An electro-optic medium is disclosed including a continuous phase comprising a binder and a discontinuous phase comprising electro-optic material. The binder may include one or more elastomers having a Young's modulus less than 25 MPa. The electro-optic material may include capsules that encapsulate various kinds of materials capable of switching optical states, such as a plurality of charged particles dispersed in a suspending fluid and capable of moving upon application of an electric field to the suspending fluid. The electro-optic medium may be incorporated into a laminated flexible electro-optic display having an outer light-transmissive protective layer and conductive material on either side of the electro-optic medium. The conductive material on at least one side of the electro-optic medium may also be light-transmissive. The opposing side of the display relative to the outer protective layer may also include a substrate.

A graded-index optical element may include a nanovoided material including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The nanovoided material may be transparent between the first surface and the second surface. Additionally, the nanovoided material may have a predefined change in effective refractive index in at least one axis due to a change in at least one of nanovoid size or nanovoid distribution along the at least one axis. Various other elements, devices, systems, materials, and methods are also disclosed.

An electrophoretic medium includes a fluid, a plurality of light scattering charged particles having a first polarity, and a first, second, and third set of particles, each set having a color different from each other set. The first and second particles may have a second polarity opposite to the first polarity, and the mobility of the third set of particles is less than half of the mobility of the light scattering particles, the first set of charged particles, and the second set of charged particles.

A system and method are provided for forming body structures including energy filters/shutter components, including energy/light directing/scattering layers that are actively electrically switchable. The filters or components are operable between at least a first mode in which the layers, and thus the presentation of the shutter components, appear substantially transparent when viewed from an energy/light incident side, and a second mode in which the layers, and thus the presentation of the energy filters or shutter components, appear opaque to the incident energy impinging on the energy incident side. The differing modes are selectable by electrically energizing, differentially energizing and/or de-energizing electric fields in a vicinity of the energy scattering layers, including electric fields generated between a paid of transparent electrodes sandwiching an energy scattering layer. Refractive indices of transparent particles, and the transparent matrices in which the particles are fixed, are tunable according to the applied electric fields.

A device, such as an electroabsorption modulator, can modulate a light intensity by controllably absorbing a selectable fraction of the light. The device can include a substrate. A waveguide positioned on the substrate can guide light. An active region positioned on the waveguide can receive guided light from the waveguide, absorb a fraction of the received light, and return a complementary fraction of the received light to the waveguide. Such absorption produces heat, mostly at an input portion of the active region. The input portion of the active region can be thermally coupled to the substrate, which can dissipate heat from the input portion, and can help avoid thermal runaway of the device. The active region can be thermally isolated from the substrate away from the input portion, which can maintain a relatively low thermal mass for the active region, and can increase efficiency when heating the active region.

A nanovoided polymer-based material may include a bulk polymer material defining a plurality of nanovoids and an interfacial film disposed at an interface between each of the plurality of nanovoids and the bulk polymer material. The interfacial film may include one or more layers of material. A method of forming a nanovoided polymer-based material may include (1) forming a bulk polymer material defining a plurality of nanovoids and (2) forming an interfacial film at an interface between each of the plurality of nanovoids and the bulk polymer material. Various other methods, systems, and materials are also disclosed.

An electro-optic medium is disclosed including a continuous phase comprising a binder and a discontinuous phase comprising electro-optic material. The binder may include one or more elastomers having a Young's modulus less than 25 MPa. The electro-optic material may include capsules that encapsulate various kinds of materials capable of switching optical states, such as a plurality of charged particles dispersed in a suspending fluid and capable of moving upon application of an electric field to the suspending fluid. The electro-optic medium may be incorporated into a laminated flexible electro-optic display having an outer light-transmissive protective layer and conductive material on either side of the electro-optic medium. The conductive material on at least one side of the electro-optic medium may also be light-transmissive. The opposing side of the display relative to the outer protective layer may also include a substrate.

In some examples, a method includes forming a material layer on a substrate, partially polymerizing a component of the material layer, to form fluid-filled droplets within a partially polymerized matrix, deforming the material layer to form anisotropic fluid-filled droplets, and further polymerizing the partially polymerized matrix to form an anisotropic voided polymer, including anisotropic voids in a polymer matrix. The anisotropic voids may include anisotropic nanovoids. Example methods may further include depositing electrodes on the anisotropic voided polymer so that at least a portion of the anisotropic voided polymer is located between the electrodes. Examples may include forming electroactive elements including an anisotropic nanovoided polymer, and devices (such as sensors and/or actuators) including electroactive elements.

In some examples, a device includes a multilayer structure, a first electrode, and a second electrode, where the multilayer structure is located at least in part between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the multilayer structure includes a nanovoided polymer layer, and a solid layer. The solid layer may include a non-nanovoided layer. The nanovoided polymer layer may be an electroactive layer. The device may further include a control circuit configured to apply an electrical potential between the first electrode and the second electrode, which may induce a mechanical deformation of the multilayer.

The present invention relates to a display device using a two-dimensional phase transition material including: a substrate; a metal layer formed on the substrate; an insulation layer formed on the metal layer; a transparent electrode layer formed on the insulation layer; a light absorption layer formed on the transparent electrode layer and formed of a phase transition material; and a passivation layer formed on the light absorption layer, wherein the light absorption layer undergoes reversible phase transition depending on any of temperature, magnetic field and electric field.