CN109752883B - Method for producing photo-alignment layer having continuously changing alignment direction - Google Patents
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Abstract
The invention discloses a method for forming a continuously variable axial polarizer and a retarder for mechanically controlling a window with variable transmittance, wherein the method is used for manufacturing a photo-alignment layer with a continuously variable alignment direction, and comprises the following steps: coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate; placing the substrate on a linear motion device; and exposing the side of the substrate coated with the photo-alignment material to a light source, wherein light emitted from the light source is irradiated onto the photo-alignment material coated on the substrate through the polarizer to form a patterned photo-alignment layer on the photo-alignment material.
Description
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mechanically controlled transmittance variable window, and more particularly, to a method for fabricating a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, and a continuously varying axial polarizing plate and retardation plate and a method for fabricating the same.
Background
Windows are an essential component of buildings and vehicles. Traditionally, the transmittance of a window is controlled by means of a curtain or blind. These devices achieve control by blocking all or part of the incident light and are independent of the structure of the window. The smart window can control the transmittance through the built-in structure. These smart windows can be further classified into two types: electronic and mechanical. Electronics require electrical energy to operate and do not have any mechanically moving components, such as Electrochromic (EC) windows and Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) windows. Mechanical type smart glasses do not require electrical energy to operate, but they contain the relative movement of indispensable components.
In US0163062a 1a mechanical type variable transmittance device is disclosed, having a plurality of layers, wherein each layer comprises light blocking and light transmitting regions. Such a device can continuously vary the transmittance by varying the total light blocking area. As shown in fig. 1A, in this embodiment there are layers in a checkerboard pattern. Movement of one of these layers controls the overlap of the light blocking regions and thus the overall transmission pattern (as shown in fig. 1B and 1C). Such a device can control the light transmission from about 50% to about 0%.
However, the main drawback of this construction is its immovable light blocking area, so that at least half of the window's view is blocked. As the transmittance decreases, the field of view also decreases.
The above arrangement does not include any polarizing material, and the following variable transmittance devices all include polarizing materials.
A polarizer is a polarizing device that allows light having an electric field oscillating in only one polarization plane to pass through. It is well known that variable optical attenuators can be constructed by using two linear polarizers. The transmission I varies continuously as one of the polarizers is rotated relative to the other, as in malus law.
I＝I 0 cos 2 θ (1)
And theta is an included angle between the vibration axes of the two polaroids. I is 0 Is the light intensity of two parallel polarizers.
The transmittance is maximum when the two polarizers are aligned and their vibration axes are parallel, and is minimum (ideally, 0) when their axes are orthogonal to each other. When the two axes are at other angles, the light transmittance is at the corresponding angle, as shown in fig. 2A, 2B, and 2C.
Obviously, if the window is composed of two polarized glasses, it may be a variable transmittance window. The main problem is that windows are usually not round. In most cases, it is not practical for the window to rotate.
A variable light transmittance device using a polarizing material is disclosed in US 0163062. The device comprises two layers. Instead of the entire layer along one polarization direction, the device has two regions with orthogonal polarization directions. A simple design is to alternate horizontal and vertical stripe polarization regions. Instead of rotational movement, the light transmission can be controlled by relative translational movement of the two layers (as shown in fig. 3A, 3B and 3C).
A number of two-domain layer types with different orthogonal polarization patterns are disclosed in US 5164856. Besides the stripe type, there are wave, V and pie shapes.
A common problem with these two-domain polarization-type variable transmittance devices is the presence of overlapping light blocking regions. In the unpolarized type, these regions operate in the same manner as the light blocking regions. The overlapping light blocking areas block light and they also hinder visibility of the field of view. For the stripe type, a distinct black band can be seen (fig. 3B).
An ideal variable transmittance window should have the same level of light transmission throughout the window area, and this level of light transmission can be continuously varied by small movements between the window layers.
In US2617329 entitled "multiple transmittance device comprising relatively movable polarizing components" filed in 1952, a polarizing layer with a "curved polarization direction" is disclosed. The plane of polarization changes gradually in a periodic and gradual manner (fig. 4). The two panes are moved relative to each other to produce a continuously varying polarization density across the window. Similar structures are disclosed in US6414790B1, US7162136B1 and US9562388B 2.
