Background
Electroluminescence (EL) is as technology and science well established since long time. The first discovery of electroluminescence in ZnS was made in 1936 and one of the first commercial products were illuminating instrument panels in Chrysler cars in the early 1960s. Printing of EL materials is also an established technology, with several commercial suppliers of materials. Acreo’s contribution to the development of technology lies in the combination of the printing of the EL material and traditional graphic print. Moreover, the printing on a variety of materials including wood and paper. The aim is to provide products and applications with EL previously not been able to commercially manufactured.
Materials
An EL display is constructed from commercially available materials.
Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing process of an EL display uses screen printing technique and has special methods for the integration of the EL print with graphic print.
Drive electronics
An EL display is driven with an AC voltage. Voltage is 100-150V rms and the frequency 400-1500 Hz. The choice of voltage and frequency is determined by the display’s performance and thus the load to the drive electronics.
Power Source: Direct Supply, Batteries, Solar Power.