3M Innovative Properties Company

Other

The Penn State Research Foundation

Harvard College

James M Nelson

Michael F Weber

Ryan E Marx

Michael Albert Haase

Terry Lee Smith

Jeffrey Jacob Cernohous

Alexander R Mathews

Wendy L Thompson

Martin B Wolk

William J Schultz

Todd D Jones

Karl K Stensvad

Babu Nana Gaddam

Duane Douglas Fansler

Robert L Brott

Robert A Yapel

Sergey Lamansky

Vivian Wynne Jones

Caleb T Nelson

Jeffrey L Solomon

Audrey A Sherman

Kevin Michael Lewandowski

Moses Mekala David

Sumita Basu Mitra

Brant Ulrick Kolb

William Blake Kolb

Ahmed Salih Abuelyaman

Christopher Stewart Lyons

Harry R Allcock

Raghunath Padiyath

Kevin R Schaffer

Naimul Karim

Joseph Clark Carls

William A Tolbert

Federico Capasso

Mikhail L Pekurovsky

Adam D Haag

Patrick R Fleming

Jimmie Rae Baran, Jr

Craig R Schardt

Matthew S Stay

Byron E Trotter

Kenneth Jason Hanley

John W Longabach

James Robert McNerney

Chad A Haraldson

Paul Edward Humpal

Tommie W Kelley

Robert B Secor

Michael John Annen

Charles N DeVore

Henrik B Van Lengerich

Myles Lee Brostrom

Steven C Hackett

Mark E Napierala

Thomas A Isberg

Jeffrey G Linert

James Alan Higgins

Dwight G Baldwin

James Zhu

Dean Faklis

Nicholas C Erickson

Neil R Granlund

James E Thorson

Terri A Shefelbine

Grant F Tiefenbruck

Siegmund Papp

Peter D Condo

Walter R Laredo

Bing Hao

Kevin W Gotrik

James Stephen Mrozinski

Maureen Ann Kavanagh

Terence D Spawn

Kristin LaVelle Thunhorst

Nathan E Schultz

Jennifer L Trice

Kathleen S Shafer

Jung-Sheng Wu

Paul B Armstrong

Mitchell A F Johnson

Brian Edward Spiewak

Jonathan F Hester

Keith R Bruesewitz

Robert Stephen Davidson

Changbao Ma

William R Dudley

Vadim N Savvateev

Ha T Le

Douglas P Goetz

Cyrus A Anderson

Lin Zhao

Randy A Larson

Jack Wing Lai

Lynn E Lorimor

Lars A Smeenk

Ian Manners

Anthony Robert Maistrovich

Daniel P Decabooter

David J Tarnowski

An optical article includes a waveguide and a structured film. The structured film includes a polymeric substrate, an etch stop layer disposed on the polymeric substrate, a structured layer including a plurality of engineered structures disposed on a side of the etch stop layer opposite the polymeric substrate, a planarizing backfill layer disposed over the plurality of engineered structures to define a substantially planar major surface of the planarizing backfill layer having a surface roughness Ra, and an adhesive layer disposed on the substantially planar surface of the planarizing backfill layer and bonding the structured film to the waveguide. A difference in index of refraction of the planarizing backfill layer and the structured layer is at least 0.25 for at least a first wavelength Win a range of 400 nm to 2500 nm. The adhesive layer has an average thickness ta where Ra<ta<¼W

Structured film and optical article including structured film

An optical metasurface film includes a flexible polymeric film having a first major surface, a patterned polymer layer having a first surface proximate to the first major surface of the flexible polymeric film and having a second nanostructured surface opposite the first surface, and a refractive index contrast layer including a refractive index contrast material adjacent to the nanostructured surface of the patterned polymer layer forming a nanostructured bilayer with a nano structured interface. The nanostructured bilayer comprising a plurality of nanostructures disposed on the flexible polymeric film. The nanostructured bilayer imparts a light phase shift that varies as a function of position of the nano structured bilayer on the flexible polymeric film. The light phase shift of the nanostructured bilayer defines a predetermined operative phase profile of the optical metasurface film. A light reflecting layer is in optical communication with the nano structured bilayer.

Reflective optical metasurface films

Nanostructured articles, materials for the nanostructured articles, and intermediate articles for use in making the nanostructured articles. The nanostructured articles can be formed on a flexible film and are useful for optical metasurface applications and possibly other applications. The articles can include nanoreplicated layers or pattern transfer layers of engineered nanostructures.

Nanostructured optical films and intermediates

Materials and methods useful in forming nano-scale features on substrates, and articles such as optical films incorporating such nano-scale patterned substrates.

Materials and methods for forming nano-structures on substrates

An optical metasurface film includes a flexible polymeric film having a first major surface, a patterned polymer layer having a first surface proximate to the first major surface of the flexible polymeric film and having a second nanostructured surface opposite the first surface, and a refractive index contrast layer adjacent to the nanostructured surface of the patterned polymer layer forming a nanostructured bilayer with a nanostructured interface. The nanostructured bilayer acts locally on amplitude, phase, or polarization of light, or a combination thereof and imparts a light phase shift that varies as a function of position of the nano structured bilayer on the flexible polymeric film. The light phase shift of the nanostructured bilayer defines a predetermined operative phase profile of the optical metasurface film.

