Erasure mechanism for electronic paper

Abstract

This application describes techniques for erasing (e.g., smudging, rendering illegible, etc.) images that are presented on display mediums, such as electronic-paper displays. Electronic-paper displays include a layer of electronic ink comprising charged particles suspended in a fluid. When a voltage differential is created across the reading surface, the charged colored particles may rise to the reading surface, retreat to the opposite surface, or suspend somewhere there between, thereby creating a visible image. In some instances described herein, a common electrode is partitioned into at least two sets of elements interleaved with one another. To erase an image, a voltage differential may be driven between these two sets of elements, creating an in-plane electrical field that erases the image.