Circularly polarizing reflective material having super broad-band reflection and transmission characteristics and method of fabricating and using same in diverse applications
US6034753A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 29, 1996 |
| Grant date | Mar 7, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 29, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E10/40
- WIPO fieldBasic materials chemistry
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Disclosed are super broadband circularly polarizing film materials and novels methods of fabricating and using the same. The circularly polarizing materials are made from polymerizable CLC film material having a cholesteric order, in which a liquid crystal material, such as a nematic liquid crystal material, is distributed in a non-linear fashion across the thickness of the film in a plurality of liquid crystal-rich and liquid crystal-depleted sites in the CLC polymer. The pitch of the helices of the CLC molecules in the polyermized CLC material varies in a non-linear (e.g. exponential) manner along the depth dimension (i.e. transverse to the surface) thereof. The resulting circularly polarizing materials have reflection and transmission characteristics over bands of operation approaching 2000 nm. Depending on the final spiral structure of the polymerizable CLC materials utilized, the CLC circularly polarizing materials reflect either left-handed or right-handed circularly polarized light. The CLC circularly polarizing materials of the present invention can be used in a variety of applications.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.