Appeal No. 96-1368
Application 08/080,891
index of said elements and the other
refractive index must be smaller than the
refractive index of said elements.
According to the state of the art, a
thin liquid-crystalline layer is applied
between two substrates (the transparent
elements) by means of capillary forces.
Means for sealing the thin layer from the
environment must be provided. Further, it
is necessary to position and secure the two
substrates at a fixed distance from each
other. A further disadvantage of the known
devices is the difficulty of providing
suitable liquid-crystalline materials
having the above-described refractive
indices. Moreover, the temperature
resistance of liquid-crystalline layers is
generally small.
One of the objects of the invention is
to provide a polarisation-sensitive beam
splitter of a simpler construction. In
this connection an object of the invention
is to provide means to atune the refractive
indices of the polarisation-separating
layer and the transparent elements to each
other in a simple manner. Another object
of the invention is to provide a beam
splitter which is little temperature
dependent and which is also temperature
resistant. Yet another object of the
invention is to provide a simple and
efficacious method of manufacturing a
polarisation-sensitive beam splitter.
Specifically, De Vaan uses as the birefringent layer a
"curable synthetic resin composition which comprises liquid-
crystalline monomers or oligomers, the molecules in the
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