Automotive: High-performance micro displays thanks to photonics and nanotechnology

Innovative laser technologies and nanomaterials to create low-consumption devices which will project high resolution images of radios and satellite navigation systems on car’s dashboards without the need for single displays. This is the objective of the European research project MILEDI ((MIcro QD-LED/OLED DIrect patterning) coordinated by ENEA, which will work for over three years jointly with nine partners, including the Centro Ricerche FIAT.

“We’ll develop new stat-of-the-art nanomaterials and laser systems for creating quantum dot displays already employed on smartphones, smart glasses and cameras”- Francesco Antolini, ENEA researcher at the Laboratory of Micro and Nanostructures for Photonics and project coordinator, said. These super-technological displays- the researcher went on- use nanocrystals semiconductors which emit light when pumped by electricity or another light source. Interest by the automotive sector can be attributed to the quality and brightness of colors, together with low energy consumption. We will focus on the development of micro displays to be installed aboard vehicles, cutting costs for the installation of single displays and enhancing cars design”.

“In a few years-Antolini concluded- microdisplays could be manufactured at competitive prices as compared to other high-tech displays based, for instance, on LCD technology. Investing in photonics and in micro and nanotechnologies, as the project MILEDI is doing, will boost the competitiveness of the European industry and create new jobs”. Currently Europe holds 20% of the photonics global market (approximately 60 billion euro) with about 5thousand companies active in the sector (mostly SMEs), of which 200 are Italian.

The project MILEDI is funded within the EU Framework Programme for Research Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) and is coordinated by the ENEA Department of Fusion and Technologies for Nuclear Safety, together with national and international scientific institutions, universities and industries from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Israel, such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics (FEP), Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA-Leti), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UniMORE), MICROOLED (MOD), Ekspla UAB (EKS), School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St Andrews (USTAN), Centro Ricerche FIAT (CRF) and Advanced Measurement Systems (AMSYS).

For more information log on to:

https://www.miledi-h2020.eu/

Francesco Antolini, ENEA – Laboratory of Micro and Nanostructures for Photonics,  francesco.antolini@enea.it