These continuously varying polarization axis structures substantially solve the problem of black stripes due to the separated two-domain structure.
In practice, the "continuously" varying plane of polarization may be divided into a plurality of regions with small and regular variations in orientation direction (as shown in fig. 5).
In principle, two continuously varying polarization axis layers can build a continuously varying transmittance window capable of small translational movements relative to each other. The following patents are related to methods for achieving this structure.
In US patent US2617329 it is mentioned that "these different polarization bands are mostly made by rubbing a clean glass plate along the desired alignment line and applying a dichroic coating".
In US patent US6414790B1 it is disclosed that "light polarizing molecules are dye molecules that are aligned during the lyotropic liquid crystal phase by shear forces applied during coating".
A method of a transparent pane with a pattern of various polarization axes is disclosed in US patent 9562388B2, essentially comprising step 1. The brush rotates the transparent pane 2. The removable grinder 3 is removed from the surface of the transparent pane. The surface of the brushed board is plated with a layer of polarizing material to create a polarizing pattern that substantially matches the brushed pattern.
A process for manufacturing a continuously varying absorption axis oriented wire grid polarizer is also disclosed in US8310757B 2. The process first stamps a pattern into a plastic transparent substrate. The next patterned plastic plate is then masked into a strip with a rotating mask. The spray deposition process coats the ridges as the mask rotates.
However, windows with varying transmission can also be made by using fixed axis polarizers with patterned wave retarders embedded in between.
A variable transmission window with a fixed polarizer and varying wave retarder thickness is also described in US8310757B 2.
In US 8508681B 2a variable transmission window structure is disclosed, which comprises a wave retarder having a plurality of domains and a gradually varying optical axis. A method of manufacturing the varying optical axis wave retarder is disclosed.
The method comprises the following steps: the retarder was cut into strips and then laminated in different orientations.
The method 2 comprises the following steps: by using a film wipe.
The method 3 comprises the following steps: the surface alignment of linear photopolymers (LPPs) is patterned by photo-patterning and then liquid crystalline polymers are deposited.
In addition to changing the orientation of the retardation axis, retardation height changes and changes in birefringence values are also disclosed.
In summary, the prior art has the following problems that still need to be solved:
1. for designs with fixed light blocking and light transmitting regions, the full window view is blocked.
2. For designs with two orthogonal polarization domains, there are black bands.
3. The currently used glass polishing methods are ineffective for varying polarizer axis designs.
Disclosure of Invention
To solve the above technical problems, one aspect of the present invention proposes a method for fabricating a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate;
placing a substrate on a linear motion device; and
exposing the side of the substrate coated with the photo-alignment material to a light source, wherein light emitted from the light source is irradiated onto the photo-alignment material coated on the substrate through the polarizer to form a patterned photo-alignment layer on the photo-alignment material.
In one embodiment, the substrate is a transparent glass or plastic plate.
In one embodiment, the substrate has a roll shape.
In one embodiment, the polarizer is rotated in a plane parallel to the substrate so that the incident exposure light has a continuously varying polarization direction.
In one embodiment, the substrate moves a distance of one pitch (P) of a predetermined length when the polarizer is rotated 180 degrees.
In one embodiment, a light transmissive sheet having a slit is disposed between the light source and the substrate, and a length direction of the slit is perpendicular to a moving direction of the substrate.
In one embodiment, the moving speed (v) of the substrate, the area of the slit, the predetermined pitch (P), and the exposure amount and the illumination amount of the substrate have the following relationships:
in one embodiment, the light transmissive sheet is positioned above or below the polarizer.
In one embodiment, the polarizer is a linear polarizer, and a half-wave retarder with continuous axis change is arranged between the linear polarizer and the substrate, so that light emitted by the light source irradiates the substrate after sequentially passing through the linear polarizer and the half-wave retarder.
