Alchemist'S Ink

What alchemy makes images on paper move? The secret, Jerome Rubin explains, in in the ink ...

What alchemy makes images on paper move? The secret, Jerome Rubin explains, is in the ink: "an ink that will enable you to turn any surface you coat it on--paper, plastic, fabric--into the equivalent of a computer screen.

"Imagine a huge number of microcapsules," he says, "maybe 40 microns in diameter, each half-filled with tiny particles of titanium dioxide, which are white, and half-filled with dye--black, blue, whatever. Then you have an electric charge on the surface, provided, typically, by a thin film transistor. The electric charge rotates the capsules, depending on whether it is positive or negative. Normally the white sides are up and you have what looks like a piece of white paper. When a new charge draws the black sides to the surface, you get an image, a pattern of letters and drawings.

"The tricky thing about developing true electronic paper is developing a flexible back-plane--which would probably sit on a piece of plastic about the thickness of a sheet of plastic wrap. Some coating might be necessary to protect the ink, but the whole thing probably wouldn't be much thicker than a piece of coated paper in a magazine.

"An electronic book with electronic paper would have multiple sheets, 40 or 50, so you could read multiple pages and flip around. Inside the spine, you'd have a tiny microprocessor that would deliver instructions to the separate pages. You could receive the texts either over the Net or by wireless--of course, the Net will probably be wireless in 10 years, anyway--or you might have some flash memory to slip into the spine of the book. That way you can go on a holiday with 50 books loaded onto your card."

Most popular

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful illustration of woman multitasking with laptop, baby bottle, toy, and checklist.

Motherhood and Ambition in a Pronatalist World

Gen Z is confronting the age-old question of balance—with a new twist.

Will Makris in blue checkered suit and red patterned tie standing outdoors by stone column.

A New HAA President at a Tumultuous Time

A career in higher ed inspired Will Makris to give back.

Renaissance portrait of young man thought to be Christoper Marlowe with light beard, wearing ornate black coat with gold buttons and red patterns.

Shakespeare’S Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.