Invisibility film for transmitting secret messages. Free Technical Library News

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Invisibility film for transmitting secret messages

01.09.2016

Inspired by the camouflage abilities of squid and jellyfish, researchers at the University of Connecticut have created a material that can change color or texture in response to certain stimuli.

The scientists, who presented their findings at the 52nd National Meeting and Exhibition of the American Chemical Society (ASC), said they have replicated the properties of marine life tissues on a thin polymer film. Under the influence of moisture, it is deformed, changing its properties. The range of applications of this technology is huge, from creating an anti-reflective coating to encrypting secret messages.

It's all about wrinkling. Jellyfish can create wrinkles by turning their skin opaque to scare away predators. And not only them: when squids sense danger, their muscles contract sharply, exposing colored pigment, which often confuses the attacker.

The new "skin" consists of a thin film of polyvinyl alcohol, which is placed on a rubber base, which includes polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). When wrinkled, it is opaque, but when exposed to moisture, the material expands and becomes transparent, allowing you to see the text hidden underneath. The researchers noted that if a film is made with very weak (or no) bonds between the polymer chains, then it becomes disposable, since it cannot recover after getting wet.

In addition to clandestine operations, the film can also find an everyday, very valuable use: it will allow for quality control of goods. So, for example, by placing such a film on the internal parts of a smartphone, it will be possible to monitor the conditions of their storage: if the phone has come into contact with water, it will be noticeable to the naked eye, which means it will protect you to some extent from buying defective equipment.

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IPS display with a contrast ratio of more than 1000000:1 23.11.2016

Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display, a subsidiary of Panasonic, has announced the development of an IPS-type liquid crystal display with a contrast ratio of over 1:000. This is 000 times the contrast of existing LCD panels. The maximum display brightness is 1 cd/m600.

The integration of "cells that modulate the flow of light" into the panel made it possible to obtain high contrast. Operating on the principle of liquid crystals, these cells provide backlight brightness control at the level of individual pixels. As a result, it becomes possible to transmit both maximum image brightness and deep blacks.

According to the manufacturer, the new display is well suited for studio monitors with HDR support, as well as for medical equipment and car dashboards.

The company considers the possibility of using existing production lines to the advantages of the development. Sample shipments of the new displays should begin in January 2017.

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