In one embodiment, the polarizer is a linear polarizer, and the planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell and the output quarter-wave plate are sequentially arranged between the linear polarizer and the substrate, so that light emitted by the light source sequentially passes through the planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell and the output quarter-wave plate and then irradiates the substrate.
In one embodiment, the polarizer is a linear polarizer, and the spatial light modulator, the output quarter wave plate and the projection lens are sequentially arranged between the linear polarizer and the substrate, so that light emitted by the light source sequentially passes through the spatial light modulator, the output quarter wave plate and the projection lens and then irradiates the substrate.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a sheet according to the photo-alignment layer manufactured by the above method, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-oriented dichroic material on a substrate to form a photo-oriented dichroic layer; and
the photo-oriented dichroic layer is patterned into a continuous axis varying polarizing layer.
In one embodiment, the substrate is transparent glass or plastic.
In one embodiment, a protective layer is coated on top of the continuous axis varying polarizing layer.
In one embodiment, the photo-oriented dichroic layer comprises the same or different photo-oriented and dichroic molecules.
In one embodiment, the photo-oriented dichroic layer is comprised of an azo dye.
In one embodiment, the photo-oriented molecules and the dichroic molecules are cured by heating or light irradiation.
In one embodiment, the dichroic light alignment layer has a plurality of pitches (P).
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of forming a sheet using the above-described method of manufacturing a photo-alignment layer, the method of forming a sheet including the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate; and
patterning the photo-alignment material into a continuous axis change alignment layer; and
and coating a liquid material on top of the patterned photo-alignment layer to form a functional layer, wherein the functional layer has the same axis orientation as the photo-alignment layer after curing.
In one embodiment, the functional layer is a reactive polymer or a liquid crystal monomer.
In one embodiment, the liquid material used to form the functional layer does not dissolve the photo-alignment layer.
In one embodiment, the reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer has a smectic liquid crystal molecular phase.
In one embodiment, the reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer is mixed with a thermal initiator or a photoinitiator and cured using a thermal treatment or a photo treatment, respectively, to form a photo-alignment layer.
In one embodiment, a reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer is mixed with a dichroic fuel.
In one embodiment, the thickness of the functional layer corresponds to a predetermined retardation value of the axially varying retarder.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a sheet manufactured using the above-described method for manufacturing a photo-alignment layer, the sheet including:
a substrate;
the optical orientation layer is positioned on one side of the substrate and is continuously changed in orientation; and
and the functional layer is arranged on the side, opposite to the substrate, of the photo-alignment layer.
Another aspect of the invention provides a window for mechanically controlling light transmission, comprising:
two glass plates arranged in parallel;
two axis-changeable polarizers arranged in parallel between the two glass plates, or two fixed axis polarizers arranged in parallel between the two glass plates and two axis-changeable retarders arranged in parallel between the two fixed axis polarizers; and
and the controller is connected with the two axis change polaroids to control the two axis change polaroids to move relatively, or the controller is respectively connected with the two axis change retarders to control the two axis change retarders to move relatively.
In one embodiment, the two axis-altering polarizers have the same axis-altering pitch and axis-rotation direction.
In one embodiment, the controller controls the two axis-changing polarizers to move along the changing direction of their polarizing axes.
In one embodiment, when the two axis-change polarizers are moved to have the polarizing axes orthogonal to each other, the transmittance of the window is 0.
In one embodiment, both axis-changing retarders are half-wave retarders.
In one embodiment, the polarization axes of the two axis-fixed polarizers are orthogonal to each other.
In one embodiment, the two axis-changing retarders have the same axis-changing pitch and axis-rotation direction.
The invention discloses a mechanically controlled transmittance window with continuously variable transmittance, which can be used for producing a polarizer and a retarder with continuously variable orientation directions, and has the advantages of no black band problem on the window and balanced whole-window visual field.
Drawings
Fig. 1A is a portion of a pane of a checkerboard pattern having light-transmissive and area-and light-blocking regions.
FIG. 1B illustrates the reduction of light transmission by overlapping two checkerboard panes.
Fig. 1C shows the case of complete light blocking.
