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IBM finds new way to make liquid crystal displays

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW YORK: Scientists at IBM have developed a process that aligns the liquid

crystals used in many computer displays without the need for abrasive rubbing,

promising to cut manufacturing costs and improve image quality, the company said

on Thursday.

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The technique, which International Business Machines Corp. reported in

Thursday's edition of the science journal Nature, replaces a 95-year-old method

that uses velvet to rub the tiny crystals in place, sometimes causing streaks

and scratches.

The new method involves shooting atoms at a thin layer of carbon to form tiny

atomic rows. When liquid crystal molecules are added, they attach to the carbon

atoms and form in the direction of the rows.

Liquid crystal displays are used in notebook computers and increasingly on

desktop monitors. Sought after for their slim form, the displays have become a

$20 billion-per-year business, IBM said. The company's non-contact method cuts

the time it takes to manufacture the displays and makes higher quality images.

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The rubbing method, discovered in 1906, uses a velvet cloth to hook atoms and

drag them across the surface. How the rubbing works is not entirely understood,

IBM said.

"Replacing the rubbing process has been a Holy Grail of flat-panel

display manufacturing," said Praveen Chaudhari, the lead scientist on the

project. Errors on rubbed displays cannot be detected until late in the

manufacturing process, and it is difficult to solve the problems that arise, IBM

said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

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