POLARIZED LIGHT ILLUMINATOR, IMAGE DISPLAY, PORTABLE INFORMATION TERMINAL, HEAD-UP DISPLAY, METHOD FOR PRODUCING DIFFRACTION OPTICAL DEVICE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING POLARIZED LIGHT ILLUMINATOR, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING IMAGE DISPLAY

摘要

An optical medium of a mixture of liquid crystal and a polymer precursor is disposed between a pair of glass substrates (1202) and exposed to light, e.g., in the form of interference fringes having a wavelength of about 515 nm and produced using a laser beam of an Ar laser for about 5 minutes, while heated at, e.g., 50 DEG to 70 DEG C. On starting exposure, the polymer precursor starts to be cured (first stage), and periodically arranged polymer columns (1203) are formed, as shown in Figure 10(a). When the exposure is further continued, liquid crystal molecules gathering in dark regions are aligned macroscopically uniformly perpendicularly to the walls of the cured polymer columns (1203), as shown in Figure 10(b) (second stage). A diffraction optical device thus fabricated exhibits a high polarized-light selectivity and a high diffraction efficiency. A polarized light illuminator and an image display comprising such a diffraction optical device can realize display of a bright and high-contrast image.