Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
  • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
  • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
  • G02F1/15—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on an electrochromic effect
  • G02F1/153—Constructional details
  • G02F1/155—Electrodes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
  • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
  • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
  • G02F1/15—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on an electrochromic effect
  • G02F1/153—Constructional details
  • G02F1/1533—Constructional details structural features not otherwise provided for
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
  • G09F9/00—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements
  • G09F9/30—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements
  • G09F9/37—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements being movable elements
  • G09F9/372—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements being movable elements the positions of the elements being controlled by the application of an electric field

Definitions

• the invention relates to electrocontrollable devices with variable optical and / or energy properties. She is more particularly interested in devices using electrochromic or viologen systems, operating in transmission or in reflection.
• Electrochromic systems have been widely studied. They generally comprise, in known manner, two layers of electrochromic materials separated by an electrolyte and surrounded by two electrodes. Each of the electrochromic layers, under the effect of an electrical supply, can reversibly insert cations, which results in a modification in its properties.
• All-solid that is to say those in which all the layers, and very particularly the electrolyte, are essentially mineral in nature: it is indeed possible to deposit successively on the same substrate all the layers, by the same type technical, including sputtering. Examples of these all-solid systems are detailed in patents EP-867,752,
• electrochromic systems in particular those where the electrolyte is a layer based on a polymer or a gel, the other layers being generally mineral (reference may be made for example to patents EP-253,713 and EP-670,346).
• the invention is particularly interested in so-called “all-solid” electrochromic systems. Many applications have already been envisaged for these systems. It was a question, most generally, of using them as glazing for the building or as glazing for vehicle, in particular as car roofs, or else, functioning then in reflection and no longer in transmission, as rear-view mirrors glare.
• chromogenic glazing consisting of the juxtaposition of two chromogenic systems. These two systems are assembled, in particular to form a car roof, having in fact two zones of which the level of coloring can be modified independently of one another.
• the object of the invention is then the design of an electrocontrollable system with variable optical / energetic properties, of the electrochromic type, divided into zones which can be controlled / activated selectively and separately from each other. More specifically, the object of the invention is to design such a system whose electrical supply is better, in particular more efficient and / or more reliable and / or easier to produce and / or more aesthetic and discreet than the electrical supplies which have been studied so far.
• the subject of the invention is therefore an electrically controllable device variable optical / energy properties of transmission or reflection, comprising at least one carrier substrate provided with a functional layer stack comprising at least two active layers separated by an electrolyte, said stack being disposed between a lower electrode and an upper electrode (" lower ”corresponding to the electrode closest to the carrier substrate, as opposed to the“ upper ”electrode which is the farthest from said substrate).
• the device comprises n zones (n> 2) which can be independently controlled from one another, using the following means: the lower electrode has a pattern A of one or two dimensions, in particular obtained by etching the layer or by directly depositing the layer with the desired pattern (notably by photolithography),
• the stack of functional layers is such that at least one of the active layers and the electrolyte (preferably all of the layers of the stack) has a two-dimensional pattern B, in particular obtained by simultaneous etching of the layers (by mechanical attack or using a laser for example),
• the so-called “upper” electrode has a two-dimensional pattern C, in particular obtained like the pattern B mentioned above. > - these different patterns A, B and C, define by their superposition the zones n, with a material discontinuity between two adjacent zones at least both at the level of the upper electrode and at the level of one of the active layers and of the electrolyte of the functional layer stack.
• a "pattern" means that the layer in question has discontinuities, cut lines, according to a given pattern.
• the patterns B and C are identical, obtained simultaneously by the same etching mode on the assembly formed by the stack of functional layers and by the upper electrode.
• This is, in particular, a pattern in the form of a two-dimensional periodic paving.
• the simplest geometric form consists in adopting a tiling defining a plurality of juxtaposed “active” squares. Any other geometric shape can be used in place of squares, in particular any polygon, rectangle, triangle, hexagon or closed curved shape like a round, an oval ...
