Circularly polarizing reflective material having super broad-band reflection and transmission characteristics and method of fabricating and using same in diverse applications
First Claim
1. A broad-band reflective polarizer for selectively reflecting electromagnetic radiation having a first circular polarization state and wavelengths over a broad-band, and transmitting electromagnetic radiation having a second circular polarization state and wavelengths over said broad-band, said broadband reflective polarizer comprising:
- a film formed from at least one material having a cholesteric order and sites of non-linearly varying pitch across the thickness of said film; and
at least one liquid crystal material non-linearly distributed across the thickness of said film and disposed at said sites.
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Abstract
Disclosed are super broadband circularly polarizing film materials and novel 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 polymeriable 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.
51 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A broad-band reflective polarizer for selectively reflecting electromagnetic radiation having a first circular polarization state and wavelengths over a broad-band, and transmitting electromagnetic radiation having a second circular polarization state and wavelengths over said broad-band, said broadband reflective polarizer comprising:
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a film formed from at least one material having a cholesteric order and sites of non-linearly varying pitch across the thickness of said film; and
at least one liquid crystal material non-linearly distributed across the thickness of said film and disposed at said sites. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification