Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an optical device that can accomplish both the effect of preventing external light reflection and the improvement of utilization efficiency of light emitted from an organic electroluminescent element. The object is achieved by an optical device having an organic electroluminescent substrate, a circularly polarized light-separating layer that has a liquid crystal alignment pattern, in which the direction of an optical axis derived from a liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in one direction in a plane, and separates light into right-handed circularly polarized light and left-handed circularly polarized light, a patterned retardation layer that converts circularly polarized light into linearly polarized light and has a plurality of regions among which the direction of a slow axis varies in the same plane, and a polarizer.

Abstract: An optical apparatus includes a beam splitter that transmits a part of an incidence ray and reflects another part of the incidence ray, a mirror member that includes a mirror surface arranged at a position at which light transmitted through the beam splitter is incident, and a retroreflective member that is arranged at a position at which light specularly reflected on the mirror surface, to be incident on the beam splitter and specularly reflected by the beam splitter is incident.

Abstract: Provided are a cholesteric liquid crystal layer having a high diffraction efficiency, a method of forming the same, and a laminate, a light guide element, and an image display device that include the cholesteric liquid crystal layer. The cholesteric liquid crystal layer is obtained by immobilizing a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, in which the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from a liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in at least one in-plane direction, in a cross-section observed with a SEM, bright portions and dark portions are tilted, in a case where a tilt angle of a direction in which an in-plane retardation is minimum with respect to a normal line in a slow axis plane or a fast axis plane is represented by ?2, an absolute value of an optical axis tilt angle ? represented by “sin ?2=n·sin ? (n represents an average refractive index of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer)” is 5° or more.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an optical element capable of widening a field of view of an AR glass or the like; and an image display device using the optical element. The object is accomplished with an optical element including a light guide plate; a switching ?/2 plate capable of switching a phase difference between zero and ?/2; and a first optically anisotropic layer that is arranged between the light guide plate and the switching ?/2 plate, is formed using a composition including a liquid crystal compound, and has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which an orientation of an optical axis derived from the liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating along at least one in-plane direction of the first optically anisotropic layer.

Abstract: The optical element is an optical element comprising a first optically anisotropic layer which is a cured layer of a liquid crystal composition containing a first disk-like liquid crystal compound, in which the optical element has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which an optical axis of the first disk-like liquid crystal compound is parallel to a surface of the first optically anisotropic layer, the first optically anisotropic layer is disposed along at least one direction in a plane of the first optically anisotropic layer, and orientation of the optical axis of the first disk-like liquid crystal compound rotationally changes continuously, and the orientation of the optical axis rotates by 180° with a period of 0.5 ?m to 5 ?m.

Abstract: Provided is a sensor having a high SN ratio. The sensor includes a light source, a band pass filter; and a light-receiving element, in which the band pass filter includes a cholesteric liquid crystal layer that is a layer obtained by immobilizing a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a region where a refractive index nx in an in-plane slow axis direction and a refractive index ny in an in-plane fast axis direction satisfy nx>ny, and in a case where a selective reflection wavelength of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is represented by ?, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a second selective reflection peak at a wavelength ?/2 and a half-width of the second selective reflection peak at ?/2 is 30 nm or less.

Abstract: Provided are a liquid crystal diffraction element that diffracts incident light while allowing transmission of the incident light and has wavelength selectivity, and a laminated diffraction element.

Abstract: Provided are an optical element with which reflected light in a narrower wavelength range can be obtained and a wavelength selective filter and a sensor including the same optical element. The optical element includes a cholesteric liquid crystal layer obtained by cholesteric alignment of a liquid crystal compound, in which the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from a liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in at least one in-plane direction, and the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a region where a refractive index nx in an in-plane slow axis direction and a refractive index ny in an in-plane fast axis direction satisfy nx>ny.

Abstract: Provided are a cholesteric liquid crystal layer that diffracts specific circularly polarized light in a specific wavelength range by transmission, and a method of forming the cholesteric liquid crystal layer. The cholesteric liquid crystal layer is obtained by immobilizing a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, in which the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from a liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in at least one in-plane direction, in a cross-section of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer observed with a scanning electron microscope, bright portions and dark portions derived from the cholesteric liquid crystalline phase are tilted at 80° or more with respect to a main surface of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

Abstract: Provided is a sensor having a high SN ratio. The sensor includes a light source, a band pass filter, and a light-receiving element, in which the band pass filter includes two cholesteric liquid crystal layers and a discontinuous layer disposed between the two cholesteric liquid crystal layers, in the two cholesteric liquid crystal layers, helical twisted directions and helical pitches are the same, and in a case where the discontinuous layer is a layer other than a cholesteric liquid crystal layer and a wavelength having a lowest reflectivity in a selective reflection wavelength range of the band pass filter is represented by ?m [nm], a thickness [nm] is in a range of “30×(?m/550) to 150×(?m/550)”.

