Birefringent interference polarizer
First Claim
1. A birefringent interference polarizer comprising multiple alternating oriented layers of at least first and second polymeric materials having respective nonzero stress optical coefficients which are sufficiently different to produce a refractive index mismatch between said first and second polymeric materials in a first plane which is different from the refractive index mismatch between said first and second polymeric materials in a second plane normal to said first plane, wherein said layers increase in thickness to produce a layer thickness gradient.
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Abstract
A birefringent interference polarizer which may be fabricated from readily available materials using established coextrusion techniques is provided. The polarizer has a level of light absorption near zero and can be fabricated to polarize and reflect light of specific wavelengths while transmitting light of other wavelengths. The polarizer includes multiple alternating oriented layers of at least first and second polymeric materials having respective nonzero stress optical coefficients which are sufficiently different to produce a refractive index mismatch between the first and second polymeric materials in a first plane which is different from the refractive index mismatch between the first and second polymeric materials in a second plane normal to the first plane. The refractive index mismatch in the first plane is preferably at least 0.03.
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Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A birefringent interference polarizer comprising multiple alternating oriented layers of at least first and second polymeric materials having respective nonzero stress optical coefficients which are sufficiently different to produce a refractive index mismatch between said first and second polymeric materials in a first plane which is different from the refractive index mismatch between said first and second polymeric materials in a second plane normal to said first plane, wherein said layers increase in thickness to produce a layer thickness gradient.
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17. A tunable birefringent inteference polarizer comprising multiple alternating layers of first and second elastomeric materials having respective nonzero stress optical coefficients which are sufficiently different to produce a refractive index mismatch between said first and second elastomeric materials in a first plane which is different from the refractive index mismatch between said first and second elastomeric materials in a second plane normal to said first plane, said layers increasing in thickness to produce a layer thickness gradient, and said polarizer variably polarizing wavelengths of light dependent upon the degree of elongation of said elastomers.
Specification