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Rocket Fuel Speeds Transistors

Posted by michael on from the firey-performance dept.

Mick Ohrberg writes "The rocket fuel hydrazine has been proven to increase the speed of thin-film transistors, which are used in LCD displays. It's also much cheaper to produce these transistors in a new "wet" manufacturing technique, based on creating the thin layers by using the centrifugal force caused by spinning the substrate. The result? Well, if the manufacturing cost plummets, maybe that 42" LCD monitor for my PC will be within (financial) reach soon."

12 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds great... by Randolpho · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... until your monitor launches into orbit.

    --
    "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
    -Marilyn Manson
  2. This is hot! by jbarr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now I can tell people that my LCD really smokes!

    --
    My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
  3. LCD tech is rocket science now? by Jtheletter · · Score: 5, Funny

    So for those who rtf, what I want to know is at what point did David Mitzi say to himself, "Geez, if only I could dissolve this tin disulphide in something really caustic. Like gasoline, only waaaay stronger... Hmmm, Mary could you bring me some of that hydrazine we have laying around? I think it's behind my lunch in the minifridge..." ??

    --
    -- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
  4. Re:Good news - refresh rates by cruff · · Score: 4, Informative

    Refresh rates are related to how fast the actual liquid crystal material can reorient itself in response to the applied voltage. So, unfortunately, unless they also use a new type of liquid crystal, the answer is probably not.

  5. Hydrazine: Bad Stuff by whorfin · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the EPA and CDC. Perhaps Outsourcing LCD production is a good thing, after all?

    --
    Laugh while you can, monkey-boy!
  6. Re:OLED influenced as well? by TheClam · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hydrazine doesn't play nicely with organics, and there's no tin sulphide in an OLED, so no.

  7. More uses by Lars+T. · · Score: 3, Informative

    This article (in German) says that you can make cheap, flexible electronics with this stuff.

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  8. Re:So... by Tailhook · · Score: 3, Insightful

    CRT won't die until...

    Define death. If LCD compromises performance (refresh, etc.) but not price, odds are the market will go 99% LCD and CRT will be rarified to specialty niches at very, very high cost. So while it will still be possible to get a CRT, you won't be able to afford it.

    LCD and plasma already attain sufficiant performance for the bulk of what the market wants. The only issue remaining is price. Those people who really need CRT (a small fraction of those that will think they do,) will just have to get funded.

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  9. Hydrazine? Tin Disulfide? by StateOfTheUnion · · Score: 3, Insightful

    . . . And if the LCD cracks, should I call a HAZMAT team to clean it up?

    1. Re:Hydrazine? Tin Disulfide? by Patrik_AKA_RedX · · Score: 4, Informative

      The hydrazine is only used while fabricating the LCD, it doesn't stay in it.
      It's used as a solvent to put a layer of TnS2 on the substrate.

  10. Re:OLED influenced as well? by Komi · · Score: 4, Informative
    Acording to this other article it seems like TFT benefitted from OLED techniques, rather than the reverse. OLED semiconductors are popular they can be disolved into a liquid. In that form, it's very easy and cheap to build the circuit. It's much more expensive to work with TFT semiconductors. Well now they've figured out how to disolve TFT semiconductors into a liquid. TFT semiconductors have much better electrical properties. So you get the performance of TFT at the cost of OLED.

    I'm no expert on this, so go read online for more info.

    Komi

    --
    The ultimate goal of science is to unify all forces of nature to a single law that can be silk-screened onto a T-shirt.
  11. Re:So... by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 3, Insightful
    when the quality of LCD's (color depth/range, "refresh rates" etc) matches CRTs.

    For text-based applications (which is most of what comptuers are used for), LCD give superior quality to CRTs. No flicker and sharper pixels. I'm never going back.

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