• any regular paving of the space for two dimensions which can be defined as the intersection of two families of curves, these curves can be rectilinear, broken or wavy. When it comes to straight lines intersecting at 90 °, we get squares or rectangles. When they intersect at any angle, we get parallelograms. With broken lines you get hexagons or any other polygon.
• Pattern A can be produced in two variants: either one-dimensional periodic tiling, or two-dimensional, tiling of the type adopted for patterns B and C.
• the set of patterns A, B, C will thus define pixels with two-dimensional addressing, in two directions XY in particular orthogonal to each other.
• the shape of the pixels depends on the type of tiling chosen for the patterns A, B and C, and can take various shapes (square, rectangle, any polygon, hexagon, shape at least partially curved and closed).
• the size of the pixels depends on the desired application, and must be compatible with an industrial production. These pixels or zones can have an area of, for example, between a few centimeters / square each and one millimeter / square each. They can also be much larger. Thus, the system as a whole can have a surface of 0.5 to several meters / square, and comprise only two to four zones (of identical or different sizes).
• each pixel is electrically isolated from the adjacent pixel, since the upper electrode is etched, discontinuous at the border between each pixel. So we have pads that must be connected electrically.
• One solution consists in considering the pixels as rows of pixels in a given direction X, and in ensuring that all the pixels in the same row are isopotential at the level of the upper electrode. Electrical continuity between the pixels of each row is then ensured by the presence of electrical conductors, in the form of at least one strip or at least one wire per row of pixels and which are in contact with the upper electrode. These conductors are therefore deposited above and along each of the rows of pixels.
• wires In the case of wires, they are usually made of metal and with a diameter of between 10 ⁇ m and 100 ⁇ m. The choice of the diameter and / or the number of wires per row of pixels is then a matter of compromise between the desired level of electrical conduction and the concern that these wires are as invisible as possible. If they are bands, they may be doped metal oxide layers
• the conductive wires or the conductive strips are kept in contact with the upper electrode of the rows of pixels using a sheet of thermoplastic polymer of the PU polyurethane, polyvinyl butyral PVB or ethylene vinyl acetate EVA type.
• This sheet can be used as an assembly sheet for another rigid substrate of the glass type, by the known technique for manufacturing laminated glazing.
• the lower electrode according to a first variant, it therefore has a one-dimensional pattern.
• This pattern is preferably a set of lines of direction Y, which define columns of pixels, all the pixels of the same column being isopotential at the level of the lower electrode.
• the rows of pixels in the direction X mentioned above and the columns of pixels in the direction Y are linear and orthogonal to one another.
• they have the same pitch, or a substantially identical pitch.
• Each of the pixel columns is supplied with electric current by means of flash-type current supply means in electrical contact with the lower electrode at the end of each of said columns.
• These columns are, at the level of the lower electrode, electrically insulated from one another due to these engraved lines which make the layer discontinuous.
• the lower electrode protrude from the end of each of the columns of pixels.
• the foil / lower electrode electrical contact is thus outside the zone covered by the active layers of the functional stack. Again, these foils avoid “shrinking" the active surface of the device.
• the lower electrode has a two-dimensional pattern, each pixel having, on the side of the lower electrode, an autonomous power supply.
• This autonomous supply can be carried out using conductive wires (or thin strips), added, deposited by photolithography or engraved
• the electrical supply of the device according to the invention can resort to the technique of multiplexing. This technique is recommended, especially in the case where the pattern of the lower electrode is only one-dimensional.
• each zone or pixel of the device according to the invention can be activated electrically autonomously, by an appropriate electrical supply which can be triggered manually, or controlled using electronic / computer means. Everything will depend on the intended application.
• the most advantageous way of arranging the current leads consists in depositing them outside the area of the carrier substrate which is covered with the stack of functional layers. This is made possible, in particular, if thin conductive wires / strips are used on the side of the upper electrode, and if the lower electrode has a surface greater than the surface covered by the stack of functional layers, at least along two of its edges if said surface is a parallelogram.
• a first interesting application of the device according to the invention relates to car roofs for vehicles, in particular for cars, trucks.
