Square cube law. The mass (cube) of microscopic features is very small compared to their surface area (square), which dictates how thick their connections are.

Square cube law. The mass (cube) of microscopic features is very small compared to their surface area (square), which dictates how thick their connections are. That means they have very little inertia and as long as they aren't scratched or wet they're very resilient. Electro-optic materials are more like LCDs. Light interacts with the material and the material interacts with electricity. In a cathode ray tube there are electrons, not light, and they interact directly with the electric and magnetic fields. CRTs also need a dozen-odd fields to form a good beam, or 30+ for things like electron microscopes.