| CPC G02F 1/133531 (2021.01) [G02F 1/133605 (2013.01); G02F 1/133607 (2021.01); G02F 2202/40 (2013.01)] | 10 Claims |
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1. An optical element comprising, sequentially from a viewing surface side toward a back surface side:
a first polarizer;
a phase difference layer; and
a second polarizer,
wherein
the phase difference layer is a laminate of n first phase difference layers and m second phase difference layers, the n first phase difference layers and the m second phase difference layers being arranged sequentially from the viewing surface side,
n and m are each an integer of 1 or greater and are equal to each other,
a transmission axis of the first polarizer is parallel to a transmission axis of the second polarizer,
each of the n first phase difference layers contains first anisotropic molecules,
in each of the n first phase difference layers, a tilt angle of the first anisotropic molecules on a viewing surface side differs from a tilt angle of the first anisotropic molecules on a back surface side,
each of the m second phase difference layers contains second anisotropic molecules,
in each of the m second phase difference layers, a tilt angle of the second anisotropic molecules on a viewing surface side differs from a tilt angle of the second anisotropic molecules on a back surface side, and
in a structure where slow axes of the n first phase difference layers lie in a tilt direction of the first anisotropic molecules and slow axes of the m second phase difference layers lie in a tilt direction of the second anisotropic molecules,
each of the slow axes of the n first phase difference layers and the slow axes of the m second phase difference layers is defined to point from the back surface side long-axis end of each of the first anisotropic molecules and the second anisotropic molecules as a start point to the viewing surface side long-axis end of each of the first anisotropic molecules and the second anisotropic molecules as an end point,
in a plan view of a main surface of the optical element,
the slow axes of the n first phase difference layers are in a same orientation,
the slow axes of the m second phase difference layers are in a same orientation, and
the slow axes of the n first phase difference layers and the slow axes of the m second phase difference layers are anti-parallel to each other and are parallel to or perpendicular to the transmission axis of the first polarizer.
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