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US 10,068,606 B2Granted
Optical device
AssigneeOxford University Innovation Limited
InventorsHarish Bhaskaran, Peiman Hosseini, Carlos Andres Rios-Ocampo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical device, such as an optical storage medium, comprises a layer of material in the solid state that has a refractive index that is switchable between at least two stable values by applied light. A reflector is spaced apart from the layer of material by a solid spacer layer transmissive to light.
Claims17
An optical device comprising:
- a layer of material in a solid state that modifies a reflectivity of the device to provide a pattern comprising an image visibly recognizable by a human;
- and
- a reflector,
- wherein said material is a phase change material having a refractive index that is switchable between at least two stable values, and the pattern is defined by setting of the refractive index of different regions in the layer of material by switching of the phase change material in the different regions;
- and
- wherein the reflector is configured to operate as a back-reflector with no other reflector being positioned between the reflector and an optical access surface through which light can enter and leave the device to provide the recognizable image, the reflector being spaced apart from the layer of material by a solid spacer layer transmissive to light, the solid spacer layer being positioned between the reflector and the optical access surface.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.