3m Innovative Properties Company

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

University of California

3m Innovation Properties Company

Gary Timothy Boyd

Tri Dinh Pham

Kenneth A Epstein

Leland Ray Whitney

Tao Liu

Richard A Miller

Joseph T Aronson

Caleb T Nelson

Daniel J Schmidt

Steven H Kong

Qingbing Wang

Robert A Yapel

Nicholas A Johnson

Steven D Solomonson

Mitchell A F Johnson

Fei Lu

Scott R Kaytor

Kevin W Gotrik

Michael E Lauters

John Allen Wheatley

Keith Michael Kotchick

Steven J McMan

Raymond J Kenney

Gary E Gaides

Owen M Anderson

Andrew John Ouderkirk

Kenneth L Smith

Olester Benson, Jr

Thomas J Blong

Haiyan Zhang

Michael J Sykora

Stephen K Eckhardt

Daniel W Hennen

Robert R Kieschke

David Adrian Ylitalo

Stephan J Pankratz

Michael F Weber

Matthew H Frey

Mark J Pellerite

Ramesh C Kumar

Encai Hao

Matthew B Johnson

Craig R Schardt

Hassan Sahouani

Michael L Steiner

Marc Dudley Radcliffe

Charles L Bruzzone

George V Tiers

John P Baetzold

Evan L Schwartz

Vivian Wynne Jones

Robert M Emmons

John James Stradinger

Jeffrey L Solomon

David J W Aastuen

Marie A Boulos

Robert B Secor

Robert J Koshar

Cecil V Francis

Louis M Leichter

Jerry W Williams

Kazuhiko Toyooka

Eugene P Janulis

David A Rosen

Matthew R C Atkinson

Shandon Dee Hart

Carl A Stover

Robert J DeVoe

Adam D Haag

Rolf W Biernath

Sanford Cobb, Jr

Philip Edwin Watson

John C Schultz

David Scott Thompson

Mark E Gardiner

Robert S Moshrefzadeh

Bharat R Acharya

Ilya Gorodisher

Eric Wayne Nelson

Charles David Hoyle

Rui Zhang

Dale L Ehnes

Graham M Clarke

Jie Zhou

Ryan T Fabick

Elisa M Cross

Wade D Kretman

Brett J Sitter

Kristy A Gillette

David J Rowe

Tzu-Chen Lee

Quinn D Sanford

Kenneth Jason Hanley

Byung-Soo Ko

Stephen J Etzkorn

Robert P Wenz

Morgan A Priolo

Yuji Saito

John T Cowher

Chi Zhang

A backlight to a display includes an array of discrete light sources and a plurality of optical films disposed between the display and the light sources. Each film includes a regular array of intersecting ridges defining a plurality of through-holes. Each of the through-holes extends between first and second open ends of the through-hole. A cross-section of the optical film in a plane parallel to a thickness direction of the film includes two adjacent ridges in the array of ridges and a through-hole therebetween. The film has a maximum thickness hand the through-hole includes a side wall with a substantially vertical portion connected to the first open end of the through-hole and a substantially horizontal portion extending from the substantially vertical portion and connected to the second open end. The substantially horizontal portion has a minimum thickness hat a location between the two adjacent ridges, h/h≥2.

Backlight with multiple microreplicated optical films

A light control film comprises a light input surface and a light output surface opposite the light input surface. Alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions are disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30 and the alternating transmissive region and absorptive regions have a relative transmission at a viewing angle of 0 degrees of at least 75%.

High transmission light control film

An optical film has a major surface including a plurality of microstructures. Each microstructure includes an optical facet and a sidewall meeting the optical facet at a ridge of the microstructure. The optical facet and the sidewall define an oblique angle therebetween. For each microstructure in at least a majority of the microstructures, an optically absorptive layer is disposed on the sidewall. The optical film can include a polymeric layer having a microstructured surface at least partially coated with an inorganic optically transparent layer. The optically absorptive layer can an average thickness t where 100 nm<t<1 micrometer. A first layer can be disposed between the sidewall and the optically absorptive layer where the first layer has a lower extinction coefficient than the optically absorptive layer.

Optical film

A curved display includes a display panel having a curved major surface and a light control film disposed proximate the display panel. The curved major surface is curved about a first axis, and a central portion of the curved major surface has a surface normal along a second axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis. The light control film includes a major surface having a substantially same shape as the curved major surface and includes a plurality of alternating optically transmissive and optically absorptive regions. In a cross-section orthogonal to the first axis, a transmissive region and adjacent absorptive regions define a central ray transmission direction through the optically transmissive region such that a light ray emitted by the display panel and transmitted through the optically transmissive region along the transmission direction is refracted upon exiting the curved display into a direction substantially parallel to the second axis.

Curved display with light control film

An optical system includes an optical film curved about a first axis and a light control film curved about the first axis. The light control film can be disposed between a light source and the optical film. The optical film includes a microstructured first major surface and an opposing second major surface. The microstructured first major surface defines a linear Fresnel lens including a plurality of Fresnel elements extending longitudinally along the first axis. The first major surface of the optical film faces the light control film. The light control film can include a plurality of alternating optically transmissive and optically absorptive regions extending longitudinally along the first axis such that in a cross-section orthogonal to the first axis, for at least a majority of the optically transmissive regions, a centerline between adjacent optically absorptive regions is substantially normal to a major surface of the light control film.

