A new study published in Nature Communications, has shown how technology realized wide viewing-angle and full-color floating 3D display in graphene-based materials.

3D holographic images and floating displays outside a screen have long been a favorite of science fiction movies. Now, wearable displaying devices will ultimately be transformed into floating 3D displays.

Over the past decade, the optically displaying a 3D object has been constantly driving the revolution in display technologies. Nanotechnology has significantly advanced the development of display devices.

Graphene has emerged as a key component for flexible and wearable displaying devices. It is an atomic layer of carbon material that won scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Dennis Gabor invented the principle of holography on which graphene-enabled floating display is based.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971 for this idea, which provides a revolutionary method for recording and displaying both 3D amplitude and phase of an optical wave that comes from an object of interest.

Graphene's fascinating electronic and optical properties and high mechanical strength has been mainly used as touch screens in wearable devices such as mobiles. This has also led to the development to devices such as smart watches, fitness bands and smart headsets.

The physical realization of HD and wide viewing angle holographic 3D displays depends on the generation of a digital holographic screen, which is composed of many small pixels.

These pixels are used to bend light carrying the information for display. According to the holographic correlation, the angle of bending is measured by the refractive index of the screen material.

The smaller the refractive index pixels, the larger the bending angle once the beam passes through the hologram. This nanometre size of pixels is of great significance for the reconstructed 3D object to be vividly viewed in a wide angle.