Patent US5214530A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5214530A
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Optically variable interference device with peak suppression and method
Assignee: Viavi Solutions Inc
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Filing: 1991-11-27
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Granted: 1993-05-25
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Expires: 2011-11-27
Abstract
Abstract Optical variable interference device with peak suppression having a reflector with first and second surfaces. A thin film multilayer interference stack is disposed on the first surface. The interference stack is comprised of at least two periods with each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer.
Inventors
- 👤 Paul G. Coombs
- 👤 Roger W. Phillips
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 12:42
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B5/00; G02B5/20; G02B5/28; G02B5/285
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 45
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
An optically variable interference device comprising a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said metal absorber layer in one of said at least two periods being a different thickness than the metal absorber layer in the other of said at least two periods said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression relative to a design of a single period at all angles in said design due to interference effects in the design itself of said at least two periods.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
124 words
An optically variable interference device comprising a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said metal absorber layer in one of said at least two periods being a different thickness than the metal absorber layer in the other of said at least two periods said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression relative to a design of a single period at all angles in said design due to interference effects in the design itself of said at least two periods.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
A device as in claim 1 wherein said reflector is formed of a substantially opaque metal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
60 words
A device as in claim 1 together with an additional thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on the other surface of the reflector, said additional thin film multilayer interference stack having the same number of layers and being formed of the same materials with the same thicknesses as the corresponding layers of the first named thin film multilayer interference stack.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
A device as in claim 3 wherein said first named additional thin film multilayer interference stacks are each comprised of three periods.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
A device as in claim 3 wherein said first named and additional thin film multilayer interference stacks are each comprised of four periods.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
A device as in claim 1 wherein said thin film multilayer interference stack has a design that suppresses a peak in the visible region of the spectrum.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
A device as in claim 1 wherein said thin film multilayer interference stack has a design which suppresses more than one peak in the visible region of the spectrum.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
21 words
A device as in claim 1 wherein said metal absorber layers have a thickness ranging from 20 Å to 150 Å.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
21 words
A device as in claim 1 together with a substrate and wherein said device has a surface secured to said substrate.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
A device as in claim 1 together with a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said second surface which is the same as the thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on the first surface.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
A device as in claim 1 wherein said thin film multilayer interference stack has a design peak suppression that suppresses at least one peak in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum relative to the design of a single period.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
39 words
A device as in claim 1 wherein said thin film multilayer interference stack has a design peak suppression that suppresses at least one peak in the infrared region of the spectrum relative to the design of a single period.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
114 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said metal absorber layer in one of said at least two periods being a different thickness than the metal absorber layer in the other of said at least two periods said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in said design due to interference effects, said reflector being semi-transparent.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
114 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said metal absorber layer in one of said at least two periods being a different thickness than the metal absorber layer in the other of said at least two periods said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in said design due to interference effects, said reflector being semi-transparent.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
97 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in said design due to interference effects, said thin film multilayer interference stack suppressing at least one peak in infrared region of the spectrum.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
97 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in said design due to interference effects, said thin film multilayer interference stack suppressing at least one peak in infrared region of the spectrum.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
103 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in said design due to interference effects, said dielectric layer having an optical thickness of approximately two quarterwaves at a design wavelength in the range of 400 to 1500 nanometers.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
103 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in said design due to interference effects, said dielectric layer having an optical thickness of approximately two quarterwaves at a design wavelength in the range of 400 to 1500 nanometers.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
134 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device having peak suppression in its design as compared to a design of a single period by utilizing a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on a surface of a reflector, comprising the step of depositing an interference stack having two or more periods on the surface of the reflector with each period being comprised of a dielectric spacer layer and a metal absorber layer by depositing the metal absorber layers so that the metal absorber layer in at least one of the periods is of a thickness which is different than the thickness of the metal absorber layer in another of said periods to interact with the reflector to suppress by an interference effect solely within its design at least one peak in the design.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
