Graphene membranes might serve as colored pixels

Graphenea, the Spain-based graphene producer, has teamed up with scientists from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to design graphene-based “mechanical pixels” that could, among other applications, be someday used as colored pixels in e-readers and other low-powered screens.

In these “graphene balloons”, a double layer of graphene (two atoms thick) is deposited on top of circular indents cut into silicon. The graphene membranes enclose air inside the cavities, and the position of the membranes can be changed by applying a pressure difference between the inside and the outside. When the membranes are closer to the silicon they appear blue; when the membranes are pushed away they appear red.