EP1465780A1

EP1465780A1 - Diffractive security element having an integrated optical waveguide

Info

Publication number: EP1465780A1
Application number: EP02806315A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andreas Schilling; Wayne Robert Tompkin; René Staub
Original assignee: OVD Kinegram AG
Current assignee: OVD Kinegram AG
Priority date: 2002-01-18
Filing date: 2002-11-02
Publication date: 2004-10-13
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-02
Also published as: ATE396059T1; EP1465780B1; TWI265319B; US20050128590A1; RU2004125166A; DE50212303D1; CN1615224A; JP2005514672A; RU2309048C2; WO2003059643A1; KR20040083078A; US7102823B2; TW200302358A; PL370298A1; AU2002367080A1; PL202810B1; CN100519222C

Abstract

A diffractive security element ( 2 ) is divided into surface portions, having an optically effective structure ( 9 ) at interfaces embedded between two layers of a layer composite ( 1 ) of plastic material. At least the base layer ( 4 ), which is to be illuminated, of the layer composite ( 1 ) is transparent. The optically effective structure ( 9 ) as a base structure has a zero order diffraction grating with a period length of at most 500 nm. In at least one of the surface portions an integrated optical waveguide ( 5 ) with a layer thickness (s) of a transparent dielectric is embedded between the base layer ( 4 ) and an adhesive layer ( 7 ) of the layer composite ( 1 ) and/or a protective layer ( 6 ) of the layer composite ( 1 ), wherein the profile depth of the optically effective structure ( 9 ) is in a predetermined relationship with the layer thickness (s). Upon illumination with white incident light ( 13 ) the security element ( 2 ) produces light ( 14 ) which is diffracted in the zero diffraction order, of high intensity and with an intensive color.

Description

Diffractive security element with integrated optical waveguide

The invention relates to a diffractive security element according to the preamble of claim 1. Such diffractive security elements are used for the certification of

Objects, such as banknotes, ID cards of all kinds, valuable documents, etc., are used to determine the authenticity of the object without great effort. The diffractive security element is firmly connected to the object when the object is issued in the form of a mark cut from a thin layer composite.

Diffractive security elements of the type mentioned at the outset are known from EP 0 105 099 A1 and EP 0 375 833 A1. These security elements comprise a pattern of mosaic surface elements that have a diffraction grating. The diffraction gratings are arranged azimuthally in such a way that when they are rotated, the visible pattern generated by diffracted light executes a predetermined movement sequence.

US 4,856,857 describes the construction of transparent security elements with embossed microscopic relief structures. These diffractive security elements generally consist of one piece of a thin layer composite made of plastic. The boundary layer between two of the layers has microscopic reliefs of light diffractive structures. To increase the reflectivity, the boundary layer between the two layers is covered with a mostly metallic reflective layer. The structure of the thin layer composite and the materials that can be used for this purpose are described, for example, in US Pat. No. 4,856,857 and WO 99/47983. From DE 33 08 831 A1 it is known to apply the thin layer composite to an object with the aid of a carrier film.

The disadvantage of the known diffractive security elements is the difficulty of visually recognizing complicated, optically changing patterns in a narrow solid angle and the extremely high ones 5 Ground brightness justified, below which a surface element covered with a diffraction grating is visible to an observer. The high surface brightness can also make it difficult to see the shape of the surface element.

An easily recognizable security element is known from WO 83/00395. It consists of a diffractive subtractive color filter, which can be illuminated with e.g. Daylight reflects red light in one viewing direction and, after rotating the security element in its plane by 90 °, reflects light of a different color. The security element consists of fine slats embedded in plastic and made of a transparent dielectric with a refractive index that is much larger than the refractive index of the plastic. The

5 lamellas form a lattice structure with a spatial frequency of 2500 lines / mm and reflect red light in the zeroth diffraction order with very high efficiency if the white light incident on the lamellar structure is polarized so that the E-vector of the incident light is parallel to the Slats is aligned. For spatial frequencies of 3100 lines / mm, the lamellar structure reflects in the

: o zeroth diffraction order green light, for even higher spatial frequencies the reflected color in the spectrum goes into the blue area. According to van Renesse, Optical Document Security, ^2nd Ed., Pp. 274 - 277, ISBN 0-89006-982-4, such structures are difficult to manufacture in large quantities at low cost.

US 4,426,130 describes transparent, reflective sinusoidal> 5 phase grating structures. The phase grating structures are designed such that they have the highest possible diffraction efficiency in one of the first two diffraction orders.

