Nano-media information carrier based on pixelated nano-structures combined with an intensity control layer

• US 9,460,665 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2014
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nanotech Security Corp.
• Original Assignee: Nanomedia Solutions Inc.
• Inventors: Jiang, Hao, Qarehbaghi, Reza, Rezaei, Mohamad, Kaminska, Bozena, Najiminaini, Mohamadreza, Carson, Jeffrey J. L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Li, Lin
• Application Number:
  US14/455,369
• Publication Number:
  US 20150042702A1
• Time in Patent Office: 788 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/328 Diffraction gratings; Holograms
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/005 made of photonic crystals or photonic band gap materials photonic band-gap structures or photonic lattices in integrated optics G02B6/1225; photonic band-gap structures or photonic lattices in optical fibres G02B6/02295
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/008 Surface plasmon devices diffractive gratings with a pitch less than or comparable to the wavelength G02B5/1809; surface plasmons in integrated optics G02B6/1226; optical analysis of materials by means of surface plasmons G01N21/553
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3413 Details of control of colour illumination sources

Abstract

A display media including a pixel layer containing subpixels for different optical bands composed of nano-scale structures and an intensity control layer that can pattern the luminance of the subpixels. The display media includes a substrate layer, a sub-wavelength substrate supported by the substrate layer and including subpixels, each subpixel defined by at least one sub-wavelength structure having at least one specific optical property including a specific optical band, at least two of the subpixels having a different specific optical property, and an intensity control layer to individually control an amount of luminance of each individual subpixel in a pattern. Some of the subpixels may have colors that define a color space, while some other subpixels may have an invisible radiation spectrum band. For example, the display media can allow both overt information (color images) and covert information to be embedded together with high density.

Claims

1. A photo-recordable display media, comprising:

a sub-wavelength substrate including subpixels which include colors that define a color space and which are generic to any pattern, each subpixel defined by at least one sub-wavelength structure having at least one transmission color, wherein the specific transmission color is from interaction of incident light with at least one subwavelength structure; and

a photo-sensitive layer which is configured to record an intensity of incident light transmitted through the sub-wavelength structures to form into, upon photography processing, an intensity control layer having a black/white or grayscale static pattern,

wherein the black/white or grayscale static pattern of the intensity control layer individually controls an amount of luminance of each individual of said subpixels from incident external light to display a color pattern.

2. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sub-wavelength substrate further comprises pixel sets, each pixel set being defined by a subset of the subpixels exclusive to the other pixel sets, wherein at least two of the subpixels in each pixel set have a different specific transmission color.

3. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 2, wherein the subpixels for one of the pixel sets have a same respective at least one specific transmission color as the subpixels for another one of the pixel sets.

4. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 2, wherein the subpixels for all of the pixel sets have a same respective at least one specific transmission color.

5. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 2, wherein each subset of subpixels for each pixel set includes subpixels in proximity to each other to provide an effective output which is perceivable as a combination of the individual subpixels.

6. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 5, wherein each subset of subpixels further includes at least one subpixel having an invisible optical band.

7. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 2, wherein said pixel sets are arranged in at least one of an array, a grid, an aperiodic, and a periodic arrangement.

8. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 2, wherein each subset of subpixels includes at least one subpixel having an invisible optical band.

9. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the color space includes:

1) subpixels which are red, green and blue;

or

     2) subpixels which are cyan, magenta and yellow.

10. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subpixels include an angle dependence.

11. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the color pattern includes information for communication to a recipient or a reader device.

12. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the color pattern includes at least one pattern in a visible optical band, at least one pattern in an invisible optical band, or a combination thereof.

13. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the subpixels has an invisible optical band.

14. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 13, wherein the invisible optical band is from at least one of infrared spectrum and ultraviolet spectrum.

15. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlled amount of luminance by the intensity control layer includes an attenuation of at least some of said subpixels.

16. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sub-wavelength structure further comprises:

a metal film having sub-wavelength apertures;

or a metal film structured with periodic topology;

or a metal film having sub-wavelength cavities;

or sub-wavelength metal particles;

or a metal film having sub-wavelength apertures and sub-wavelength metal particles;

or said particles are stacked on top of said apertures;

or a dielectric film structured with periodic topography;

or said dielectric film comprises at least two dielectric materials of different refractive index;

or a combination or a sub-combination thereof.

17. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the specific optical band of at least some subpixels include visible color, and wherein the specific optical band of at least some other subpixels include invisible optical radiation.

18. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sub-wavelength structure is configured to display the respective specific optical band due to:

transmission of incident light;

or reflection of incident light;

or diffraction of incident light;

or scattering of incident light;

or resonance of incident light;

or a combination or sub-combination thereof.

19. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said subpixels have size ranging from 200 nanometers to 500 micrometers or even larger.

20. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intensity control layer includes an applicable size of open aperture in an optically-opaque film to individually control the amount of luminance of each individual of said subpixels.

21. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intensity control layer includes subregions and each subregion includes an applicable optical transmission to individually control the amount of luminance of each individual of said subpixels.

22. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the incident light and/or viewing angles are varied the display media displays shifting color and/or intensity shifting effects over a range of the varied incident light or viewing angles.

23. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 22, wherein the display media functions as an optically variable graphic.

24. An optical document security device for authentication purposes, wherein at least one designed color image is produced onto the photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein said optical document security device displays an optically variable graphic.

25. A security identity device, wherein an image of a person is produced onto the photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1;

wherein said image of said person displays an optically variable graphic of said person; and

wherein said person'"'"'s identifying information or other data is displayable as covert information for enhanced security.

26. A publishing media produced onto the photo-recordable display media claimed in claim 1, for artistic, advertisement or safety purposes;

wherein said publishing media displays visible information; and

wherein said publishing media includes displayable covert information.

27. A non-transitory tangible optical storage medium for information storage and information communication, wherein information is encoded as at least one of color patterns, black/white patterns, covert patterns, and/or binary data, produced onto the photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1.

28. The non-transitory tangible optical storage medium as claimed in claim 27, wherein the information in said optical storage medium is at least partially readable by way of a visible optical band.

29. The non-transitory tangible optical storage medium as claimed in claim 27, wherein the information in said optical storage medium is at least partly readable or recoverable using a reader device.

30. The non-transitory tangible optical storage medium as claimed in claim 29, wherein the reader device is further configured to detect radiation in a non-visible optical band.

31. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein said photography processing comprises exposure with light and chemical processing.

32. The photo-recordable display media as claimed in claim 1, wherein the intensity control layer does not require a power source to control an amount of attenuation of each individual of said subpixels.

33. A method for producing color images onto a photo-recordable display media including a pixel layer which includes colors that define a color space, and which are generic to any pattern, with sub-wavelength structures having at least one specific transmission color, and a photo-sensitive layer which is configured to record an intensity of incident light transmitted through the subwavelength structures, the method comprising:

exposing an exposure image or an original physical object onto the sub-wavelength structures and transmitted colored light through the sub-wavelength structures exposes the photo-sensitive layer; and

photography processing of the photo-sensitive layer to form an intensity control layer having a black/white or grayscale static pattern,

wherein the black/white or grayscale static pattern of the intensity control layer individually controls an amount of luminance of each individual of said subpixels from incident external light to display a color pattern.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

loading the photo-recordable display media into a film camera prior to said exposing.

35. The method as claimed in claim 33, further comprising:

determining desired overt information; and

calculating the exposure image.

36. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said exposure is carried out by loading the photo-sensitive layer inside a laser writer that incorporates red, green and blue laser beams to write the calculated exposure image onto the photo-sensitive layer.

37. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said photography processing comprises exposure with light and chemical processing.