Fig. 2A is a case where two polarizers are placed in parallel, in which the transmittance is maximum.
Fig. 2B is a case where two polarizers are placed at an angle, in which the transmittance is reduced.
Fig. 2C shows the case where two polarizers are vertically placed, in which the transmittance is minimum.
FIG. 3A illustrates a two-region polarization pane configuration that includes alternating parallel and perpendicular polarization regions.
Fig. 3B shows the black band showing the orthogonal polarizers when the two panes are inverted relative to each other.
Fig. 3C shows a completely black state.
Fig. 4 is a continuous axis varying alignment layer/polarizer/retardation plate. Each layer includes a large number of pitches (P) of varying periods of biaxial orientation.
Fig. 5 is an axial change layer having a plurality of regions. Here an example is shown where one pitch has 18 regions, but the number of regions for a quasi-continuous layer may be larger. The Y direction is a direction in which the axis orientation changes.
FIG. 6 is an apparatus for manufacturing a photo-alignment layer with continuous axis variation.
Figure 7 is an apparatus for fabricating a continuously varying alignment layer with a copy master.
FIG. 8 is a planar liquid crystal wedge cell.
Fig. 9 is a structure of a window in which transmittance is changed by an axis-change polarizer.
Fig. 10 is an apparatus for use in the SLM projection method.
FIG. 11A is a two layer structure continuous axis change polarizer including a base layer and a continuous axis change light-directing dichroic layer.
Fig. 11B is a three-layer structure for a continuous axis varying polarizer and retardation plate.
Fig. 12A is a structure of changing a transmittance window by two fixed axis polarizers.
Fig. 12B is a structure of changing the transmittance window by two change axis retarders.
Detailed Description
Hereinafter, a mechanically controlled transmittance variable window, a continuously variable axial polarizer and a retarder according to the present invention and a method of forming the same will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to fig. 6, an aspect of the present invention discloses a method for fabricating a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, the method including the following steps.
The substrate 50 is coated with a photo-alignment material, and preferably, the substrate 50 may be a transparent glass or plastic plate, etc. Subsequently, the substrate 50 is placed on the linear-motion device with the side of the substrate 50 coated with the photo-alignment material facing upward so that the photo-alignment material formed on the substrate 50 can continuously receive exposure light while the substrate 50 moves along with the linear-motion device. In addition, the substrate 50 may be rolled to have a roll shape so that the substrate 50 may be continuously moved on a linear moving device to realize manufacturing.
A light source 80 is disposed above the substrate 50 and a polarizer is disposed between the light source 80 and the substrate 50 such that light emitted from the light source 80 passes through the polarizer to irradiate the photo-alignment material on the substrate 50 to form a patterned photo-alignment layer.
In order to obtain a photo-alignment layer with a continuously varying alignment direction, the method disclosed in the present invention is explained below by way of specific examples.
Example one
Referring to fig. 6, in one embodiment, a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction is formed on a substrate 50 using a continuous scanning method.
First, a photo-alignment material is coated on the substrate 50. The substrate 50 coated with the photo-alignment material is placed on a linear moving device with the side coated with the photo-alignment material facing the exposure light source 80, wherein the exposure light source 80 may be an ultraviolet or blue light source 80.
A polarizer 90 and a light-transmitting sheet 100 having a slit with a length direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the substrate 50 are disposed between the light source 80 and the substrate 50 so that light can pass through the slits in the polarizer 90 and the light-transmitting sheet 100 in sequence to expose the photo-alignment material on the substrate 50. It should be noted that the relative position between the polarizer 90 and the light transmissive sheet 100 is not limited, that is, the polarizer 90 may be located above the light transmissive sheet 100 or below the light transmissive sheet 100. To achieve a varying light orientation direction, the polarizer 90 is rotated in a plane parallel to the plane of the substrate 50 so that the exposure light has a continuously varying polarization direction. Preferably, the substrate 50 moves a distance of one pitch P for every 180 degrees of rotation of the polarizer 90. Where the pitch P is a predetermined value, preset according to the application of the photo-alignment layer.