134 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device having peak suppression in its design as compared to a design of a single period by utilizing a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on a surface of a reflector, comprising the step of depositing an interference stack having two or more periods on the surface of the reflector with each period being comprised of a dielectric spacer layer and a metal absorber layer by depositing the metal absorber layers so that the metal absorber layer in at least one of the periods is of a thickness which is different than the thickness of the metal absorber layer in another of said periods to interact with the reflector to suppress by an interference effect solely within its design at least one peak in the design.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method as in claim 16 together with the step of providing additional periods to suppress additional peaks relative to a design of a single or a double period by interference effects solely within its design.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
116 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device having peak suppression by utilizing a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on the surface of a reflector comprising the step of providing an interference stack having two or more periods with each period being comprised of a dielectric spacer layer and a metal absorber layer to interact with the reflector to suppress at least one color, said dielectric spacer layer in each period of a two period design being formed of the same materials and approximately the same thickness said absorber layer of one period being of the same material and approximately one-third to one-half of the thickness of the absorber layer of the other period.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
116 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device having peak suppression by utilizing a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on the surface of a reflector comprising the step of providing an interference stack having two or more periods with each period being comprised of a dielectric spacer layer and a metal absorber layer to interact with the reflector to suppress at least one color, said dielectric spacer layer in each period of a two period design being formed of the same materials and approximately the same thickness said absorber layer of one period being of the same material and approximately one-third to one-half of the thickness of the absorber layer of the other period.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
105 words
In a method for creating an optically variable interference effect in a design utilizing a reflector having first and second surfaces, creating interference effects from a thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of at least two periods with each period being comprised of a dielectric spacer layer and a metal absorber layer with the metal absorber layer in one period being of a different thickness than the metal absorber layer in another period to interact with the first surface of the reflector to suppress by an interference effect solely within its design at least one reflectance peak relative to a design of a single period.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
105 words
In a method for creating an optically variable interference effect in a design utilizing a reflector having first and second surfaces, creating interference effects from a thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of at least two periods with each period being comprised of a dielectric spacer layer and a metal absorber layer with the metal absorber layer in one period being of a different thickness than the metal absorber layer in another period to interact with the first surface of the reflector to suppress by an interference effect solely within its design at least one reflectance peak relative to a design of a single period.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as in claim 19 together with the step of creating interference effects to interact with the second surface of the reflector which are the same as those which interact with the first surface.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
140 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in the design due to interference effects, said interference stack being comprised of two periods, said dielectric layers in said two periods being formed of the same materials and being of the same thicknesses, said absorber layers of said two periods being formed of the same materials with one absorber layer having a thickness of from one-third to one-half of the thickness of the other absorber layer.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
140 words
An optically variable interference device having a design peak suppression, a reflector having first and second surfaces and a thin film multilayer interference stack disposed on said first surface, said interference stack being comprised of at least two periods, each period being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said interference stack to cause peak suppression at all angles in the design due to interference effects, said interference stack being comprised of two periods, said dielectric layers in said two periods being formed of the same materials and being of the same thicknesses, said absorber layers of said two periods being formed of the same materials with one absorber layer having a thickness of from one-third to one-half of the thickness of the other absorber layer.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
36 words
A device as in claim 21 wherein said thin film multilayer interference stack has a design peak suppression that suppresses at least one peak in the ultraviolet region relative to the design of a single period.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
36 words
A device as in claim 21 wherein said thin film multilayer interference stack has a design peak suppression that suppresses at least one peak in the infrared region relative to the design of a single period.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
114 words
In an optically variable device, a reflector having first and second surfaces, a thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of a single period disposed on a portion of said first surface and an additional thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of at least two periods disposed on another portion of said first surface, each period of said additional thin film multilayer interference stacks being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said metal absorber layers of said at least two periods being of different thicknesses, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said additional thin film multilayer interference stack to cause peak suppression due to interference effects.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
114 words
In an optically variable device, a reflector having first and second surfaces, a thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of a single period disposed on a portion of said first surface and an additional thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of at least two periods disposed on another portion of said first surface, each period of said additional thin film multilayer interference stacks being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said metal absorber layers of said at least two periods being of different thicknesses, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said additional thin film multilayer interference stack to cause peak suppression due to interference effects.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
