A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ), in Cambridge, led by professors Marin Soljačić and Ioannis Giannopoulos, announced the development of a new type of transparent display.
The new capability is achieved by embedding nanoparticles into a transparent polymer or plastic. These particles are better tuned to reflect light by interacting with certain wavelengths, which means they can, for example, appear in order to reflect the blue color, as shown above.
All other wavelengths will pass through the screen unobstructed, without reflecting on the nanoparticles. The team admits that the system is very simple at this point, and is probably in an early stage, but says that the first results are very encouraging, and adds that further development could lead to transparent screens that would be able to use more colors.
“This is a very clever idea, using the spectral selective scattering properties of nanoparticles, to create a transparent screen. I think it is a beautiful demonstration”, comments Professor Electrical Engineer Mr. Shanhui Fan of Stanford University, who did not participate in this research.
