Optical: systems and elements – Polarization without modulation – With color filter
Patent
1997-08-04
2000-04-11
Richter, Johann
Optical: systems and elements
Polarization without modulation
With color filter
359492, 546 35, 546 37, 534607, 534611, 534615, 534818, 534781, 534791, 534825, 534827, G02B 530, C07D22122, C09B 4410, C07C24500
Patent
active
06049428&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to colored and neutral dichroic light polarizers (DLPs) based on organic dyestuffs and to processes of preparation thereof. In one embodiment, the dichroic light polarizers are adapted for demanding operation or production conditions, such as for fabrication of laminated automobile windshields, for illumination devices, and for construction and architectural purposes. In addition, the invention relates to a method for preparing a film with high polarizing efficiency at high velocity of application.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dichroic light polarizers (DLPs) can be based on the organic dyes having sulfoacids of azo or polycyclic compounds or mixtures thereof. These dyes are capable of forming lyotropic liquid crystal phases that form stable lyotropic liquid crystals and liquid crystal compositions. (See for example PCT/US94/05493, published Aug. 8, 1994.)
In addition to the dyes, these liquid crystal materials may contain certain water-soluble, low molecular organic compounds, antioxidants, inhibitors, and/or surfactants. A thin molecularly ordered dye film is formed during the deposition of the lyotropic liquid crystal materials onto a substrate surface with simultaneous mechanical orientation, and subsequent removal of solvent. This film is a polarizing coating that is capable of converting natural unpolarized light into polarized light.
The dichroic light polarizers obtained using such liquid crystal materials offer high thermal and radiation stability, and exhibit good polarization characteristics. Such dichroic light polarizers based on polarizing coatings have the following disadvantages. 1) These dichroic light polarizers have insufficient polarizing efficiency due to light scattering at the interfaces formed by the domain structure of the polarizing coating. 2) These dichroic light polarizers are based on a polarizing coating having polarization vector which is ordered only along the direction of macroscopic orientation. 3) Current preparation methods cannot provide polarizing coatings with preset distribution of the color and the orientation of polarization vector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides dyes of formula I-XXXIV, described in detail below and dichroic light polarizers based on the dyes. In the dichroic light polarizers of this invention, the dye molecules are aggregated into particles oriented in a predetermined direction on a surface of a substrate to enable the dye to polarize light transmitted through the dye.
In another embodiment, a dichroic light polarizer includes a molecularly oriented layer of an organic dye on a surface of a substrate. The layer has a non-periodic arrangement of different polarizing elements. Each of the polarizing elements have differing orientations of the polarization vector in the substrate plane and/or differing colors. The dichroic light polarizer may contain one or more additional dye layers and may have a transparent layer intermediate the dye layers.
Each of the additional layers contains a set of polarizing elements with different orientations of the polarization vector and/or colors. The directions of the polarization vectors in polarizing elements occurring in various layers may either coincide with or differ from each other. In another embodiment, a dichroic light polarizer includes the polarizing elements having the shape of bands with equal widths, differing by their color and having parallel or mutually perpendicular orientations of their polarization axes. A dichroic light polarizer may contain the polarizing elements of an arbitrary shape, and the polarization axes in the neighboring elements form an angle between 0 and 90.degree. with one another.
The present invention provides also processes for the fabrication of a dichroic light polarizer by coating a substrate with a solution of an organic dye occurring in the lyotropic liquid-crystal state, with simultaneous orientation of the dye, followed by removal of the substrate. The
REFERENCES:
patent: 4133775 (1979-01-01), Bloom
patent: 4440541 (1984-04-01), Berke
patent: 5739296 (1998-04-01), Gvon et al.
Bobrov Yuri A.
Ignatov Leonid Y.
Khan Ir G
Kurbatov Alexey V.
Lazarev Pavel I
Murray Joseph
Optiva, Inc.
Richter Johann
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