CARBON NANO-TUBE A4E-PAPER

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are tubular cylinders of carbon atoms that have electrical, mechanical, optical, thermal, and chemical characteristics. Distinct carbon nanotubes can conduct electricity better than copper, boasts higher tensile strength than steel, and absorbs heat better than diamond. In electronic applications, carbon nanotubes can have greater mobility compared to a single crystal silicon. To add to this, CNT is over 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Carbon nanotube-based color active matrix
electrophoretic display (EPD) e-paper at
the International Meeting on Information
Display (iMiD) at KINTEX,
Ilsan, Korea. (Credit: Unidym

There are multiple forms of carbon nanotubes varying in diameter, length, and in the tendency of the nanotubes to form ropes and bundles of tubes. Some forms of carbon nanotubes are metallic and highly conducting, whereas other forms are semiconducting, and can form the basis of electronic switches. One of the more remarkable attributes of CNT is that it is electrically conductive, but nearly totally translucent. The film is approximately 50 nanometers thick, and incredibly porous.

Carbon nanotube diameters range from about 0.5 to about 10 nanometers and their lengths are typically between a few nanometers and tens of microns. (Credit: Unidym)

Unidym’s president and CEO, Mr. Arthur L. Swift recently said: “Our ongoing successful collaboration with Samsung Electronics has delivered yet another world’s first achievement this year.” Samsung has previously demonstrated a 2.3 inch black and white active matrix EPD made with carbon nanotubes. This latest innovation is an achievement for the two companies as they have incorporated carbon nanotube transparent electrodes into current display technologies, with color and at a larger A4 size.

The major requirements needed to complete the new display were that the conductivity of the film must be analogous to current ITO technology (transparent semiconducting material used as an electrode on flat-panel displays), there must be evenness over large areas in films, and compatibility with different display technologies and fabrication processes must be present.

The company also mentions that the EPD has important advantages over conventional flat panel displays. EPDs have very low power consumption and bright light readability, which means that even under bright lights or sunlight, the user would be able to view the display clearly. Furthermore, since the device uses the thin CNT films, applications can include e-paper and displays with thin, flexible substrates. Power consumption is lowered due to the EPD’s ability to reflect light and therefore able to preserve text or images on the display without frequently refreshing.

IBEX to Go to the outer Solar system observation

IBEX was launched into high-orbit aboard an air launched Pegasus rocket over the Pacific Ocean. Its schedule consists of a two-year mission, and its main goal is helping researchers learn more about solar wind. The reason for this specific timing is that solar wind is currently at its lowest point in the past 50 years. The mission, estimated at a cost of $165 million, is conducted mainly at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

Solar wind is a stream of charged particles (plasma) ejected from the upper atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons with low energy levels. These particles are able to escape the Sun's gravity because of the high temperature of the corona and the high kinetic energy that particles posses. However, currently the process which enables the particles to gain such a high kinetic energy is not fully understood. One familiar phenomena solar wind is involved with are the Northern Lights (Aurora) and the plasma tails of comets that always point away from the sun.

Most of the IBEX objectives include imaging, since the ultimate goal is mapping the heliosphere, which is the main region containing the solar wind (and the entire solar magnetic field). David McComas, principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute, explained the critical need for solar wind study: "The interstellar boundary regions are critical because they shield us from the vast majority of dangerous galactic cosmic rays, which otherwise would penetrate into Earth's orbit and make human spaceflight much more dangerous."

If the IBEX mission succeeds, researchers will be able to study incoming cosmic rays and outbound solar particles in an attempt to better understand what happens there. Because the interstellar medium is part of the galaxy as a whole, it is actually quite a harsh environment. According to the research team, the high motivation to explore this subject is partly due to the dangerous nature of the high-energy galactic radiation, which could be hazardous to most living beings.

TFOT has also covered other NASA missions, such as the “Solar Probe Plus” mission, which aims to send a spaceship to the Sun, and MAVEN, which will help determine the current state of Mars’ upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the solar wind. Other related TFOT stories include the brightest flare ever seen from a normal star other than our Sun, observed by NASA’s Swift satellite on April 2008, and the Hinode X-Ray Telescope observation of the Solar Corona, made on December 2006