The present invention provides a reflection film, comprising a right circularly-polarized light reflection layer and a left circularly-polarized light reflection layer as circularly-polarized light reflection layers, each of the circularly-polarized light reflection layers consisting of a layer obtained by fixing a cholesteric liquid-crystalline phase, having a reflection wavelength at which a diffuse reflectance for non-polarized light becomes 50% or more in a wavelength region in which each of the circularly-polarized light reflection layers exhibits selective reflection, the reflection wavelength being in an infrared wavelength region, and the reflection film exhibiting a direct transmittance of non-polarized visible light of 50% or more and a haze value of 5% or less; and an optical member including the reflection film, which can be used as a handwriting input sheet. The optical member can be used by being stuck to the surface of a display.

A multilayer optical film (130) has a packet of microlayers that selectively reflect light by constructive or destructive interference to provide a first reflective characteristic. At least some of the microlayers are birefringent. A stabilizing layer attaches to and covers the microlayer packet proximate an outer exposed surface of the film Heating elements (122) can physically contact the film to deliver heat to the packet through the stabilizing layer by thermal conduction, at altered regions of the film, such that the first reflective characteristic changes to an altered reflective characteristic in the altered regions to pattern the film The stabilizing layer provides sufficient heat conduction to allow heat from the heating elements to change (e.g. reduce) the birefringence of the birefringent microlayers disposed near the outer exposed surface in the altered regions, while providing sufficient mechanical support to avoid substantial layer distortion of the microlayers near the outer exposed surface in the altered regions.

A multilayer partial mirror includes a plurality of alternating first a second polymeric layers numbering at least 50 in total, disposed between, and integrally formed with, opposing first and second polymeric skin layers. For a visible wavelength range extending from about 420 nm to about 680 nm and an incident light propagating in an incident plane that includes a x-direction, and for an s-polarized incident light, the multilayer partial mirror has an average reflectance Rs1 for a first incident angle of less than about 10 degrees, and an average reflectance Rs2 for a second incident angle of greater than about 45 degrees, and for a p-polarized incident light, the multilayer partial mirror has an average reflectance Rp1 for the first incident angle, and an average reflectance Rp2 for the second incident angle. Each of Rs2/Rs1 and Rp2/Rp1 is greater than about 1.15.

A multilayer polymeric reflector is provided which comprises: a) a plurality of first optical layers, each first optical layer comprising a polyester having terephthalate comonomer units and ethylene glycol comonomer units, the polyester having a glass transition temperature, where each first optical layer is oriented, and b) a plurality of second optical layers disposed in a repeating sequence with the plurality of first optical layers, each second optical layer comprising a blend of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), where the blend has a glass transition temperature less than the glass transition temperature of the polyester comprising the first optical layers, and where the amount of PVDF in the PMMA/PVDF blend is greater than and not equal to about 40% and not more than about 65%. Articles comprising the multilayer polymeric reflector are also provided.

A multilayer polymeric reflector is provided which comprises: a) a plurality of first optical layers, each first optical layer comprising a polyester having terephthalate comonomer units and ethylene glycol comonomer units, the polyester having a glass transition temperature, where each first optical layer is oriented, and b) a plurality of second optical layers disposed in a repeating sequence with the plurality of first optical layers, each second optical layer comprising a blend of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), where the blend has a glass transition temperature less than the glass transition temperature of the polyester comprising the first optical layers, and where the amount of PVDF in the PMMA/PVDF blend is greater than and not equal to about 40% and not more than about 65%. Articles comprising the multilayer polymeric reflector are also provided.

High quality flexible optical mirrors (in a single or multi-layer implementation) are fabricated from polymer matrix composite material(s) by replication, cast-spinning, and 3-D printing processes. These mirrors are suited as controllable mirrors for different applications including telescope mirrors. The mirrors made from smart materials (carbon nanotubes in epoxy) attain controlled properties that may be changed by application of external stimuli, including stress, temperature, moisture, electric and magnetic fields, as well as electromagnetic fields. When formed with non-ferrous metal particles embedded in epoxy, the mirrors are suited for cryogenic operations. The mirrors formed with the ferromagnetic/epoxy material can be deformed and steered by magnetic or electromagnetic fields.

A multilayer optical film includes alternating layers of first and second optical layers; the first optical layer comprising a first polyester, wherein the first polyester comprises first dicarboxylate monomers and first diol monomers, and from about 0.25 to less than 10 mol % of the first dicarboxylate monomers have pendant ionic groups; the second optical layer comprising a second polyester; and wherein the first and second optical layers have refractive indices along at least one axis that differ by at least 0.04. The multilayer optical film may be a polarizer film, a reflective polarizer film, a diffuse blend reflective polarizer film, a diffuser film, a brightness enhancing film, a turning film, a mirror film, or a combination thereof. The multilayer optical film may also be a transaction card such as a financial transaction card, an identification card, a key card, or a ticket card. A method of making the multilayer film is also disclosed.

The present invention provides a polymerizable composition having low birefringence which contains at least two types of polymerizable compounds represented by Formula (I):

Q.sup.1-Sp.sup.1A-L.sub.mSp.sup.2-Q.sup.2(I) in the formula, A represents a phenylene or a trans-1,4-cyclohexylene, L represents OC(O), OC(O)O, and the like, m represents 3 to 12, Sp.sup.1 and Sp.sup.2 represent an alkylene of which CH.sub.2 may be substituted with O or the like, and the like, and Q.sup.1 and Q.sup.2 represent a polymerizable group, and the like, in which when a number obtained by dividing the number of trans-1,4-cyclohexylenes represented by A by m is set to mc, the polymerizable compounds include a polymerizable compound satisfying 0.5<mc<0.7 and a polymerizable compound satisfying 0.1<mc<0.3. A film such as a low birefringence phase difference film or a reflection film having high selectivity in a reflection wavelength range can be provided by using the polymerizable composition.

The present invention provides a mirror plate capable of suppressing the occurrence of orange peel-like unevenness. The mirror plate includes a mirror film including a mirror layer and an adhesive layer; and a substrate. The adhesive layer is attached to one surface of the substrate. The one surface of the substrate has an arithmetic average roughness of less than 0.03 m. The mirror film includes no hard coat layer containing cured resin. The thicknesses of the mirror layer and the adhesive layer have a relation satisfying: tA/tM0.18, where tM represents the thickness of the mirror layer and to represents the thickness of the adhesive layer.

A broadband mirror, polarizer, or other reflector includes at least one stack of microlayers. Microlayers in the stack are arranged into optical repeat units. At a design angle of incidence such as normal incidence, the stack provides a 1.sup.st order reflection band, a 2.sup.nd order reflection band, and optionally a 3.sup.rd order reflection band. The 2.sup.nd order reflection band overlaps, or substantially overlaps, the 1.sup.st and/or 3.sup.rd order reflection bands to form a single wide reflection band. The wide reflection band may include the 2.sup.nd and 1.sup.st but not a 3.sup.rd order reflection band, or the 2.sup.nd and 3.sup.rd but not the 1.sup.st order reflection band, or it may include the 1.sup.st, 2.sup.nd, and 3.sup.rd order reflection bands, as well as still higher order reflection bands. The wide reflection band may cover at least a portion of visible and infrared wavelengths.