Claims
- 1. An optical device, comprising:a substrate; an oriented polymeric film disposed on the substrate, the polymeric film comprising polyvinyl alcohol and a water-soluble or water-dispersible second polymer; and dichroic dye material incorporated in the polymeric film.
- 2. The optical device of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a polarizer.
- 3. The optical device of claim 2, wherein the substrate is a reflective polarizer.
- 4. The optical device of claim 3, wherein the reflective polarizer comprises a multilayer stack of at least two different sets of one or more polymeric layers, wherein the one or more polymeric layers of at least one of the sets are birefringent.
- 5. The optical device of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a mirror.
- 6. The optical device of claim 5, wherein the substrate is an IR mirror.
- 7. The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device further comprises an adhesive layer disposed on the polarizing film to adhere the polarizing film to the substrate.
- 8. The optical device of claim 7, wherein the substrate is a glass or plastic object.
- 9. A method of making an optical device, comprising:forming a dispersion of polyvinyl alcohol and a water-soluble or water-dispersible second polymer in a solvent; coating a substrate with the dispersion; removing the solvent from the dispersion to form a polymeric film; orienting the polymeric film; and incorporating a dichroic dye material in the polymeric film.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein orienting the polymeric film comprises stretching the polymeric film in at least one direction.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein incorporating the dichroic dye material in the polymeric film comprises staining the polymeric film with the dichroic dye material.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein incorporating the dichroic dye material in the polymeric film comprises adding the dichroic dye material to the dispersion.
- 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the substrate is a reflective polarizer.
- 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the substrate is a mirror.
- 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises removing the polymeric film from the substrate.
- 16. A display device, comprising:a polymeric film comprising polyvinyl alcohol and a water-soluble or water-dispersible second polymer, the polymeric film being oriented; and dichroic dye material incorporated in the polymeric film.
- 17. A method of making a polarizing film, the method comprising steps of:forming a dispersion of polyvinyl alcohol and a water-soluble or water-dispersible second polymer in a solvent; coating a substrate with the dispersion; removing the solvent from the dispersion to form a polymeric film; orienting the polymeric film; and incorporating dichroic dye material in the polymeric film.
- 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising removing the polarizing film from the substrate.
- 19. The method of claim 17, wherein orienting the polymeric film comprises stretching the polymeric film in at least one direction.
- 20. The method of claim 17, wherein incorporating the dichroic dye material in the polymeric film comprises staining the polymeric film with the dichroic dye material.
- 21. The method of claim 17, wherein incorporating the dichroic dye material in the polymeric film comprises adding the dichroic dye material to the dispersion.
Parent Case Info
This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/006,458 filed Jan. 13, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,811.
US Referenced Citations (53)
Foreign Referenced Citations (16)
Number |
Date |
Country |
4406426 |
Aug 1995 |
DE |
0297927 |
Apr 1989 |
EP |
564 925 |
Aug 1993 |
EP |
1084820 |
Sep 1964 |
GB |
WO 9527919 |
Apr 1995 |
WO |
WO 9517303 |
Jun 1995 |
WO |
WO 9517691 |
Jun 1995 |
WO |
WO 9517692 |
Jun 1995 |
WO |
WO 9517699 |
Jun 1995 |
WO |
WO 9619347 |
Jun 1996 |
WO |
WO 9701440 |
Jan 1997 |
WO |
WO 9701774 |
Jan 1997 |
WO |
WO 9701788 |
Jan 1997 |
WO |
WO 9732226 |
Sep 1997 |
WO |
WO 9936248 |
Jul 1999 |
WO |
WO 9936262 |
Jul 1999 |
WO |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Weber et al., “Giant Birefringent Optics in Multilayer Polymer Mirrors”, Science, vol. 287, Mar. 31, 2000, pp. 2451-2456. |
Schrenk et al., Nanolayer polymeric optical films, Tappi Journal, pp. 169-174, Jun., 1992. |