The invention has for its object to provide an inexpensive and easy-to-recognize, diffractive security element that is easily 0 visually verifiable in daylight.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features specified in the characterizing part of claim 1. Advantageous refinements of the invention result from the dependent subclaims.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and 5 are described in more detail below. Show it:

1 shows a security element in cross section,

FIG. 2 diffraction planes and diffraction gratings,

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 1,

4 shows another security element in cross section, FIG. 5 grating vectors of an optically active structure,

Figure 6 is a security tag in plan view with the azimuth 0 ° and

Figure 7 shows the security mark in plan view with the azimuth 90 °.

In FIG. 1, 1 denotes a layer composite, 2 a security element, 3 a substrate, 4 a base layer, 5 an optical waveguide, 6 a protective layer, 7 an adhesive layer, 8 indicia and 9 an optically effective structure at the boundary layer between the base layer 4 and the waveguide 5. The layer composite 1 consists of several layers of different dielectric layers applied in succession to a carrier film (not shown here) and comprises in the order given at least the base layer 4, the waveguide 5, the protective layer 6 and the adhesive layer 7. For particularly thin layers Layer composites 1, the protective layer 6 and the adhesive layer 7 consist of the same material, for example a hot glue. In one embodiment, the carrier film is part of the base layer 4 and forms a stabilization layer 10 for an impression layer 11 arranged on the surface of the stabilization layer 10 facing the waveguide 5. The connection between the

Stabilization layer 10 and the impression layer 11 have a very high adhesive strength. In another embodiment, a separating layer, not shown here, is arranged between the base layer 4 and the carrier film, since the carrier film only serves to apply the thin layer composite 1 to the substrate 3 and is then removed from the layer composite 1. The

Stabilization layer 10 is, for example, a scratch-resistant lacquer for protecting the softer impression layer 11. This version of the layer composite 1 is described in the aforementioned DE 33 08 831 A1. The base layer 4, the waveguide 5, the protective layer 6 and the adhesive layer 7 are transparent for at least part of the visible spectrum, but are preferably crystal clear. Therefore, they are on the substrate 8, possibly covered with the layer composite 1, shows through the layer composite 1.

In another embodiment of the security element, in which the transparency is not required, the protective layer 6 and / or the adhesive layer 7 is colored or black. A further embodiment of the security element has only the protective layer 6, if this embodiment is not intended to be glued on.

The layer composite 1 is produced as, for example, plastic laminate in the form of a long film web with a large number of copies of the security element 2 arranged next to one another. The security elements 2 are cut out of the film web, for example, and connected to the substrate 3 by means of the adhesive layer 7. The substrate 3, usually in the form of a document, a bank note, a bank card, an ID card or another important or valuable object, is provided with the security element 2 in order to authenticate the authenticity of the object. So that the waveguide 5 becomes optically effective, the waveguide 5 consists of a transparent dielectric, the refractive index of which is considerably higher than the refractive indices of the plastics for the base layer 4, the protective layer 6 and the adhesive layer 7. Suitable dielectric materials are described, for example, in the documents mentioned at the beginning WO 99/47983 and US 4,856,857, Tables 1 and 6 listed. Preferred dielectrics are ZnS, TiO ₂ etc. with refractive indices of n * 2.3.

The waveguide 5 conforms to the interface with the impression layer 11 which has the optically active structure 9 and is therefore modulated with the optically active structure 9. The optically effective structure 9 is a diffraction grating with such a high spatial frequency f that it is below one

Angle of incidence α to the surface normal 12 of the security element 2, incident light 13 is only diffracted into the zeroth diffraction order by the security element 2 and the diffracted light 14 is reflected at the angle of reflection ß, where: angle of incidence α = angle of reflection ß. A lower limit of approximately 2200 lines / mm or an upper limit for a period length d of 450 nm is thus established for the spatial frequency f. These diffraction gratings become "zero diffraction gratings 5 order "and are meant by" diffraction grating ". The diffraction grating has a sinusoidal profile as an example in the drawing of Figure 1, but other known profiles can also be used.

The waveguide 5 begins to function, i.e. to influence the reflected light 14 if the waveguide 5 comprises at least 10 to 20 periods of the optically active structure 9 and therefore a minimum of which

Period length d has dependent length L of L> 10d. The lower limit of the length L of the waveguide 5 is preferably in the range 50 to 100 period lengths d so that the waveguide 5 develops its optimum effectiveness.