In the process of exposing the photo-alignment material on the substrate 50, the moving speed of the substrate 50, the area of the slit, the predetermined pitch P, and the exposure amount and the light amount of the substrate 50 have the following relations:
example two
Referring to fig. 7, in order to obtain a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, it is also possible to perform a separate exposure using a half-wave retarder as a replica master, as follows.
First, a photo-alignment material is coated on the substrate 50. The substrate 50 coated with the photo-alignment material is placed on a linear moving device with the side coated with the photo-alignment material facing the exposure light source 80, wherein the exposure light source 80 may be an ultraviolet or blue light source.
A linear polarizer 120 and a half-wave plate 130 with continuously variable axis are sequentially disposed between the exposure light source 80 and the substrate 50, so that light emitted from the light source 80 sequentially passes through the linear polarizer 120 and the half-wave plate 130 with continuously variable axis and then irradiates the substrate 50, thereby forming a continuously variable axis photo-alignment layer. Note that the pitch P of the newly formed photo-alignment layer is 1/2 of the pitch of the half-wave plate 130 in which the continuous axis varies.
By using the linear moving device to move the substrate 50 linearly, different areas on the photo-alignment material on the substrate 50 can be exposed, thereby forming a large area of continuously variable axis photo-alignment layer.
EXAMPLE III
As shown in fig. 8, it is also possible to use a plane-aligned wedge-shaped cell as the master instead of the half-wave plate with continuous axis variation described above. Wherein the planar aligned wedge-shaped unit has a spacer 140 and a glass substrate 150 having a photo-alignment layer, wherein a liquid crystal cell is enclosed in the glass substrate 150. The wedge-shaped element has a continuously varying element thickness, allowing the phase change introduced on polarized input light passing through the wedge-shaped element to be continuously varied, typically by 0 to 2 pi. The specific implementation method is as follows.
First, a photo-alignment material is coated on the substrate 50. The substrate 50 coated with the photo-alignment material is placed on a linear moving device with the side coated with the photo-alignment material facing the exposure light source 80, wherein the exposure light source 80 may be an ultraviolet or blue light source.
Referring to fig. 9, a linear polarizer 120, a planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell 160, and a quarter-wave plate 170 are sequentially disposed between the exposure light source 80 and the substrate 50, so that light emitted from the light source 80 sequentially passes through the planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell 160 and the output quarter-wave plate 170 and is irradiated to the substrate 50. Wherein incident light emitted from the light source 80 is incident into the plane-aligned wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell 160 in a direction of 45 degrees to modulate the phase of the light line by the plane-aligned wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell 160. The optical axis of quarter wave plate 170 is oriented parallel to the incoming polarized light. After passing through quarter wave plate 170, the light forms a linearly polarized light output having a varying axis orientation.
The above exposure process is repeated at different areas on the substrate 50 to form a large area of continuously varying axial photo-alignment layer.
Example four
Referring to fig. 10, a planar or vertically oriented Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) may also be used instead of the wedge shaped cell. The following is a detailed description.
First, a photo-alignment material is coated on the substrate 50. The substrate 50 coated with the photo-alignment material is placed on a linear moving device (not shown in the drawings) with the side coated with the photo-alignment material facing an exposure light source 80, wherein the exposure light source 80 may be an ultraviolet or blue light source.
A linear polarizer 120, a spatial light modulator 180, an output quarter wave plate 170 and a projection lens 190 are sequentially disposed between the exposure light source 80 and the substrate 50, so that light emitted from the light source 80 sequentially passes through the linear polarizer 120, the spatial light modulator 180, the output quarter wave plate 170 and the projection lens 190 and then irradiates the substrate 50. The spatial light modulator 180 modulates the phase of the incident light in units of pixels. The modulated light passes through quarter wave plate 170 to form a linearly polarized output light having a varying axis orientation. The output light from the quarter-wave plate 170 passes through a projection lens 190 and is transmitted to the photo-alignment material on the substrate 50.