• a car roof in one piece, but divided, for example, into two zones or into four zones.
• a car roof with two zones parallel to the axis of the car allows the passenger and the driver of the vehicle to choose, each as they wish, the degree of coloring of the portion of the car roof above its head.
• the invention can also be applied to the side windows and to the rear windows of the vehicle.
• a second application still in the field of vehicles, consists in installing the device in the upper part of the windshield, in particular in the form of one or more strips along the contour of the windshield in its upper part.
• These bands thus advantageously replace the permanently colored bands often used to avoid the driver from being bothered by the sun: it is thus possible to control, as desired, the degree of coloring of the upper part of the windshield according to the degree of sunshine. .
• a third application consists in locating the device according to the invention rather in the middle part of the windshield, in the driver's vision area, in the form of a plurality of small pixels.
• the advantage is to prevent the driver from being dazzled at night by the headlights of a car arriving opposite, by automatically and selectively dimming the number of pixels appropriate at the desired time.
• the regulation of the control of these pixels can be done using at least one camera and / or a light sensor.
• a fourth application consists in using the device as a display panel for graphic and / or alphanumeric information, for example as a road information panel, which makes it possible to display information intermittently for example. It can also be used for mobile phone screens or not.
• Another application relates to glazing fitted to buildings, in order to be able to obscure only part of the glazing in question, without overshadowing the rooms too much. This is of particular interest in the Nordic countries, where the sun is low most of the year.
• the systems according to the invention can also be applied so that they operate in reflection and no longer in transmission. They may be mirrors of which the mirrors mentioned previously are an example, but which may also be of large sizes.
• one of the substrates "framing" the electroactive system is opaque, or at least opacified. It may be a mass-dyed substrate, for example made of an opaque polymer (preferably clear). It can also be a transparent substrate (polymer, glass) which is opacified on the rear face by an opacifying coating, for example a layer of paint (such as those based on titanium oxide, white), or any other lacquer or varnish.
• an opacifying coating for example a layer of paint (such as those based on titanium oxide, white), or any other lacquer or varnish.
• the invention also relates to the method for manufacturing this device, in particular that making it possible to obtain the patterns A, B, C mentioned above.
• Layers can be etched by ablation using mechanical means
• FIG. 1 represents a glass 1 (of dimensions 8 ⁇ 10 cm 2) provided with a lower conductive layer 2, with an active stack 3, surmounted by an upper conductive layer 4, with a network of conductive wires 5 au- above the upper conductive layer and encrusted on the surface of a polyurethane PU (or ethylene vinyl acetate EVA) sheet, not shown for clarity.
• the glazing also includes a second glass, not shown for clarity, above the EVA sheet.
• the two glasses and the EVA sheet are joined together by a known lamination or calendering technique, possibly by heating under pressure.
• the lower conductive layer 2 is a bilayer consisting of a first SiOC layer of 50 nm surmounted by a second layer of SnO 2 : F of 400 nm (two layers preferably deposited successively by CVD on the float glass before cutting).
• SnO 2 can be used , for example antimony Sb.
• doped oxides in particular doped zinc oxide of the ZnO: Al type.
• it may be a bilayer consisting of a first layer based on Si0 2 doped or not (in particular doped with aluminum or boron) of about 20 nm surmounted by a second layer of ITO of approximately 100 to 350 nm (two layers preferably deposited successively, under vacuum, by sputtering assisted by magnetic field and reactive in the presence of oxygen, possibly hot).
• the active stack 3 is broken down as follows: not to other metals.
• All these layers are deposited in a known manner by reactive sputtering assisted by a magnetic field.
• the upper conductive layer is an ITO layer of 100 to 300 nm, also deposited by reactive sputtering assisted by a magnetic field.
• the conducting wires 5 are rectilinear wires parallel to each other made of tungsten (or copper), possibly covered with carbon, deposited on the PU sheet by a technique known in the field of heated windshields with wires, for example described in the EP patents. -785 700, EP-553 025, EP-506 521, EP-496 669. Schematically, this involves using a heated pressure roller which presses the wire on the surface of the polymer sheet, pressure roller supplied with wire from a supply coil by means of a wire guide device.