Optical metasurface films

Methods of forming an array of patterns on a substrate are provided. An array of protective tiles formed from a protectant resin is provided to cover an array of sub-regions on the substrate. An array of patterns is formed on the substrate by sequentially repeating steps (i) and (ii) for each sub-region: (i) removing the protective tile from one of the sub-regions to expose the first major surface underneath; and (ii) forming a pattern on the exposed first major surface within the one of the sub-regions.

Arrayed structured replication articles and methods

A light coupling unit includes a first major surface comprising one or more substantially parallel first grooves oriented along a first direction for receiving one or more optical waveguides. A second major surface for slidably contacting a mating light coupling unit comprises an optically transmitting window for propagating an optical signal therethrough, and a region of second grooves and lands configured to capture particulate contaminants in the second grooves.

Dust mitigating optical connector

An optical ferrule assembly includes a hybrid optical ferrule having a glass portion assembled to a polymeric portion. The polymeric portion includes a groove for receiving and supporting an optical fiber having opposing open front and back ends. A light redirecting member includes an input surface for receiving light from the optical fiber and a light redirecting side. The open back end of the groove and the input surface define a recessed region therebetween. The glass portion includes an optically transparent glass insert disposed in the recessed region conforming in shape to an internal shape of the recessed region. An optical fiber is received and supported in the groove. The optical fiber includes a fiber end laser welded to the glass insert so that a central light ray from the optical fiber propagates through the glass insert before being received and redirected by the light redirecting side.

Optical ferrule assemblies

An optical cable subassembly includes one or more optical waveguides, at least light coupling unit comprising a first attachment area permanently attached to the optical waveguides, and at least one cable retainer comprising a second attachment area permanently attached to the optical waveguides and adapted to be installed in a housing. A length of the optical waveguides between the first attachment area and the second attachment area allows a bend in the optical waveguides that provides a predetermined mating spring force at a predetermined angle of the light coupling unit when installed in the housing.

Optical assembly with cable retainer

A unitary optical ferrule is molded to include one or more elements for receiving and securing one or more optical waveguides one or more elements for affecting one or more characteristics of light from the optical waveguide while propagating the light within the ferrule. The optical ferrule also includes one or more first alignment features and one or more second alignment features that, when the ferrule is mated with a mating ferrule, each controls alignment of the ferrule with the mating ferrule along three mechanical degrees of freedom. The surface of the optical ferrule can be divided along the thickness axis into a first section and an opposing second section, wherein the first section of the surface includes the receiving and securing elements, the light affecting elements, and the first alignment features and the second section of the surface includes the second alignment features.

Optical ferrules and optical ferrule molds

Provided are methods and associated compositions directed to a structural bonding adhesive. The structural bonding adhesive is made by mixing a curable composition comprising a mixture of a first curable resin and a second curable resin to provide an uncured adhesive. The uncured adhesive is irradiated by a first actinic light source to polymerize the first curable resin without polymerizing the second curable resin to provide a partially cured adhesive. The partially cured adhesive is a pressure-sensitive adhesive that displays cold flow creep recovery under ambient conditions and is capable of being fully cured by irradiating the partially cured adhesive using a second actinic light source that is different from the first actinic light source to polymerize the second curable resin.

Dual stage structural bonding adhesive

A structured surface reduces optical reflectance at a predetermined wavelength in a first wavelength range extending from 600 nm to 1700 nm. The structured surface includes a plurality of parallel linear structures arranged along a first direction and extending along an orthogonal second direction. Each linear structure includes opposing nonlinear facets meeting at a peak extending along the second direction. An average spacing between the peaks of adjacent linear structures is less than the predetermined wavelength, such that for light having the predetermined wavelength and incident on the structured surface in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions, the structured surface has a reflectance Rx&#x3c;0.5% for light polarized along the first direction and a reflectance Ry&#x3c;0.5% for light polarized along the second direction, where an absolute value of Rx&#x2212;Ry is less than 0.3%. An optical ferrule may have an exit surface that includes the structured surface.

Structured surface and optical ferrule including same

A first optical device is adapted to couple to a second optical device along a coupling direction and includes two spaced apart pairs of leading and trailing pads, such that when the first optical device lands and slides on a landing surface of the second optical device to optically couple to the second optical device, and for each pair of leading and trailing pads, the leading pad prevents any debris on the landing surface from collecting on the trailing pad. Upon full coupling of the first optical device with the second optical device, the leading pads do not make contact with the landing surface. The first optical device may be, for example, an optical ferrule or a cradle having a recess adapted to receive an optical ferrule.

Optical device

Growing community of inventors

Lino Lakes, MN, United States of America

James M Nelson