24 words
A device as in claim 24 wherein said first named and additional thin film multilayer interference stacks are also disposed on said second surface.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
24 words
A device as in claim 24 wherein the peak suppressed by the additional thin film multilayer interference stack is disposed in the ultraviolet region.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
117 words
In an optically variable device, a reflector having first and second surfaces, a thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of a single period disposed on a portion of said first surface and an additional thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of at least two periods disposed on another portion of said first surface, each period of said additional thin film multilayer interference stacks being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said additional thin film multilayer interference stack to cause peak suppression due to interference effects, the peak suppressed by the additional thin film multilayer interference stack being disposed in the infrared region.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
117 words
In an optically variable device, a reflector having first and second surfaces, a thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of a single period disposed on a portion of said first surface and an additional thin film multilayer interference stack comprised of at least two periods disposed on another portion of said first surface, each period of said additional thin film multilayer interference stacks being comprised of a metal absorber layer and a dielectric spacer layer, said reflector interacting with said at least two periods of said additional thin film multilayer interference stack to cause peak suppression due to interference effects, the peak suppressed by the additional thin film multilayer interference stack being disposed in the infrared region.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on a first surface of a reflector having first and second surfaces comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a thin film multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said first surface and providing the same color shift with an additional thin film multilayer interference stack having two or more periods which has a suppressed peak on another portion of said at least one surface, the suppressed peak being disposed in the infrared region to provide a covert feature.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on a first surface of a reflector having first and second surfaces comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a thin film multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said first surface and providing the same color shift with an additional thin film multilayer interference stack having two or more periods which has a suppressed peak on another portion of said at least one surface, the suppressed peak being disposed in the infrared region to provide a covert feature.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
82 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on a surface of a reflector comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said surface and providing the same color shift with an additional multilayer interference stack on another portion of said surface, said additional multilayer interference stack having two or more periods which suppresses a peak in the ultraviolet region relative to the design of a single period.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
82 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on a surface of a reflector comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said surface and providing the same color shift with an additional multilayer interference stack on another portion of said surface, said additional multilayer interference stack having two or more periods which suppresses a peak in the ultraviolet region relative to the design of a single period.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on the first surface of the reflector having first and second surfaces comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a thin film multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said surface and providing the same color shift in an additional thin film multilayer interference stack having two or more periods on another portion of said at least one surface, said additional thin film multilayer interference stack suppressing a peak in the ultraviolet region relative to the design of a single period to provide a covert feature.
Claim 43
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on the first surface of the reflector having first and second surfaces comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a thin film multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said surface and providing the same color shift in an additional thin film multilayer interference stack having two or more periods on another portion of said at least one surface, said additional thin film multilayer interference stack suppressing a peak in the ultraviolet region relative to the design of a single period to provide a covert feature.
Claim 44
Independent Claim
141 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on a first surface of a reflector having first and second surfaces comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a thin film multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said first surface and providing the same color shift with an additional thin film multilayer interference stack having two or more periods which has a suppressed peak on another portion of said at least one surface, said additional interference stack being comprised of two periods, with dielectric layers in said two periods being formed of the same materials and being of the same thicknesses, and absorber layers of said two periods being formed of the same materials with one absorber layer having a thickness of from one-third to one-half of the thickness of the other absorber layer.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
141 words
A method for providing an optically variable interference device on a first surface of a reflector having first and second surfaces comprising the steps of providing a color shift with a thin film multilayer interference stack having a single period on a portion of said first surface and providing the same color shift with an additional thin film multilayer interference stack having two or more periods which has a suppressed peak on another portion of said at least one surface, said additional interference stack being comprised of two periods, with dielectric layers in said two periods being formed of the same materials and being of the same thicknesses, and absorber layers of said two periods being formed of the same materials with one absorber layer having a thickness of from one-third to one-half of the thickness of the other absorber layer.
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