Optical system including light control film and Fresnel lens

A light control film is described comprising alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30. In some embodiments, an absorptive layer or reflective layer is disposed between the alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions and the light input surface and/or light output surface. In another embodiment, the alternating transmissive regions comprise an absorptive material. The light control film can exhibit low transmission of visible light and high transmission of near infrared light. Also described is a light detection system comprising such light control films and a microstructured film.

Light control film

A backlight includes a plurality of discrete light sources configured to face a display, and an optical film disposed on the light sources and below and proximate a first plane. The optical film includes a plurality of through-holes extending between first and second major surfaces of the optical film. Each through-hole has a first opening at the first major surface, and a second opening at the second major surface with an open area A2. Each through-hole has length, H, such that H/A2 is greater than or equal to about 0.13. The light from the light sources has a first overall peak intensity in the first plane, and a first brightness uniformity across the first plane, and in the absence of the optical film, the light from the light sources has a second overall peak intensity in the first plane, and a second brightness uniformity across the first plane, such that the first and second overall peak intensities are different by less than about 20%, and the first brightness uniformity exhibits an improvement over the second brightness uniformity by at least 2.8%.

Microreplicated optical film

An optical construction includes a reflective polarizer layer having a first pass axis and an absorptive polarizer layer having a second pass axis that is substantially aligned with the first pass axis. At least one electrically conductive light scattering layer is arranged between the reflective polarizer layer and the absorptive polarizer layer.

Optical constructions

An integral multilayer optical construction includes opposing first and second structured major surfaces having two-dimensional arrays of respective first and second structures. An optical diffuser is embedded within the optical construction between the first and second structured major surfaces. The optical diffuser has an optical haze of greater than about 5% for at least one visible wavelength in a visible wavelength range extending from about 420 nm to 680 nm. When the optical construction is disposed on a light source with one of the first and second structured major surfaces facing the light source, light emitted by the light source is transmitted by the optical construction with a cross-section of an angular luminous distribution of the transmitted light in at least one first plane that includes a normal to the optical construction, including first and second intensity peaks at respective first and second angles on opposite sides of the normal.

Integral multilayer optical film

An optical system includes a light source, an optical film curved about a first axis, and a light control film curved about the first axis and disposed between the light source and the optical film. The optical film includes a microstructured first major surface and an opposing second major surface. The microstructured first major surface defines a linear Fresnel lens including a plurality of Fresnel elements extending longitudinally along the first axis. The first major surface of the optical film faces the light control film. The light control film includes a plurality of alternating optically transmissive and optically absorptive regions extending longitudinally along the first axis such that in a cross-section orthogonal to the first axis, for at least a majority of the optically transmissive regions, a centerline between adjacent optically absorptive regions is substantially normal to a major surface of the light control film.

Optical system including light control film and fresnel lens

A light control film is described comprising alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between a light input surface and a light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30. In some embodiments, the alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions have a transmission as measured with a spectrophotometer at a viewing angle of 0 degrees of at least 35, 40, 45, or 50% for a wavelength of the range 320-400 nm (UV) and/or at least 65, 70, 75, or 80% for a wavelength of the range 700-1400 nm (NIR). In another embodiment, the absorptive regions block light at the light input surface and light output surface and the maximum surface area that is blocked is less than 20% of the total alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions. Also described are various optical communication systems comprising the light control films described herein and methods.

A light control film, comprises a light input surface and alight output surface opposite the light input surface. Alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions are disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30 and the alternating transmissive region and absorptive regions have a relative transmission at a viewing angle of 0 degrees of at least 75%.

A backlight for providing uniform illumination to a display panel includes a plurality of discrete light sources. A multilayer polymeric partial reflector is disposed on the plurality of discrete light sources. For substantially normally incident light the partial reflector includes a reflection band includes a blue wavelength, a reflectance greater than about 80% at the blue wavelength, a left band edge between about 370 nm to about 420 nm, a right band edge between about 500 nm and 600 nm, and an average transmission between about 20% to about 80% for visible wavelengths greater than the right band edge. A reflective polarizer is disposed on the partial reflector. For substantially normally incident light having the blue wavelength, the reflective polarizer reflects at least 60% of the light having the first polarization state and transmits at least 60% of the light having the second polarization state.

Backlight for uniform illumination

An optical system includes an extended illumination source configured to emit light from an extended emission surface thereof and a light redirecting layer disposed on the extended emission surface. The light redirecting layer has a structured major surface that includes a regular array of light redirecting structures, each light redirecting structure including a plurality of facets; and a plurality of discrete spaced apart window segments. The optical system includes a plurality of reflective segments where each reflective segment is disposed on a corresponding window segment. For substantially normally incident light, each reflective segment has a total: average optical reflectance of at least 30% in a visible wavelength range extending from about 420 nm to about 650 nm; and optical transmittance of at least 10% for at least one infrared wavelength in an infrared wavelength range extending from about 800 nm to about 1200 nm.

Optical layers, films and systems

A display system includes a light source configured to emit light from a light exit surface, the emitted light having an emitted wavelength. An optical filter is disposed on the light exit surface of the light source. One or more light converting films are disposed between the optical filter and the light exit surface of the light source. The one or more light converting films are configured to receive the emitted light from the light source and convert at least portions of the received emitted light to blue, green, and red lights having respective blue, green and red wavelengths. For a substantially normally incident light and for at least an in-plane first polarization state, the optical filter reflects more than about 80% of the incident light having the emitted wavelength, and transmits greater than about 60% of the incident light for each of the blue, green and red wavelengths.

Backlighting for display systems

Growing community of inventors

Woodbury, MN, United States of America

Gary Timothy Boyd