1. A light-controlling device, comprising:
a first substrate and a second substrate;
a partition wall separating the first and second substrates to define a cell having an area;
a light-adjustment medium disposed within the cell between the first and second substrates, the light-adjustment medium containing a plurality of charged particles;
a first electrode covering the first substrate within the cell; and
a second electrode covering the second substrate within the cell.
2. The light-controlling device of claim 1, wherein an area of the first substrate covered by the first electrode within the cell is smaller than an area of the second substrate covered by the second electrodes within the cell.
3. The light-controlling device of claim 1, wherein the first electrode within the cell covers about 0.1% to 10% of a total area of the first substrate within the cell.
4. The light-controlling device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of charged particles is one or more materials selected from the group consisting of a plurality of light-absorbing particles, a plurality of light-reflecting particles and a plurality of light-scattering particles.
5. The light-controlling device of claim 4, wherein the first electrode has a grooved surface with a projection of a first height and a recess with a first depth, and wherein a diameter of each of the charged particles is less than the first height and less than the first depth of the grooved surface.
6. The light-controlling device of claim 5, wherein the first electrode is made of a stack of a polymer layer and a conductive layer, the conductive layer being further away from the first substrate than the polymer layer.
7. The light-controlling device of claim 6, wherein the polymer layer has a thickness of about 10 nm to about 5 \u03bcm, and wherein the conductive layer has a thickness of about 10 nm to about 1 \u03bcm.
8. The light-controlling device of claim 2, further comprising one or more particle guidance members arranged to form a hollow space over the first electrode exposing at least some portion of the first electrode.
9. The light-controlling device of claim 8, wherein a size of the hollow space is substantially equal to or greater than a total volume of the plurality of charged particles of the light-adjustment medium within the cell.
10. The light-controlling device of claim 8, wherein the hollow space has a tapered shape that narrows down towards the first substrate.
11. The light-controlling device of claim 8, wherein the hollow space has a sidewall extending at an angle of about 40\xb0 to about 80\xb0 toward the second substrate.
12. The light-controlling device of claim 8, wherein said one or more particle guidance members have a surface sloping towards the hollow space for guiding the plurality of charged particles towards said at least some portion of the first electrode exposed through the hollow space.
13. The light-controlling device of claim 8, wherein said one or more particle guidance members include at least one particle guidance member with a hole through the particle guidance member towards the first electrode forming the hollow space over the first electrode and exposing at least some portion of the first electrode.
14. The light-controlling device of claim 8, wherein said one or more particle guidance members include a first particle guidance member and a second particle guidance member, each having a greater thickness than the first electrode, the first and second particle guidance members being disposed on first and second sides of the first electrode, respectively, and forming the hollow space between the first and second particle guidance members over the first electrode therebetween.
15. A light-controllable window, comprising:
a collecting electrode disposed on a first transparent substrate;
a spreading electrode disposed on a second transparent substrate;
a light-adjustment medium interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, the light-adjustment medium containing a plurality of electrically charged particles dispersed in a fluid; and
one or more particle guidance members arranged to form a hollow space enclosing the collecting electrode, the hollow space having an opening towards the light-adjustment medium.
16. The light-controllable window of claim 15, wherein an area of the first transparent substrate being covered by the collecting electrode is smaller than an area of the second transparent substrate being covered by the spreading electrode.
17. The light-controllable window of claim 16, further comprising a first insulation layer on the first electrode and a second insulation layer on the second electrode for preventing the electrically charged particles from directly contacting the first and second electrodes.
18. The light-controllable window of claim 17, wherein the collecting electrode has a grooved surface for increasing a surface area of the collecting electrode without increasing a size of the collecting electrode.
19. The-light controllable window of claim 18, wherein the electrically charged particles comprises one or more of a plurality of light-absorbing particles, a plurality of light-reflecting particles and a plurality of light-scattering particles.
20. A method of manufacturing a light-controlling device, comprising:
forming a first electrode on a first substrate;
forming a second electrode on a second substrate, the second electrode being larger than the first electrode;
forming at least one particle guidance member on the first substrate to form a hollow space exposing at least some portion of the first electrode; and
sealing a light-controlling medium with a plurality of charged particles between the first and the second substrate.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus that provides communication of information, comprising:
a first unit for inputting the information;
a transmitter that produces and modulates a magnetostatic field to contain the information, said transmitter operatively connected to said first unit;
a detector that detects the modulated magnetic field containing the information at a distance; and
a second unit for outputting the information, said second unit operatively connected to said detector.
2. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 1 wherein said transmitter that produces and modulates a magnetostatic field to contain the information is a transmitter that operates at a modulation frequency below about 2 kHz or low enough that no wave is propagated.
3. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 1 wherein said transmitter that produces and modulates a magnetostatic field to contain the information is a multi-turn coil of wire that provides a magnetic field dipole.
4. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 1 wherein said detector that detects the modulated magnetic field containing the information at a distance is a detector loop.
5. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 1 wherein said first unit is a microphone.
6. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 1 wherein said second unit for outputting the information is a speaker.
7. An apparatus that provides communication of information by modulating a magnetostatic field to transmit the information and detecting the information in the modulated field at a distance, comprising:
an input unit for inputting the information;
a magnetostatic transmitter that modulates the magnetostatic field to contain the information, said transmitter operatively connected to said input unit;
a magnetostatic detector that detects the modulated magnetic field containing the information at a distance; and
an output unit for outputting the information, said output unit operatively connected to said detector.
8. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 7 wherein said magnetostatic transmitter that modulates the magnetostatic field to contain the information is a transmitter that operates at a modulation frequency low enough so that displacement currents are not important.
9. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 7 wherein said magnetostatic transmitter that modulates the magnetostatic field to contain the information is a loop or a multiturn coil of wire that provides a magnetic field dipole.
10. The apparatus that provides communication of information of claim 7 wherein said magnetostatic detector that detects the modulated magnetic field containing the information at a distance is a detector loop or multiturn loop of wire.
11. A method for providing communication of information, comprising the steps of:
modulating a magnetostatic field with a magnetostatic transmitter that modulates said magnetostatic field to contain the information, and
detecting the information in the modulated field at a distance with a magnetostatic detector that detects the modulated magnetic field containing the information.
12. The method of providing communication of information of claim 11 wherein said step of modulating a magnetostatic field with a magnetostatic transmitter is operated at a modulation frequency below 2 kHz or low enough that displacement currents are negligible.