In one embodiment, the security element 2 has a uniform diffraction grating for the optically active structure 9 and a waveguide 5 of uniform layer thickness s over its entire surface. In another embodiment, mosaic-shaped surface parts form an optically easily recognizable pattern. So that a part of the surface of the mosaic can be recognized by an observer with the naked eye, the dimensions o must be selected to be larger than 0.3 mm, i.e. the waveguide 5 has a sufficient minimum length L in any case.

The security element 2 illuminated with white diffuse incident light 13 changes the color of the reflected diffracted light 14 if its orientation to the direction of observation is changed by means of a tilting or rotating movement. The rotary movement has the surface normal 12 as the axis of rotation, the tilting movement takes place about an axis of rotation lying in the plane of the security element 2.

The zero-order diffraction gratings show a pronounced behavior towards polarized light 13, which depends on the azimuthal orientation of the diffraction grating. For the description of the optical properties, 2 diffraction planes 15, 16 are defined parallel and transversely to the grating lines in FIG. 16 also contain the surface normal 12 to the security element 2 (FIG. 1). The names of light rays B _p , B _{n of} the incident light 13 (FIG. 1) and directions of polarization of the incident light 13 are defined as follows:

A subscript "p" denotes the one parallel to the grid lines Light beam B _p , while a subscript "n" denotes the light beam B _n incident perpendicular to the grating lines;

A subscript "TE" for the light beam B _p , B _n means a polarization of the electric field perpendicular to the corresponding diffraction plane 15 or 16 and a subscript "TM" indicates a polarization of the electric field in the corresponding diffraction plane 15 or 16.

For example, the light beam B _n τ _M falls in the diffraction plane 16 perpendicular to the grating lines of the security element 2 with a polarization of the electric field in the diffraction plane 16.

Depending on the parameters of the optically active structure 9 and the waveguide 5 (FIG. 1), the respective embodiments of the

Security elements 2 different optical behavior. Such embodiments are described in the following examples, which are not exhaustively listed.

Example 1: Color change during rotation In FIG. 3, the waveguide 5 is shown enlarged in cross section. According to US Pat. No. 4,856,857, Table 6, the plastic layers, stabilization layer 10, the impression layer 11, the protective layer 6 and the adhesive layer 7 (FIG. 1) have refractive indices ni in the range from 1.5 to 1.6. The dielectric with the refractive index n ₂ in FIG. 1 is placed on the optically active structure 9 that is introduced into the impression layer 11

Layer thickness s deposited uniformly, so that the surface of the waveguide 5 likewise has the optically active structure 9 on the interface against the protective layer 6. The dielectric is an inorganic compound, as mentioned, for example, in US Pat. No. 4,856,857, Table 1 and WO 99/47983, and has a value for the refractive index n ₂ of at least n ₂ = 2.

In one embodiment of the security element 2, the values for the profile depth t of the optically active structure 9 and the layer thickness s are approximately the same; ie s »t, the waveguide 5 being modulated with the period d = 370 nm. The layer thickness is preferably s = t = 75 ± 3 nm. If the light beam B _n τε incident in one diffraction plane 16 (FIG. 2) falls on the security element 2 at an angle of incidence α = 25 °, the security element 2 reflects this diffracted light 14 (Fig. 1) with a green color. Light 14 is only reflected from the orthogonally polarized light beam B _n τwι in the infrared, invisible part of the spectrum. The light beam B _P TM incident in the other diffraction plane 15 at the same angle of incidence α = 25 ° leaves the security _element 2 as diffracted light 14 in red color, while the diffracted light 14 generated by the light beam B _pTE is an orange mixed color with a compared to the reflected color Light 14 of the light beam B _PT M has weak intensity. The color of the security element 2 changes when illuminated with white, unpolarized incident light 13 for an observer from green to red when the security element 2 is rotated by 90 °. Tilting the security element 2 in the range of α = 25 ° + 5 ° changes the color only slightly; the change is barely noticeable to the naked eye. In the rotation angle range 0 ° + 20 ° only the red B _P TM reflection is visible, in the rotation angle range 90 ° ± 20 ° only the green B _n τε reflection. In the intermediate range 20 ° to 70 ° there is a mixed color from two neighboring spectral ranges, one for the component of B _Π TE, the other for the component of B _P TM.