• the PU sheet has a thickness of about 0.8 mm.
• the two glasses are made of flat, standard, silica-soda-lime glass, about 2 mm thick each.
• the invention applies in the same way to curved and / or toughened glasses.
• At least one of the glasses can be tinted in the mass, in particular tinted blue or green, gray, bronze or brown.
• the substrates used in the invention can also be based on polymer.
• the substrates can have very varied geometric shapes: they can be squares or rectangles, but also any polygon or profile at least partially curved, defined by rounded or wavy contours (round, oval, " waves ", etc.).
• At least one of the two glasses can be provided (on the side which is not provided with the electrochromic system or equivalent) with an antisun coating, for example based on a stack of thin layers deposited by sputtering and comprising at least one layer of silver.
• an antisun coating for example based on a stack of thin layers deposited by sputtering and comprising at least one layer of silver.
• We can thus have a structure of the type: glass / electrochromic system / thermoplastic sheet (PVB or PU or EVA) / anti-solar layers / glass.
• electrochromic system not directly on its carrier substrate but by means of one or more functional thin layers, for example anti-sun films.
• the anti-solar coating not on one of the glasses, but on a flexible polymer sheet of the PET (polyterephthalate) type, with a structure of the type: glass / electrochromic system / thermoplastic sheet (PVB or PU or EVA) / PET with anti-solar layers / thermoplastic sheet (PVB) glass.
• PET polyterephthalate
• PVB thermoplastic sheet
• the goal is to manufacture an electrochromic glazing in the form of a matrix of pixels.
• these are pixels of rectangular shape.
• Each pixel has a dimension of approximately 1 cm x 1 cm.
• These pixels are arranged in six rows (i) along an X axis and in eight columns (ii) along a Y axis, the X and Y axes being hortogonal to each other.
• the pixels can have other shapes, be square, round, triangular, hexagonal, etc. as we saw above. Their dimensions can also vary depending on the desired application, and the X and Y axes can make an acute or obtuse angle between them. These shapes and dimensions are actually determined by how the different layers of the system are etched and how the etchings overlap.
• the lower electrode 2 is in the form of a layer covering the major part of the substrate 1. However, it leaves two strips of glass 6, 7 naked, of rectangular shapes at the two ends of the glass (according to its largest dimension, along the X axis). These zones 6, 7 can be left bare by a glass masking system during deposition. They can also be obtained by local ablation of the layer initially covering the entire surface of the glass, in particular using a laser.
• the lower electrode 2 is aligned along incision lines 11, mutually parallel with a pitch of 10 mm, along the axis X and over the entire width of the glass. These are the lines, defining a one-dimensional A pattern, which will delimit the eight columns mentioned above. These incision lines also affect the active stack 3 and the upper electroconductive layer 4, since they are produced after all the layers have been deposited.
• the active system 3 and the electroconductive layer 4 are also margins by incision lines 12, all parallel to each other with a pitch of 10 mm along the Y axis over the entire length of the glass covered with the active stack 3 and the electrically conductive layer 4.
• the stack 3 and the upper electrode 4 have the same pattern, namely series of incision lines 11, 12 crossing at right angles and thus defining the desired tiling in pixels.
• each column there is a portion S1, S2 of lower electrode 2 not covered with the stack of layers 3, 4, and electrically isolated from the portion S '1, S'2 of electrode belonging to the column adjacent to the column considered.
• Each of these electrode portions S1, S2 is provided with a foil 10, 11. These pairs of foils protrude from the glass, as shown in FIG. 2 and serve as current leads for each of the columns considered. All the pixels in a column of pixels are therefore found to be isopotential on the side of the lower electrode 2.
• each row the last layer of which consists of an upper electrode portion 4, is in electrical contact with two metallic wires 5 (for example tungsten wires of 25 ⁇ m in size) diameter). These wires are parallel to each other and arranged along the X axis of each row. They project from each end of each of the rows of pixels. In this way, they can be electrically connected to foils 8, 9, as shown in FIG. 3.
