E Ink Technology
Electronic ink is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays, and used in many popular ebooks today. Revolutionary in concept, electronic ink is a fusion of chemistry, physics and electronics to create millions of tiny microcapsules about the diameter of a human hair. Each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid that migrates with the application of an electric field to produce an ink-on-paper appearance.
To form an E Ink electronic display, the ink is printed onto a sheet of plastic film that is laminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitry forms a pattern of pixels that can then be controlled by a display driver. These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid "carrier medium" allowing them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper. Ultimately electronic ink will permit most any surface to become a display, bringing information out of the confines of traditional devices and into the world around us. Microscopic view of E Ink microcapsules.
