Laminate structure with embedded cavities and related method of manufacture

Abstract

An integrated laminate structure (202, 302, 402, 502, 602, 702a, 702b, 801, 902, 1002, 1216) adapted for application in the context of solar technology, wafer technology, cooling channels, greenhouse illumination, window illumination, street lighting, traffic lighting, traffic reflectors or security films, comprising a first carrier element (206, 304, 406, 505, 506, 606, 704, 804, 1006, 1204) such as a piece of plastic or glass, optionally comprising optically substantially transparent material enabling light transmission therethrough, a second carrier element (204, 306, 404, 504, 505, 604, 702, 802, 1004, 1206) provided with at least one surface relief pattern (308, 802a, 1206b) comprising a number of surface relief forms (208, 308a, 308b, 408, 412, 508, 510, 608, 610, 708) and having at least one predetermined optical function (708a, 710, 712) relative to incident light, said second carrier element optionally comprising optically substantially transparent material enabling light transmission therethrough, the first and second carrier elements being laminated together such that the at least one surface relief pattern has been embedded within the established laminate structure and a number of related cavities (210, 308b, 408, 410, 412, 508, 510, 608, 610, 709) have been formed at the interface of said first and second carrier elements. An applicable method of manufacture is presented.

Description

technical field [0001] In general, most embodiments of the invention relate to optics. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to laminated structures with embedded optically functional cavities and methods for their manufacture. Background technique [0002] Traditionally, microstructures have been fabricated exclusively on the surface area of ​​optically transparent substrates, eg microprisms or gratings containing different optical devices such as lighting and electronics. These structures are initially configured to (re)orient, couple, or interact with incident light in some predetermined way, but positioning these structures on the surface of a material often poses at least long-term, if not immediate, problems and disadvantages. [0003] That is, naturally depending on the situation of use, surface relief structures in the optical sense, such as coupling optics, are often subject to stresses caused by various external factors such as contamination, u...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, even these and other existing solutions have been too restrictive, underperforming, complex and expensive due to the wide range of industrial scale use

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