A light shielding member of the present invention includes a first polarizing plate, a second polarizing plate facing the first polarizing plate, and a thermosensitive sheet interposed between the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate, in which the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate are positioned so that their respective transmission axes are different from each other, and the thermosensitive sheet contains a side chain crystal polymer that crystallizes at a temperature lower than the melting point and exhibits fluidity at a temperature of the melting point or higher. The light shielding member may transmit light at a temperature lower than the melting point and may not transmit light at a temperature of the melting point or higher, when light travels from one of the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate toward the other.

A light control layer includes an ionizing radiation-curable resin layer having voids and a liquid crystal composition filled in the voids. An acrylic compound having 3 or more functional groups and a double bond equivalent weight of 150 g/eq or less is a first acrylic compound. A monofunctional alkyl acrylate containing a saturated alkyl group is a second acrylic compound. An acrylic compound having 1 to 3 functional groups and a polyethylene oxide chain and a double bond equivalent weight of 300 g/eq to 700 g/eq is a third acrylic compound is a third acrylic compound. A content of the first acrylic compound is 5 mass % to 40 mass %. A content of the second acrylic compound is 55 mass % to 80 mass %. A content of the third acrylic compound is 5 mass % to 20 mass %.

This disclosure describes a system and method for providing multi-material selection for elimination of back-reflected acoustic waves to produce acoustic compensation of an electro-optic modulator (EOM) for use in the Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) and Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) spectrum.

Intelligent control of solar transmission through windows promises to reduce energy consumption for thermal comfort in buildings. However, the ability of current smart windows to regulate solar gain based on tunable extinction of phase-change materials is not optimum. A thin-film thermochromic device based on tunable light scattering of hydrogel microparticles of prescribed diameters is reported. In the study, poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-2-Aminoethylmethacrylate hydrochloride (pNIPAm-AEMA) microparticles are synthesized, with low phase transition temperature 32 C. Notably, the average size of pNIPAm-AEMA particles can vary from 1388 nm at 25 C. to 546 nm at 35 C., leading to unprecedented infrared transmittance modulation of 75.6%, in agreement with the numerical simulation based on Mie theory. A high luminous transmittance of 87.2% is accomplished. The pNIPAm-AEMA device demonstrates tunable scattering with excellent stability and scalability, which may find application in a broader field of light management beyond energy-saving smart windows.

Systems and methods of optical transverse patterning of image-forming light rays include a programming element to generate a pattern that a modulating element imprints onto the image-forming light rays. In some embodiments, the programming element and the modulating element are the same component within the system. In some embodiments, the pattern is free of farfield diffractive artifacts.