Abstract: Provided are a light guide element and an image display apparatus capable of suppressing the occurrence of multiple images.

Abstract: An optical film includes a cholesteric liquid crystal layer formed in a stripe-shaped pattern in which an optically anisotropic region having optical anisotropy and an optically isotropic region having optical isotropy are alternately disposed, a helical axis of a cholesteric liquid crystal in the optically anisotropic region is oriented in one axial direction tin a plane of the optical film, and the helical axis is oriented in a normal direction t of a boundary surface between the optically anisotropic region and the optically isotropic region.

Abstract: Provided is a small-sized light irradiating device having a simple configuration that projects an optical pattern. The light irradiating device includes a light source and a liquid crystal hologram element, in which the liquid crystal hologram element diffracts transmitted light in a plurality of different directions, the liquid crystal hologram element includes a liquid crystal hologram layer, the liquid crystal hologram layer is a layer that consists of a computer generated hologram and is formed of a composition including a liquid crystal compound, and the liquid crystal hologram layer further includes a plurality of regions in which directions of optical axes derived from the liquid crystal compound are different from each other.

Abstract: Display performance can be improved by reducing light leak in an oblique direction at the time of black display while increasing front brightness.

Abstract: Provided are an optical element, a light guide element, and an image display element in which the occurrence of sidelobe is suppressed. The optical element includes a cholesteric liquid crystal layer that is obtained by immobilizing a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, in which the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from a liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in at least one in-plane direction, and in a case where a birefringence in a thickness region of 80% as a center portion with respect to a thickness of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is represented by ?n1, a birefringence in a thickness region of 10% from one surface of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is represented by ?n2, and a birefringence in a thickness region of 10% from another surface of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is represented by ?n3, at least one of ?n2 or ?n3 is less than ?n1.

Abstract: An optical laminate includes a cholesteric liquid crystal layer and a lenticular lens which is laminated on the cholesteric liquid crystal layer, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer has a plurality of regions which are arranged in a pattern in an arrangement direction of lenses of the lenticular lens and are different from each other in terms of the reflection center wavelength for front incident light, and among the plurality of regions, a region having the shortest reflection center wavelength is disposed at a focus position of the lenticular lens for the front incident light, and among the plurality of regions, a region having a longer reflection center wavelength is disposed further away from the focus position.

Abstract: Provided is an optical element in which transmission of incident light with an angle in a predetermined direction is allowed and the brightness of transmitted light is high. The optical element is formed using a composition including a liquid crystal compound and has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from the liquid crystal compound rotates in one direction; and the optically-anisotropic layer has regions in which the optical axis is twisted in a thickness direction of the optically-anisotropic layer and rotates, the regions having different magnitudes of twist angles of the rotation in a plane.

Abstract: An anti-glare mirror with an image display function includes, in this order: an image display device; a circular polarization reflection layer A; a liquid crystal cell; and a linear polarizing plate, in which a phase difference layer such as a ¼ wavelength plate is provided between the circular polarization reflection layer A and the linear polarizing plate, and the circular polarization reflection layer A has a cholesteric liquid crystal layer obtained by curing a coating layer of a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound.

Abstract: Provided are a liquid crystal diffraction element that can make the brightness of light emitted from a light guide plate uniform and a light guide element. The liquid crystal diffraction element includes: an optically-anisotropic layer that is formed of a composition including a liquid crystal compound, in which the optically-anisotropic layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from the liquid crystal compound continuously rotates in at least one in-plane direction, and a diffraction efficiency of the optically-anisotropic layer increases from one side to another side in the one in-plane direction.

Abstract: Provided are a light guide element in which incidence light can be emitted with high use efficiency and a wide FOV can be obtained for use in AR glasses, and an image display device and a sensing apparatus that include the light guide element. The light guide element includes a light guide plate and first to third diffraction elements, in which the first diffraction element diffracts incidence light in two or more different directions to be incident into the light guide plate, the second diffraction element includes a plurality of diffraction elements that diffract the light to the third diffraction element, the third diffraction element emits the light from the light guide plate, and at least one of the first diffraction element or the third diffraction element has a liquid crystal alignment pattern in which a direction of an optical axis derived from the liquid crystal compound changes while continuously rotating in at least one in-plane direction.