This behavior of the security element 2 does not change significantly except for slight color shifts if the layer thickness s of the waveguide 5 is varied between 65 nm and 85 nm and the profile depth t between 60 nm and 90 nm. Shortening the period length d to 260 nm in others

Embodiments shifts the color of the diffracted light 14 from green to red in the case of an incident light beam B _Π TE and from red to green in the case of the incident light beam B _P TM. The color red generated by the light beam B _Π TE changes when the security element 2 is tilted in the direction of smaller angles in the range from α = 20 ° to orange.

Example 2: Tilt-invariant color Another embodiment of the security element 2 shows an advantageous optical behavior, because when illuminated with white unpolarized light 13 for small tilt angles, corresponding to the angle of incidence between α = 10 ° and = 40 °, the color of the diffracted light 14 is practical remains invariant. The parameters of the waveguide 5, the layer thickness s and the profile depth t are here by Relationship s «2t linked. For example, the layer thickness s = 1 15 nm and the profile depth t = 65 nm. The period length d of the optically active structure 9 is d = 345 nm. In the specified range of the tilt angle when illuminated with white unpolarized light 13 parallel to the grating lines of the optically active structure 9, the diffracted light 14 has a red color, to which mainly the light rays B _P T contribute. When the security element 2 rotates by a few azimuth angles, the reflected color remains red; when the angle of rotation increases further, two colors are reflected symmetrically to red, from which the shorter wavelength color shifts towards ultraviolet and the longer wavelength color quickly disappears in the infrared range. For example, at an azimuth angle of 30 °, the short-wave color is an orange; the longer-wave color is invisible to the observer.

Example 3: Color change when tilting If the security element 2 is rotated so that the incident light 13 is directed perpendicular to the grating lines, the security element 2 of example 2 shows a color shift when tilting about an axis parallel to the grating lines of the diffraction grating: for example, the observer sees the surface of the security element 2 in the case of perpendicular incidence of light, ie at the angle of incidence α = 0 ° in an orange, at the angle of incidence α = 10 ° a mixed color of about 67% green and 33% red and at the angle of incidence = 30 ° an almost spectrally pure blue. Example 4: Rotating variant color change when tilting

In another embodiment of the security element 2, the optically active structure 9 consists of at least two crossing diffraction gratings. The diffraction gratings advantageously intersect at a crossing angle in the range from 10 ° to 30 °. Each diffraction grating is determined, for example, by a profile depth t of 150 nm and a period length of d = 417 nm. The layer thickness s of the waveguide 5 is s = 60 nm, so that the parameters s and t of the waveguide 5 fulfill the relationship t «3s. When illuminated with white, unpolarized incident light 13 perpendicular to the grating lines of the first diffraction grating, there is a color shift when tilting about an axis parallel to the grating lines of the first diffraction grating, for example from red to green or vice versa. This behavior remains after a rotation about the crossing angle, since the tilt axis is now aligned parallel to the grating lines of the second diffraction grating.

Example 5: With an asymmetrical sawtooth relief profile In the further embodiment of the security element 2 shown in cross section in FIG. 4, the optically effective structure 9 is a superposition of the zero-order diffraction grating with the diffraction grating vector 19 (FIG. 5) and with an asymmetrical, sawtooth-shaped relief profile 17 a low spatial frequency of F <200 lines / mm. This is advantageous for viewing the security element 2, since for many people viewing the security elements 2 described above under the reflection angle β (FIG. 1) is very unfamiliar. The highest permissible spatial frequency F depends on the

Period length d (FIG. 3) of the optically active structure 9. According to the above-mentioned criteria for good efficiency, the length L of the waveguide 5 within a period of the relief profile 17 is at least L = 10d to 20d, but preferably L = 50d to 100d. With a greatest period length d = 450 nm, the spatial frequency F of the relief profile 17 should therefore be chosen to be smaller than F = 1 / L <220 lines / mm or 110 lines / mm at L = 10d or 20d.

Corresponding to the height of the relief profile 17 or a blaze angle γ of the sawtooth profile, when the security element 2 is illuminated, the diffracted light 14 is reflected at a larger angle of reflection β-i by means of light 13 incident under the angle of incidence α measured for the surface normal 12. The incident light 13 falls at an angle γ + α to the vertical 18 onto the plane of the waveguide 5 which is inclined due to the relief profile 17 and is reflected as diffracted light 14 at the same angle to the vertical 18. The failure angle ßi based on the surface normal 12 is ßi = 2γ + α. The advantage of this arrangement is an easier viewing of the optical effect generated by the security element 2. It should be noted here that the refraction in the materials of the layer composite 1 (FIG. 1) is neglected in the drawing in FIG. 4. Taking into account the refraction effects in the layer composite 1, period lengths d to approx. D = 500 nm can be used for the security elements 2, since at this period length even the blue components of the light 14 diffracted into the first orders do not cause the layer composite 1 (FIG. 1) due to total reflection being able to leave. The blaze angle γ has a value from the range from γ = 1 ° to γ = 15 °.