The substrate 50 is moved and the above exposure process is repeated to form a large area continuous axis varying photo-alignment layer.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a sheet based on the above-manufactured photo-alignment layer, the method including the following steps.
A photo-oriented dichroic material is coated on the substrate 50 to form a photo-oriented dichroic layer. The substrate 50 may be transparent glass or plastic, among others. The photo-oriented dichroic layer was then patterned into a continuous axis varying polarizing layer using the method of forming a photo-oriented layer described above. Preferably, a protective layer is coated on top of the continuous axis varying polarizing layer, since the polarizing layer is easily deformed in light, heat environment.
In one embodiment, the photo-oriented dichroic layer comprises photo-oriented molecules and dichroic molecules, which may be the same or different, and is cured by heating or by light. Preferably, the photo-oriented dichroic layer material is an azo dye.
Another aspect of the present invention discloses a method of forming a sheet using the above-described method for forming a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment, the method of forming a sheet including the following steps.
Referring to fig. 11A and 11B, a photo-alignment material is coated on a substrate 50, wherein the substrate 50 is transparent glass or plastic. A photo-alignment layer 60 having a continuously axis-varying alignment orientation is formed on the substrate 50.
A liquid material is applied on top of the patterned photo-alignment layer to form a functional layer 70. The functional layer 70 serves to impart a polarizing or retarding function to the sheet, and the axis orientation of the functional layer 70 after curing is the same as that of the photo-alignment layer. Wherein, when the manufactured sheet is a retardation plate, the thickness of the functional layer 70 corresponds to a predetermined retardation value of the axis-change retardation plate.
In one embodiment, the functional layer 70 is a material such as a reactive polymer or a liquid crystal monomer, and these materials do not dissolve in the photo-alignment layer. The reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer used to form the functional layer 70 has a discotic liquid crystal molecular phase and is easily oriented during curing.
In one embodiment, the reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer is mixed with a thermal initiator or a photo initiator, and thus may be cured using a heat treatment or a photo treatment, respectively, to form the photo alignment layer 60.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a mechanically controlled transmittance window manufactured using the above polarizer and retarder having continuous axis variation.
Referring to fig. 12A and 12B, the mechanically transmittance controlled window includes two glass plates 10, two axis-change polarizers 20 or two fixed axis polarizers 30, two axis-change retarders 40, and a controller (not shown) connected to the two axis-change polarizers 20 to control the relative movement of the two axis-change polarizers 20 or connected to the two axis-change retarders 40 to control the relative movement of the two axis-change retarders 40.
Two glass sheets 10 are arranged in parallel to form a protective layer of the window. Two axis-change polarizers 20 are disposed in parallel between the two glass plates 10. Preferably, the axis change pitch and the axis rotation direction of the two axis change polarizers 20 are the same. When the polarization axis directions of the two axial flower polarizers 20 are the same, the transmittance of the window is the maximum; the transmittance is continuously changed from maximum to minimum when the two axis-change polarizers 20 are relatively moved in the axis-change direction, and the minimum transmittance (ideally 0) is reached when the polarizing axis directions of the two axis-change polarizers 20 are perpendicular. Thus, the relative movement of the two axis-change polarizers 20 is controlled by the controller, so that the continuous change of the transmittance of the window can be realized, and the problem of forming a black band in the visual field range is solved.
In addition, it is also possible to provide two fixed axis polarizers 30 in parallel between the two glass plates 10, and to provide two axis-varying retarders 40 having polarization axes orthogonal to each other in parallel between the two fixed axis polarizers 30. Preferably, the two axis-change retarders 40 have the same axis-change pitch and axis-rotation direction. When the axial directions of the two axis-change retarders 40 are the same, the transmittance of the window is maximized; when the two axis-change retarders 40 are relatively moved in the axis-change direction, the transmittance of the window is gradually decreased until the transmittance of the window is minimized (ideally, 0) when the two axis-change retarders are in a vertical state. Here, the two axis change retarders 40 are relatively moved by 1/4 pitches to achieve the change from the maximum transmittance to the minimum transmittance. In one embodiment, both axis-change retarders 40 are half-wave retarders.
