Negative dispersion retarder with a wide viewing angle made by stacking reactive mesogen on a polymethylmethacrylate film

Abstract. We experimentally demonstrated a retarder with a wide field-of-view as well as a negative dispersion (ND) of birefringence. We stacked reactive mesogen, which has a positive birefringence, and polymethylmethacrylate, which has a negative birefringence. The out-of-plane retardation (Rth) of the stacked film was 6 nm. This value is about a tenth of that of a general retarder and demonstrates a small change in the retardation (Re) at an oblique viewing angle. The stacked film showed an ND of the birefringence, where Re(450  nm)/Re(550  nm)=0.818 and Re(650  nm)/Re(550  nm)=1.110. The dispersion properties were close to the ideal dispersion of an achromatic retarder and showed a small Re-dependence on the wavelength of light.

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