A thin film structure including a reflector layer; and a hybrid layer including an organic colored material and at least one of an organic filler and an inorganic filler; wherein a concentration of the at least one of an organic filler or an inorganic filler is in a range of from about 3 wt. % to about 30 wt. %. A method of making a thin film structure is also disclosed.

A bright pigment according to the present invention includes: a glass flake; a titanium oxide layer formed over the glass flake; and fine gold particles deposited on the titanium oxide layer or placed between the glass flake and the titanium oxide layer. The titanium oxide layer has a thickness of 150 nm or more, and a reflected color of the bright pigment is a blue to green color represented by a C* value of 15 or more and a h value of 150 to 300 in a L*C*h color system.

A flake including a layer of a diamagnetic material; and at least one additional layer is disclosed. The flake, such as a plurality of flakes, can be dispersed in a liquid medium to form a composition. The composition can be applied to a surface of a substrate to form a security device. A method of making the security device is also disclosed.

An article including at least one first metallic layer, at least one dielectric layer, and at least one second metallic layer is disclosed. The at least one dielectric layer can include at least one of (i) a photo-initiator, (ii) an oxygen inhibition mitigation composition, (iii) a leveling agent, and (iv) a defoamer. The article can be in the form of a foil or pigment flake, and can also include a magnet containing layer.

The present invention relates to an effect pigment comprising as a substrate a glass flake with a coating, said coating comprising at least one layer of at least one high refractive material, said material having a refractive index of at least 1.8, and/or at least one layer of at least one semitransparent metallic material, wherein said glass flakes comprising the following composition: 65-75 wt.-% silicon oxide, preferably SiO.sub.2 2-9 wt.-% aluminum oxide, preferably AI.sub.2O.sub.3 0.0-5 wt.-% calcium oxide, preferably CaO 5-12 wt.-% sodium oxide, preferably Na.sub.2O 8-15 wt.-% boron oxide, preferably B.sub.2O.sub.3 0.1-5 wt.-% titanium oxide, preferably TiO.sub.2 0.0-5 wt.-% zirconium oxide, preferably ZrO.sub.2 based on the weight of said glass flakes. The invention relates also to a method for producing the effect pigments as well as to the use of said effect pigments. The invention further relates to coating formulations based on the effect pigments.

A color shifting security device has a Fabry-Perot type structure wherein a dielectric layer is disposed between a reflector and an absorbing layer. The absorber and reflector layers may be conforming and the dielectric layer therebetween is non-conforming, filling the regions in the micro structured adjacent absorbing or reflecting layer, at least one of which has a microstructure therein or thereon. By having the dielectric layer not conform to the microstructure it is next to, its thickness varies in cross section, which allows for different colors to be seen where the thickness varies.

A flake including a layer of a diamagnetic material; and at least one additional layer is disclosed. The flake, such as a plurality of flakes, can be dispersed in a liquid medium to form a composition. The composition can be applied to a surface of a substrate to form a security device. A method of making the security device is also disclosed.

Disclosed herein is a flaky diffractive effect pigment having a diffractive structure and comprising a flake of a highly reflective material having a first major interface and opposed to this first interface a second major interface, and at least one side surface and directly adjacent on one or of both of these major interfaces a layer of a semiconducting material having a bandgap of 0.7 to 2.5 eV. The diffractive effect pigment may be further coated with a coating which is optically non-active in the visible wavelength region.

A color shifting security device has a Fabry-Perot type structure wherein a dielectric layer is disposed between a reflector and an absorbing layer. The absorber and reflector layers may be conforming and the dielectric layer therebetween is non-conforming, filling the regions in the micro structured adjacent absorbing or reflecting layer, at least one of which has a microstructure therein or thereon. By having the dielectric layer not conform to the microstructure it is next to, its thickness varies in cross section, which allows for different colors to be seen where the thickness varies.

An article including a reflector having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; a first selective light modulator layer external to the first surface of the reflector; a second selective light modulator layer external to the second surface of the reflector; a first absorber layer external to the first selective light modulator layer; and a second absorber layer external to the second selective light modulator layer; wherein each of the first and second selective light modulator layers include a host material is disclosed herein. Methods of making the article are also disclosed.