiiientrrls of the tecliiiology arid ntteriipt to assess the field einitter array displays poteiitrcll for coiisiiiiier video displny applicatioiis.

Field-emitter displays for future high-requirements applications

Modern avionics systems are required to impart very large volumes of information about the aircrafts external environment, subsystems, operations, and navigation in real time with minimal impact on the pilots ability to perform duties and minimal requirements for power and space. To achieve this, high resolution, high brightness displays are required, most often also requiring full color and full video rate. These displays should not demand much space or power and must be reliable, long-lived and able to operate in extreme environments, such as wide temperature ranges, large brightness ranges, and high acceleration and shock. Field emitter array based displays (FEDs) present the avionics community with an opportunity to obtain CRT-like performance in a thin, lighter weight, and more power efficient package. While cathodoluminescent is energy efficient, beam blocking shadow masks, heated filaments, and electromagnets waste most of the CRTs power. Row at a time addressing in FEDs lowers the peak current per pixel, decreases flicker, and increases phosphor life. There are also other opportunities made possible by FEDs such as built-in electronics subsystem capability, true matrix formatting, and an ability to distort arrays to correct for optics systems. Flat-panel displays utilizing field emission array-based technology offer such characteristics, and promise to do so with reduced cost when compared to alternative solutions.