Optical film and process for manufacture thereof

• US 6,179,948 B1
• Filed: 01/13/1998
• Issued: 01/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Nevitt, Timothy J., Condo, Peter D., Merrill, William W., Tabar, Ronald J., Allen, Richard C.
• Primary Examiner(s): DIXON, MERRICK L
• Application Number:
  US09/006,455
• Time in Patent Office: 1,113 Days
• Field of Search: 428/141, 428/480, 428/694.TR, 428/910, 428/694.BR, 428/694.SG, 156/160, 156/196, 156/229, 156/288
• US Class Current: 156/229
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 55/023 using multilayered plates or sheets
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 55/14 successively
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2995/0018 having particular optical properties, e.g. fluorescent or phosphorescent
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2009/00 Layered products
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/3008 comprising dielectric particles, e.g. birefringent crystals embedded in a matrix
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/3033 in the form of a thin sheet or foil, e.g. Polaroid
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1002 with permanent bending or reshaping or surface deformation of self sustaining lamina
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24479 including variation in thickness
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24595 and varying density
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24942 including components having same physical characteristic in differing degree

Abstract

Optical films and processes for forming the optical films are described in which materials having different properties are used and the different properties are exploited to obtain improved optical and/or mechanical properties of the optical film. The different properties of the materials may be used to select processing conditions under which the materials will react differently. The film may be processed with respect to two different directions with the amount of molecular orientation, if any, induced by the process being separately controlled for each material and each direction.

Claims

1. A method of making an optical film comprising the step of drawing a film including a first and second material along first and second in-plane axes of the film under conditions which induce optical-orientation in at least the first material along the first in-plane axis of the film while inducing an orientation in the first material along the second in-plane axis of the film which is substantially less than the orientation induced in the first material along the first in-plane axis of the film such that a refractive index of the second material substantially matches a refractive index of the first material along one of the first and second in-plane axes of the film.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first and second in-plane axes define orthogonal in-plane axes of the film.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the film is processed with respect to the first in-plane axis by drawing the film along the first in-plane axis at a draw temperature, draw rate and draw ratio selected to be optically orienting for the first material and non-orienting or non-optically orienting for the second material.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the film is processed with respect to the second in-plane axis by drawing the film along the second in-plane axis at a draw temperature, draw rate and draw ratio selected to be optically orienting for both the first material and the second material.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein processing the film with respect to the first and second axes comprises:

drawing the film along the first axis at a draw temperature and a first draw rate and ratio which is optically orienting for the first material and non-orienting or non-optically orienting for the second material along the first axis; and

concurrently drawing the film along the second axis at the draw temperature and at a second draw rate and ratio which is optically orienting for both the first material and the second material.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the film further comprises a non-optical layer of a third material, the non-optical layer of material being oriented with respect to both the first and second axes by the processing.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the film comprises a plurality of alternating layers of the first material and the second material.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein refractive indices of the first material and the second material along the first axis are substantially equal and refractive indices of the first material and the second material along the second axis are substantially mismatched, the film forming a reflective polarizer with the first axis forming a transmission axis and the second axis forming a reflection axis.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the reflection axis corresponds to a machine direction of the optical film during processing.

10. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the reflection axis corresponds to a cross-web direction of the optical film during processing.

11. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein refractive indices of adjacent layers of the first material and the second material in a thickness direction of the film are substantially equal.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the film comprises a blend of the first material and the second material.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein the first material forms a continuous phase of the blend and the second material forms a disperse phase of the blend.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the processing with respect to the second axis induces little or nor orientation of the disperse phase while the processing with respect to the first axis optically orients the disperse phase.

15. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein the first material forms a disperse phase of the blend and the second material forms a continuous phase of the blend.

16. A method as recited in claim 1, the step of processing the film with respect to the first axis further comprises the steps of:

drawing the film along the first axis under conditions which induce optical orientation in both the first material and the second material; and

heating the film after drawing to a temperature which substantially relaxes the induced optical orientation in the first material without substantially relaxing the optical orientation of the second material.

17. A method of fabricating an optical film comprising the steps of:

providing a film including a first material and a second material optically interfaced with the first material, the first and second material having different visco-elasticity characteristics;

drawing the film in a first direction under draw conditions selected to induce optical orientation of the first material in the first direction without inducing optical orientation of the second material; and

drawing the film in a second direction under draw conditions selected to induce optical orientation of both the first and the second material.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the film comprises a first layer of the first material and a second layer of the second material.

19. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the film comprises a blend of a continuous phase material comprising one of the first and second material and a disperse phase material comprising the other of the first and second material.

20. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of drawing the film in the first direction and the step of drawing the film in the second direction are performed concurrently.

21. A process for making a film having desired optical properties, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a film including a first material and a second material optically interfaced with the first material, the first and second material having different visco-elasticity characteristics;

(b) processing the film to produce optical orientation of the first material in a first direction without inducing optical orientation of the second material in the first direction; and

(c) processing the film to produce optical orientation of both the first and the second material in a second direction.

22. A process as recited in claim 21, wherein the film comprises a multilayer film including a first layer comprised of the first material and a second layer comprised of the second material.

23. A process as recited in claim 22, wherein the processing step (b) comprises the step of drawing the multilayer film in the first direction under conditions selected to induce optical orientation of the first layer without inducing optical orientation in the second layer.

24. A process as recited in claim 22, wherein the first layer has a longer average relaxation time than an average relaxation time of the second layer, the processing step (b) comprising the steps of:

drawing the multilayer film in the first direction under conditions selected to induce the optical orientation of the first layer in the first direction; and

heating the multilayer film to a temperature which is sufficiently high enough to relax any optical orientation of the second layer in the first direction induced by the step of drawing the multilayer in the first direction and which is sufficiently low enough to substantially maintain the optical orientation of the first layer in the first direction.

25. A process as recited in claim 24, wherein the processing step (c) comprises the step of drawing the multilayer film in the second direction under conditions selected to induce optical orientation of the first and the second layer in the second direction.

26. A method of fabricating a polarizing film having reduced angular dependence, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a multilayer film including a first layer of material optically interfaced with a second layer of material, an isotropic index of refraction of the first layer being different than an isotropic index of refraction of the second layer, the multilayer film having a first and a second in-plane axis defining planes of the first and second layers, and a third axis orthogonal to the first and second in-plane axes along a thickness direction of the first and second layers;

drawing the multilayer film in a direction of the first in-plane axis in a manner such that indices of refraction of the first layer along the first in-plane axis, the second in-plane axis and the third axis and an index of refraction of the second layer along the second in-plane axis remain substantially unchanged while an index of refraction of the second layer along the first in-plane axis is changed to a value substantially equal to the index of refraction of the first layer along the first in-plane axis; and

drawing the multilayer film in a direction of the second in-plane axis in a manner such that indices of refraction of the first and second layer along the third axis are substantially equal.