FIG. 5 shows the optically effective structure 9, which is a superimposition of the diffraction grating with an asymmetrical, sawtooth-shaped relief profile 17. The azimuthal orientation of the diffraction grating is determined by means of its diffraction grating vector 19. The relief structure 17 has the azimuthal orientation indicated by the relief vector 20. The optically active structure 9 is defined by a further parameter, an azimuth difference angle ψ enclosed by the diffraction grating vector 19 and by the relief vector 20. Preferred values for the azimuth difference angle are ψ = 0 °, 45 °, 90 ° etc.

In general, these security elements 2 (FIG. 3) have a high diffraction efficiency of almost 100%, at least for one polarization. The most important parameter of the security element 2 for the color shifting capacity is the period length d (FIG. 3). The layer thickness s (FIG. 3) of the waveguide and the profile depth t (FIG. 3) are not so critical for the dielectrics ZnS and Ti0 ₂ and only slightly influence the diffraction efficiency and the exact position of the color in the visible spectrum, but do influence the spectral range Purity of the reflected diffracted light 14 (Fig. 4).

The parameters according to Table 1 can be used for these security elements 2.

The parameter period length d determines the color of the diffracted light 14 reflected in the zero order. A change in the parameter layer thickness s of the waveguide 5 (FIG. 4) mainly influences the spectral purity of the color of the diffracted light 14 and shifts the position of the color in the spectrum to a small extent. The profile depth t influences the modulation of the

Waveguide 5 and thus its efficiency. Deviations of ± 5% from the values for d, s, t and ψ given in the examples do not noticeably affect the optical effects described for the naked eye. This large tolerance considerably simplifies the manufacture of the security element 2. Table 1 :

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an embodiment of the security element 2 (FIG. 3), on the surface of which a combination of a plurality of partial surfaces 21, 22 is arranged. The partial areas 21, 22 contain waveguides 5 (FIG. 3) and differ in the optically active structure 9 (FIG. 3) and in the azimuthal orientation of the diffraction grating vector 19 (FIG. 5). Differences in the layer thickness s of the waveguide 5 are technically difficult to implement in the layer composite 1 (FIG. 1); however, these are expressly not excluded here. A mark 23 is cut out of the layer composite 1 and glued to the substrate 3. In the example shown, the mark 23 has two

Subareas 21, 22. For illustration, the security element 2 of example 1 described above is used in FIG. 6, the orientation of the diffraction grating vector 19 (FIG. 5) of the first partial area 21 being orthogonal to the diffraction grating vector 19 of the second partial area 22. The direction of observation is in a plane containing the surface normal 12, the track of which in the

Drawing plane of Figures 6 and 7 is indicated by the dashed line 24. For the first partial area 21, the white, unpolarized incident light 13 (FIG. 1) is incident perpendicular to the grating lines and for the second partial area 22 the incident light 13 is incident parallel to the grating lines at the angle of incidence α = 25 °. The observer therefore sees the first partial area 21 in a green color and the second partial area 22 in a red color. Since the layer composite 1 (FIG. 1) is transparent, indicia 8 of the substrate can be seen under the mark 23.

After rotation of the substrate 3 with the mark 23 by an angle of 90 °, as shown in FIG. 7, the incident light 13 (FIG. 1) falls on the first partial surface 21 perpendicular to the grating lines of the diffraction grating and on the second partial surface 22 parallel to the grid lines, as indicated by the angle between hatching of the partial surfaces 21, 22 and the line 24 in the drawing of FIG. By rotating the substrate 3 by 90 °, the swap Colors of the partial areas 21, 22; ie the first partial area 21 shines in red and the second partial area 22 in green.

