Hoya Corporation

Hoya Candeo Optronics Corporation

Michiyori Miura

Toshiaki Sonehara

Yoshitaka Yoneda

Seiichi Yokoyama

Hideo Kobayashi

Mitsuhiro Kureishi

A polarizing element includes fine metal particles formed in numerous regions that were occupied by respective substantially needle-like metal halide fine particles before reduction that are oriented and dispersed in a glass substrate such that the lengthwise directions thereof are almost the same, the fine metal particles being produced by heat-treating the glass substrate in a reducing atmosphere to reduce the substantially needle-like metal halide fine particles. The number of fine metal particles present in at least some of the numerous regions is two or more in each region, 90% or more of the regions each have a volume of 2,500 to 2,500,000 nm, and the individual volumes of the fine metal particles present in each region are 4 to 40% of the volume of the region in 90% or more of the total number of the regions.

Polarizing element

A polarization element has a polarizer with an aggregate of metal pieces: Plasmon resonance frequency of a metal piece varies according to the polarization direction of a irradiated on it. In the polarization element, the plasmon resonance frequency in a predetermined direction of a metal piece is substantially equal to the frequency of light irradiated on the polarization element. The real part and the imaginary part of permittivity at the plasmon resonance frequency of a metal piece's constituent material and the refractive index (na) of a dielectric layer satisfy a particular relation.

Polarization element

Provided is a polarizing element, which is made into an assembly of metal elements by utilizing the fact that the plasmon resonance wavelengths of metal elements are different for the polarization direction of a light to irradiate the metal elements. The sum of the geometrically sectional areas of the metal elements in a plane substantially normal to the propagation direction of the irradiating light is smaller than the area of the irradiated region of the light, and the sum of the absorbing sectional areas of the metal elements in the plasmon resonance wavelengths is five times or more as large as the area of the irradiated region.

A polarizing glass includes shape-anisotropic metal particles oriented and dispersed in a glass substrate, the concentration of the metal particles having a distribution in which in the travel direction of light in which a polarizing function is exhibited, the concentration is substantially zero near one of the surfaces of the glass substrate and near the other surface, gradually increases from one of the surfaces of the glass substrate to the other surface, becomes a value within a predetermined range in the glass substrate, and then gradually decreases toward the other surface.

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Tokyo, Japan

Michiyori Miura