ELECTRONIC DEVICE USING MOVEMENT OF PARTICLES

摘要

A method is provided of driving an electronic device comprising an array of device elements, each device element comprising particles which are moved to control a device element state, and each device element comprising a collector electrode, and an output electrode. The method comprises: in a reset phase, applying a first set of control signals to control the device to mo ve the particles to the a reset electrode; and in an addressing phase, applying a second set of control signals to control the device to move the particles from the reset electrode such that a desired number of particles are at the output electrode. The second set of control signals comprises a pulse waveform oscillating between first and second voltages in which the first voltage is for attracting the particles to the reset electrode and the second voltage is for attracting the particles from the reset electrode to the output electrode, and wherein the duty cycle of the pulse waveform determines the proportion of particles transferred to the output electrode in the addressing phase. This control method provides well-controlled packets of particles which are collected in a vortex at the reset electrode before being passed on, in part, towards the output electrode (for example via the gate electrode).