Posted 09.29.2009 at 11:42 am
8 Comments
No, that glowing pickle isn't a promotion for rave night at Katz's, it's a demonstration for how your TV works. In this ingenious twist on the classic potato clock, MIT professor Vladimir Bulovic transforms a humble full sour into a giant OLED pixel for our learning pleasure.
OLEDs are nothing more than an electrically active organic material sandwiched between an anode (a electron-expelling electrode) and a cathode (an electron-receiving electrode). When an electric current runs through the system, the anode sends electrons to the cathode, creating a current through the organic material. This charges the organic material, and when positive and negative charges hit the same molecule, it releases a photon, which we perceive as glowing.
In this case, the acidic pickle is the electrically charged organic material. By running a current through it, the pickle transforms into a giant pixel, or single light source. Bulovic could arrange millions of pickles into a grid, add some color filters, and build himself a giant kosher flat-screen TV.
Naturally, the actual OLED pixels used in televisions are far smaller and more efficient than the luminescent cucumber in the video. However, they are much less tasty.
[via MIT]
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"However, they are much less tasty." I don't know, warm pickles are nasty and I have never tasted an oled to compare with.
NEW!!! pled (pickle light emithing diode) its the latest in tvs, get tired of watching just eat it. on sale now at your local grocery
NEW!!! pled (pickle light emithing diode) its the latest in tvs, get tired of watching just eat it. on sale now at your local grocery
from Holland, Michigan
Only at MIT can you find some guy with a glowing pickle in his office.
@animemaster
You need to try a fried Pickle they are delicious.
These scientists just frustrate me the way they ignore the most important pressing questions! How does the pickle taste?! Both during and after. It's no wonder this technology hasn't taken off yet!
from Gulfport, MS
but won't the organic material decay and deteriate like organic we know know and acknowledge?
"but won't the organic material decay and deteriate like organic we know know and acknowledge?"
Yes it will. And that has been one of the bigger problems holding back OLED display technology -- longevity (or lifespan). But progress is being made and OLED display is going to be awesome. Transparent windows that suddenly become almost opaque and display images and video. Flexible displays that can be scrolled like paper or perhaps even folded.