Claims (31)
1. A method for making a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate;
placing the substrate on a linear motion device; and
exposing the side of the substrate coated with the photo-alignment material to a light source, wherein light emitted from the light source is irradiated onto the photo-alignment material coated on the substrate through a polarizer to form a patterned photo-alignment layer on the photo-alignment material,
wherein the polarizer rotates in a plane parallel to the substrate to make the incident exposure light have a continuously changing polarization direction,
wherein the polarization direction of the light is modulated line by line on the substrate,
wherein the substrate moves by a distance of one pitch (P) of a predetermined length when the polarizer is rotated by 180 degrees.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a transparent glass or plastic plate.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate has a roll shape.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein a light-transmitting sheet having a slit is disposed between the light source and the substrate, and a length direction of the slit is perpendicular to a moving direction of the substrate.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the moving speed (v) of the substrate, the area of the slit, the predetermined pitch (P), and the amount of exposure to the substrate, the amount of illumination have the following relationships:
6. the method of claim 4, wherein the light transmissive sheet is positioned above or below the polarizer.
7. A method for making a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate;
placing the substrate on a linear motion device; and
exposing the side of the substrate coated with the photo-alignment material to a light source, wherein light emitted from the light source is irradiated onto the photo-alignment material coated on the substrate through a polarizer to form a patterned photo-alignment layer on the photo-alignment material,
wherein the polarizer is a linear polarizer, and a continuous axis variable half-wave retarder is arranged between the linear polarizer and the substrate, so that light rays emitted by the light source sequentially penetrate through the linear polarizer and the half-wave retarder and then irradiate the substrate,
wherein the polarization direction of the light is modulated line by line on the substrate,
wherein the pitch (P) of the photo-alignment layer is associated with 1/2 of the pitch of the half-wave retarder of continuous axis variation.
8. A method for making a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate;
placing the substrate on a linear motion device; and
exposing the side of the substrate coated with the photo-alignment material to a light source, wherein light emitted from the light source is irradiated onto the photo-alignment material coated on the substrate through a polarizer to form a patterned photo-alignment layer on the photo-alignment material,
wherein the polarizer is a linear polarizer, and a planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal unit and an output quarter wave plate are sequentially arranged between the linear polarizer and the substrate, so that light rays emitted by the light source sequentially penetrate through the planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal unit and the output quarter wave plate and then irradiate the substrate,
wherein the phase of the light is modulated line by the planar alignment wedge-shaped liquid crystal cell and finally the polarization direction of the light is continuously changed line by line on the substrate,
wherein a pitch (P) of the photo-alignment layer is associated with a pitch of the output quarter-wave plate.
9. A method for making a photo-alignment layer having a continuously varying alignment direction, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate;
placing the substrate on a linear motion device; and
exposing the side of the substrate coated with the photo-alignment material to a light source, wherein light emitted from the light source is irradiated onto the photo-alignment material coated on the substrate through a polarizer to form a patterned photo-alignment layer on the photo-alignment material,
wherein the polarizer is a linear polarizer, and a spatial light modulator, an output quarter wave plate and a projection lens are sequentially arranged between the linear polarizer and the substrate, so that light rays emitted by the light source sequentially pass through the spatial light modulator, the output quarter wave plate and the projection lens and then irradiate the substrate,
wherein the phase of the light is modulated line by the spatial light modulator, and finally the polarization direction of the light is continuously changed line by line on the substrate,
wherein a pitch (P) of the photo-alignment layer is associated with a pitch of the output quarter-wave plate.
10. A method of making a sheet from a photo-alignment layer made according to the method of any one of claims 1-9, the method comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-oriented dichroic material on a substrate to form a photo-oriented dichroic layer; and
patterning the photo-oriented dichroic layer into a continuous axis varying polarizing layer by the method of any one of claims 1-9.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrate is transparent glass or plastic.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
a protective layer is coated on top of the continuous axially varying polarizing layer.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the photo-oriented dichroic layer comprises the same or different photo-oriented and dichroic molecules.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the photo-oriented dichroic layer is comprised of an azo dye.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the photo-orientable molecules and the dichroic molecules are cured by heating or light.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein the photo-oriented dichroic layer has a plurality of pitches (P).
