Light control devices with kinoform diffusers

摘要

A light control device implemented with a kinoform diffuser exhibiting controllable luminous intensity distribution and imparting off-axis light propagation characteristics to incident light. The light control device comprises a substrate having a major surface with a local surface normal, and a kinoform diffuser applied to the major surface of the substrate. The kinoform diffuser has a microscopic surface relief pattern of a character that diffuses incident light into a luminous intensity distribution pattern, the incident light propagates in a propagation direction and the luminous intensity exhibits relative to the local surface normal off-axis bending of the propagation direction of the incident light as it prorogates from the kinoform diffuser. The kinoform diffuser includes first and second kinoform diffuser portions and the substrate includes first and second optically transparent substrate portions that have side margins located proximally to each other. The first substrate portion has a first major surface to which the first kinoform diffuser portion is applied and the second substrate portion has a second major surface to which the second kinoform diffuser portion is applied.