Ultra-thin LED sheets
Printing has expanded as a fabrication technology to utilize many substances—such as metals, ceramics, food, and even organic tissue. As technology start-up Rohinni has shown recently, this capability may be extended further—quite remarkably—to include light.
The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based firm has created Lightpaper, which is purportedly the thinnest LED light source yet created. The flexible, planar light is created by printing an emulsion composed of LED particles suspended in ink onto a thin, conductive substrate. Once a current is delivered to the substrate, the tiny diode particles light up the entire surface.
Rohinni anticipates an expansive collection of applications for its captivating invention that includes construction, automotive, and mobile electronics markets. Chief Marketing Officer Nick Smoot told the Coeur d’Alene Press that light fixtures could be designed with light-emitting lampshades, thus requiring no light bulbs. “Anywhere there is a light, this could replace that,” he said.
Given LEDs long service life and relatively low-heat generation, inexpensively-produced Lightpaper would disrupt the market for other illuminating surface technologies, such as OLEDs. Architecturally, the technology could be integrated into illuminated wallpaper, ceiling systems, tabletops, or virtually any surface. What is more, the tools could one day be widely disseminated. “You will be able to design and print your own light,” Smoot said. “Right now we are printing the light, but we are going to be putting that back in the hands of the people.”
Contact: Rohinni, Coeur d’Alene, ID, USA.
