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Active control of total internal reflection and its application in electrophoretic displays Grandmaison, Dmitri

Abstract

The main objective of this thesis is to analyze and quantify methods for controlling the phenomenon known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR). Several methods of numerical and analytical study of FTIR are presented. A direct solution of the Maxwell equations is shown to be a powerful tool in understanding FTIR. An analytic solution is derived for a specific planar case of FTIR. Results that were obtained in the form of transmission coefficients are compared with the numerical modeling, with favorable results. The numerical modeling results were obtained with a new computer code based on the FDTD algorithm that finds the solution of Maxwell equations in 3D space with periodic boundary conditions. Several devices based on the active control of total internal reflection (ACTIR) have been proposed, with the most promising being an electrophoretic display cell, in which the frustration of TIR is done by electrostatically charged particles suspended in liquid medium. An analysis is presented from the physical and chemical points of view. An optimization of the electrophoretic display cell surface parameters has been performed by means of ray tracing modeling, and these results and meir implications to the future cell design are presented. Finally a comparative analysis of presented electrophoretic display technology is presented, in the context of alternative existing technologies.

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