Programmable optical label
AssigneeHRL Laboratories, LLC
InventorsDaniel Yap, Keyvan R Sayyah, David L Persechini, Paul R Herz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is a programmable and latching retro-reflective construct suitable for use as an optical label in an optical labeling system. The invention contains retro-reflective structures such as lens beads, corner cubes or other retro-reflecting type structures. The retro-reflective construct further comprises a wavelength selective, programmable and latching reflecting structure located at the reflecting surfaces of the retro-reflective structures. The optical construct can optionally contain additional optical filtering structures. Methods for fabricating the invention are also described.
Claims6
A retro-reflecting construct suitable for use as an optical label comprising:
- a corner cube reflector having a first surface and a second surface;
- a programmable wavelength selective reflection layer, comprising a photochromic material and a birefringent material, disposed adjacent to said second surface;
- and a black absorber layer disposed adjacent to said wavelength selective reflection layer.
A method of constructing a retro-reflecting construct suitable for use as an optical label comprising the steps of:
- providing a corner cube reflector having a first surface and a second surface;
- disposing a multi-peak transmission filter layer comprising a birefringent material adjacent to said first surface;
- disposing a programmable wavelength selective reflection layer, comprising a photochromic material and a birefringent material, adjacent to said second surface;
- and
- disposing a black absorber layer adjacent to said selective reflection layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.