Optical control element, optical control element array, and process for producing an optical control element
View Patent ↗An optical control element for controlling an optical phenomenon by relatively changing levels of dots with respect to a film surface that is irradiated with light, wherein the optical control element includes a thin film having a plurality of through holes, a dot array in which a plurality of dots are protruded, the dots being loosely fitted into the through holes of the thin film, respectively, and a drive portion which relatively displaces at least one of the thin film and the dot array.
1. An optical control element for controlling an optical phenomenon by relatively changing levels of dots with respect to a film surface that is irradiated with light,
wherein the optical control element comprises:
a thin film having a plurality of through holes;
a dot array in which a plurality of dots are protruded, the dots being loosely fitted into the through holes of the thin film, respectively; and
a drive portion which relatively displaces at least one of the thin film and the dot array,
wherein when the film surface and upper faces of the plurality of dots are placed on a same plane, regular reflection of incident light from the film surface and upper faces of the plurality of dots is obtained, and an optical reflection property changes when a level difference exists between the film surface and the upper faces of the plurality of dots.
2. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein the drive portion has a movable film, and the dot array is fixed to the movable film.
3. The optical control element according to claim 2 , wherein the dot array is fixed to the movable film through a connecting portion.
4. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein each of the dots has a size of λ/10 to 10λ where λ is a wavelength of the light.
5. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein the drive portion is an electrostatic microactuator which uses an electrostatic force as a driving force.
6. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein
when the drive portion does not conduct a driving operation, a surface of the thin film and upper faces of the dots are placed in a same plane; and
when the drive portion conducts the driving operation, the upper faces of the dots are placed lower in level than the surface of the thin film.
7. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein
when the drive portion does not conduct a driving operation, upper faces of the dots are placed higher in level than a surface of the thin film; and
when the drive portion conducts the driving operation, the surface of the thin film and the upper faces of the dots are placed in a same plane.
8. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein the drive portion has a movable film, and the thin film is fixed to the movable film.
9. The optical control element according to claim 8 , wherein the thin film is fixed to the movable film through a connecting portion.
10. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein the dot array is divided into arrays of an arbitrary number of dots to form divided dot arrays, and each of the divided dot arrays has the drive portion.
11. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein the through holes and the dots are arranged in a staggered pattern.
12. The optical control element according to claim 1 , wherein each of the dots has a light absorbing layer made of an absorbing material for the light on a side face of each of the dots.
13. An optical control element array using optical control elements for controlling an optical phenomenon by relatively changing levels of dots with respect to a film surface that is irradiated with light,
wherein each optical control element comprises:
a thin film said thin film having a reflective surface, having a plurality of through holes;
a dot array in which a plurality of dots are protruded, the dots being loosely fitted into the through holes of the thin film, respectively; and
a drive portion which relatively displaces at least one of the thin film and the dot array,
wherein each of the optical control elements constitutes a pixel, and the optical control elements are arranged in one or two dimension.
14. An optical control element for controlling an optical phenomenon by relatively changing levels of dots with respect to a film surface that is irradiated with light,
wherein the optical control element comprises:
a thin film having a plurality of through holes;
a dot array in which a plurality of dots are protruded, the dots being loosely fitted into the through holes of the thin film, respectively; and
a drive portion which relatively displaces at least one of the thin film and the dot array, wherein a multilayer mirror is formed at least on a surface of the thin film and upper faces of the dots.
15. An optical control element for controlling an optical phenomenon by relatively changing levels of dots with respect to a film surface that is irradiated with light,
wherein the optical control element comprises:
a thin film said thin film having a reflective surface, having a plurality of through holes;
a dot array in which a plurality of dots are protruded, the dots being loosely fitted into the through holes of the thin film, respectively; and
a drive portion which relatively displaces at least one of the thin film and the dot array,
wherein the dot array is divided into a plurality of arrays of an arbitrary number of dots to form divided dot arrays, and each of the divided dot arrays has a separate drive portion.