• Each pair of pixels is associated with a pair of foils.
• Electrical wires 5 are used, insofar as, on the side of the upper electrode 4, there are pads that are completely physically and electrically isolated from each other. Again, all the pixels in the same row are isopotential, but on the side of the upper electrode 4 this time.
• FIG. 4 illustrates the scenario in which an incision of lines perpendicular to each other 13, 14 has been chosen for the lower electrode 2, as was the case only for the active layers 3 and for the upper electrode 4 of the example previous: there are then completely electrically isolated pads both on the side of the lower electrode 2 and on the side of the upper electrode 4, which requires individual current leads for each of the pixels on the side of the lower electrode 2.
• the current leads are conductive wires (or strips) 12 arranged by etching the lower electrode 2. These leads preferably have a width of 80 to 300 ⁇ m and are separated the from each other by the same distance.
• each pixel can be supplied electrically autonomously on the side of the upper electrode 4 also, each pixel being connected to its own current supply wires.
• the resolution of the system is very good, because the pixels are only separated by the width of the incision lines 11 and 12, which can be very small, in particular 80 ⁇ m, thanks to the laser engraving technology.
• the number and diameter of the conductive wires is also variable. These parameters depend on the size of the pixel and, depending on the application, the degree of visibility of the wires that can be considered acceptable (especially in the discolored state).
• the current leads of the lower conductive layer on the one hand that is to say, if one refers to Figure 4 for example, the strips or wires 12
• the current leads of the conductive layer higher that is to say the wires 5, if we always refer to FIG. 4 by way of example
• the pixels can be of variable dimensions / conductivity depending on whether they supply "peripheral” pixels , close to the foils 8, 9 or “central” pixels, more distant from these foils. Indeed, so that all the pixels "react” as uniformly as possible, especially when their number is large, it may be useful to provide leads that are all the more conductive as the pixel is far from the edge of the device, power foils (to compensate for ohmic losses).
• the conductive strips 12 of FIG. 4 are wider (therefore all the more conductive) when they supply, on a same row (horizontal in FIG. 4) of pixels, the four "central" pixels with respect to the two peripheral pixels close to the foils 8, 9.
• the size of the wires 5 can also vary over their length for the same purpose.
• FIG. 6 illustrates a third example according to the invention. It is close to the example according to Figure 1, but has two differences:
• the lower electrode 2 has an additional incision line 15, which is perpendicular to the incision lines 11, so as to divide the glazing longitudinally into two zones of equal surfaces, on the one hand and else on this line 15,
• the conducting wires 5 are cut in the middle, so as to divide the glazing in two zones of equal surfaces according to its width.
• a glazing unit was thus formed, made up of a certain number of pixels grouped in four groups of pixels Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z4 completely independent of each other. It is of course possible to envisage using only the additional incision line 15 or only cutting the wires 5, in particular if only two independent pixel groupings are desired instead of four.
• FIG. 7 represents a fourth type of glazing according to the invention. It is close to the example illustrated in FIG. 1. The only difference concerns the shape of the pixels, determined by the way in which the layers 2, 3 and 4 have been incised.
• the incision lines 11 of layers 2, 3 and 4 are no longer rectilinear: they are broken lines according to a repeating pattern.
• the incision lines 12 are also broken lines, the superposition of these engravings leading to hexagonal pixels.
• Figures 8, 9 and 10 are variants of the glazing according to Figure 7.
• the dotted lines correspond to the incision lines 11 and the solid lines correspond to the incision lines 12.
• the pixels P have a rectangular shape (FIG. 1).
• the pixels have the shape of hexagons (FIG. 7).
• the pixels are the shape of deformed squares, because the incision lines 11 and 12 are wavy.
• the shape and size of the pixels can vary widely.
• the way the layers are cut can also vary.
• Pixels can be grouped into zones or not.
• a considerable advantage of the invention is that the layers

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Nonlinear Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Electrochromic Elements, Electrophoresis, Or Variable Reflection Or Absorption Elements (AREA)

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