In another embodiment of the security element 2, the arrangement of a plurality of identical partial surfaces 21 on the mark 23 can form a circular ring, the diffraction grating vectors 19 being aligned with the center of the circular ring. When viewing along a diameter of the annulus, regardless of the azimuthal position of the substrate 3, the most distant (0 ° ± 20 °) and the closest (180 ° + 20 °) partial areas of the annulus shine in a green color and the most distant from the diameter at 90 ° + 20 ° or 270 ° ± 20 ° of the annulus in a red color. Areas in between have the above-described mixed color from two adjacent spectral areas. The color pattern is invariant to a rotation of the substrate 3 and appears to move relative to any indicia 8 (FIG. 1). A circular ring with curved grid lines produces the same effect if the grid lines are arranged concentrically to the center of the circular ring. In a further embodiment of FIG. 7, the partial areas are, for example

21, 22 arranged on a background 25. The partial areas 21 and 22 contain the optically effective structure 9 (FIG. 4) from example 5, the relief vector 20 (FIG. 5) of one partial area 21 being opposite to the relief vector 20 of the other partial area 22. The optically effective structure 9 of the background 25 consists only of the diffraction grating, which is not modulated by the relief structure 17 (FIG. 5). The diffraction grating vector 19 can be aligned parallel or perpendicular to the relief vectors 20; the angle γ (FIG. 5) can also have other values.

Of course, all of the embodiments of the security elements 2 described above can be advantageously combined without restriction, since the specific optical effects, which are dependent on the azimuth or the tilt angle, are much more conspicuous due to the mutual referencing and are therefore easier to recognize.

Finally, other versions of the security element 2 also have field portions 26 (FIG. 6) with lattice structures with spatial frequencies in the range from 300 lines / mm to 1800 lines / mm and azimuth angles in the range from 0 ° to 360 °, which in the surface patterns described in the aforementioned EP 0 105 099 A1 and EP 0 375 833 A1 are used. The field portions 26 extend over the security element 2 or over the partial surfaces 21, 22, 25 and form one of the known optically variable patterns, which changes in a predetermined manner when rotating or tilting independently of the optical effects of the waveguide structures under the same observation conditions. The advantage of this combination is that the surface patterns increase the security against forgery of the security element 2.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Diffractive security element (2), which is divided into partial surfaces (21; 22; 25) with an optically effective structure (9) of interfaces embedded between two layers of a layer composite (1) made of plastic, at least the base layer (4 ) is transparent and the optically active structure (9) has a zero order diffraction grating with a period length (d) of at most 500 nm as the basic structure, characterized in that in at least one of the partial areas (21; 22; 25) between the

Base layer (4) and an adhesive layer (7) and / or a protective layer (6) of the layer composite (1), an integrated optical waveguide (5) made of a transparent dielectric with a layer thickness (s) is embedded, the profile depth (t) optically active structure (9) is in a predetermined ratio to the layer thickness (s).

2. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the profile depth (t) is equal to the layer thickness (s) within a tolerance of ± 5%.

3. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the layer thickness (s) values from the range 65 nm to

85 nm and the profile depth (t) have values from the range 60 nm to 90 nm and that a value from the range 260 nm to 370 nm is selected for the period length (d).

4. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the profile depth (t) equal to three times within a tolerance of ± 5%

Layer thickness (s).

5. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 4, characterized in that the layer thickness (s) has a value of 60 nm, the profile depth (t) a value of 150 nm and the period length (d) has a value of 417 nm and that each of the values (d; s; t) has a tolerance of 5%.

6. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that within a tolerance of ± 5%, the layer thickness (s) is equal to twice the profile depth (t).

7. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 6, characterized in that the layer thickness (s) with 115 nm, the profile depth (t) with 65 nm and the period length (d) with 345 nm is selected and that each of the values (d ; s; t) has a tolerance of 5%.

8. Diffractive security element (2) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the optically effective structure (9) is a superposition of the zero-order diffraction grating with a relief structure (17), that the relief structure (17) has a spatial frequency (F ) less than 220 lines / mm and has a blaze angle (γ) value from the range 1 ° to 15 °.

9. Diffractive security element (2) according to claim 8, characterized in that a diffraction grating vector (19) of the zero-order diffraction grating and a relief vector (20) of the relief structure (17) include an azimuth difference angle (ψ) which has one of the values 0 °, 45 °, 90 ° etc.

10. Diffractive security element (2) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the dielectric has a refractive index (n ₂ ) of 2.3.

1 1. Diffractive security element (2) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that in the partial areas (21; 22; 25) field portions (26) with lattice structures with spatial frequencies in the range from 300 lines / mm to 1800 lines / mm and azimuth angles in Range 0 ° to 360 ° are arranged.