17. A method of forming a sheet using the method of any one of claims 1-9, the method of forming a sheet comprising the steps of:
coating a photo-alignment material on a substrate;
patterning a photo-alignment material into a continuous axis change alignment layer by the method of any one of claims 1-9; and
applying a liquid material on top of the patterned photo-alignment layer to form a functional layer, wherein the functional layer has the same axial orientation as the photo-alignment layer after curing.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the functional layer is a reactive polymer or a liquid crystal monomer.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the liquid material used to form the functional layer does not dissolve the photo-alignment layer.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer has a discotic liquid crystal molecular phase.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein the reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer is mixed with a thermal initiator or a photo initiator and cured using a thermal treatment or a photo treatment, respectively, to form the photo alignment layer.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein the reactive polymer or liquid crystal monomer is mixed with a dichroic dye.
23. The method of claim 17, wherein the thickness of the functional layer corresponds to a predetermined retardation value of the axicon retarder.
24. A sheet manufactured using the method of any one of claims 17-23, the sheet comprising:
a substrate;
a photo-alignment layer of continuous orientation variation on one side of the substrate; and
a functional layer disposed on a side of the photo-alignment layer facing away from the substrate.
25. A window for mechanically controlling light transmission, comprising:
two glass plates arranged in parallel;
two axis-variable polarizers arranged in parallel between the two glass plates, or two axis-fixed polarizers arranged in parallel between the two glass plates and two axis-variable retarders arranged in parallel between the two axis-fixed polarizers; and
a controller connected to the two axis-changeable polarizers to control the two axis-changeable polarizers to move relatively, or connected to the two axis-changeable retarders respectively to control the two axis-changeable retarders to move relatively,
wherein the two axis-change polarizers are polarizers manufactured by the method of any one of claims 10 to 16,
wherein the two axis-varying retarders have continuous axis variation.
26. The mechanically controlled transmittance window of claim 25 wherein the two axicon polarizers have the same axicon pitch and orientation of rotation.
27. The mechanically controlled transmittance window of claim 26 wherein the controller controls the two axis-altering polarizers to move along the direction of alteration of their polarization axes.
28. The mechanically controlled transmittance window of claim 27 wherein the transmittance of the window is 0 when the two axi-variant polarizers are moved such that the polarization axes are orthogonal to each other.
29. The window of claim 25 wherein the two axis-change retarders are half-wave retarders.
30. The window of claim 25 where the polarization axes of the two axis fixed polarizers are orthogonal to each other.
31. The mechanically controlled transmittance window of claim 25, wherein the two axialiy varying retarders have the same axialiy varying pitch and axialiy rotating direction.
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| CN112606758B (en) * | 2020-12-25 | 2021-06-29 | 江苏日兴汽车配件有限公司 | Intelligent control device and method for automobile brake lamp and automobile |
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| CN103364863A (en) * | 2013-06-17 | 2013-10-23 | 明基材料有限公司 | Polarized plate for diming device |
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| US9690026B2 (en) * | 2012-10-15 | 2017-06-27 | North Carolina State University | Direct write lithography for the fabrication of geometric phase holograms |
| TWI540346B (en) * | 2012-12-31 | 2016-07-01 | Ｌｇ化學股份有限公司 | Optical device |
| US10386558B2 (en) * | 2013-03-13 | 2019-08-20 | Imagineoptix Corporation | Polarization conversion systems with geometric phase holograms |
| CN106959547B (en) * | 2017-03-09 | 2019-08-16 | 苏州晶萃光学科技有限公司 | A kind of liquid crystal beam deviation and scanner and method |
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| CN102455522A (en) * | 2010-10-15 | 2012-05-16 | 香港科技大学 | Patterned polarization converter |
| CN103364863A (en) * | 2013-06-17 | 2013-10-23 | 明基材料有限公司 | Polarized plate for diming device |
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