1. A method of generating an optical vector beam comprising:
transforming an input optical beam into at least two output beams, wherein the at least two output beams have the same polarization;
simultaneously coupling the at least two output beams into a single coupler that is a passive phase stability element collimating the at least two output beams for propagation along the same direction of an interferometer;
after said coupling, manipulating the polarization of each of the at least two output beams to form at least two polarization affected output beams each having a different polarization and each propagating along the same direction of the interferometer; and
manipulating the phase of the at least two polarization affected output beams to form at least two phase affected output beams each propagating along the same direction of the interferometer, wherein combining the at least two phase affected output beams produces the vector beam.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vector beam comprises radially polarized light.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the vector beam comprises azimuthally polarized light.
4. An apparatus for generating a vector beam, the apparatus comprising:
a coupler positioned to couple two output beams of the same polarization into an interferometer having two beam paths that are parallel to each other;
a polarization assembly positioned within the interferometer to receive each of the two output beams and transform at least one polarization of the two output beams, such that each output beam has an orthogonal polarization to the other output beam; and
a phase plate assembly positioned to alter at least one phase profile of the two output beams, such that each output beam has an orthogonal semicircular phase pair to the other of output beam, and wherein combining the two output beams produces a vector beam, wherein the two output beams propagate parallel to one another and in phase with one another while propagating from the polarization assembly through the phase plate assembly.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a beam splitter positioned to split an input beam into the two output beams.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a diffractive optical element.
7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a spatial light modulator.
8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a diffractive grating.
9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a type I non-collinear spontaneous parametric downconverting crystal.
10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a type II non-collinear spontaneous parametric downconverting crystal.
11. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a polarizing prism.
12. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is a non-polarizing prism.
13. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the beam splitter is an acousto-optical modulator.
14. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the input beam is a linearly polarized beam.
15. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the input beam is a partially polarized beam.
16. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the phase plate assembly comprises two glass optical slabs, one in each of the beam paths.
17. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the phase plate assembly comprises two monolithic elements, one in each of the beam paths.
18. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the phase plate assembly comprises two active phase modulators, one in each of the beam paths.
19. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the phase plate assembly comprises two programmable phase modulators, one in each of the beam paths.
20. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the polarization assembly comprises two half wave plates, one in each of the two beam paths, wherein the half wave plates are oriented such that one of the two half wave plates produces a polarization state orthogonal to a polarization state produced by the other one of the two half wave plates.
21. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the coupler is a refractive optical lens.
22. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the coupler is a reflective mirror.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the reflective mirror is a parabolic mirror.
24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the reflective mirror is a spherical mirror.
25. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the vector beam comprises radially polarized light.
26. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the vector beam comprises azimuthally polarized light.
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. A disposable diaper comprising:
a liquid permeable topsheet;
a liquid impermeable backsheet; and
an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet,
the backsheet comprising an ink-printed substrate web comprising a laminate of a polymeric film web and a synthetic nonwoven web, the film web being disposed adjacent to the absorbent core and the nonwoven web being disposed opposite the absorbent core, the nonwoven web having a surface facing toward the polymeric film web and an opposing outer surface;
an ink composition forming an ink film on the outer surface of the nonwoven web; and
a coating composition forming a coating film on the ink film and thereby sandwiching the ink film between the coating film and the nonwoven web,
wherein at least the ink composition forms a first ink composition cross-linked structure within the ink film and forms a first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the coating composition between the ink film and the coating film, or the coating composition forms a first coating composition cross-linked structure within the coating film and forms the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the ink composition between the coating film and the ink film.
2. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the synthetic nonwoven web is made of a polyolefin.
3. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the coating composition forms the first coating composition cross-linked structure within the coating film and forms the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the ink composition between the coating film and the ink film.
4. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the ink composition forms the first ink composition cross-linked structure within the ink film and forms the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the coating composition between the ink film and the coating film.
5. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the ink composition forms the first ink composition cross-linked structure within the ink film, the coating composition forms the first coating composition cross-linked structure within the coating film, the ink composition forms the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the coating composition between the ink film and the coating film, and the coating composition forms a second intercomposition cross-linked structure with the ink composition between the coating film and the ink film.
6. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the ink composition comprises an ink composition binder polymer and an ink composition hardener forming the first ink composition cross-linked structure with the ink composition hardener and forming the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with a coating composition binder polymer, or the coating composition comprises a coating composition binder polymer and a coating composition hardener forming the first coating composition cross-linked structure and forming the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with an ink composition binder polymer.
7. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the ink composition comprises an ink composition binder polymer and a coloring agent, the coating composition comprises a coating composition binder polymer and a coating composition hardener, and the coating composition hardener forms the first coating composition cross-linked structure with the coating composition binder polymer and forms the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the ink composition binder polymer.
8. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the ink composition comprises an ink composition binder polymer, an ink composition hardener and a coloring agent, the coating composition comprises a coating composition binder polymer, and the ink composition hardener forms the first ink composition cross-linked structure with the ink composition binder polymer and forms the first intercomposition cross-linked structure with the coating composition binder polymer.
9. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein the ink composition comprises a first binder polymer, a first hardener and a coloring agent, the coating composition comprises a second binder polymer and a second hardener, the first hardener forms a cross-linked structure with the first binder polymer and the second binder polymer, and the second hardener forms a cross-linked structure with the first binder polymer and the second binder polymer.
10. The disposable diaper of claim 1 wherein an ink rub-off amount of an ink-printed area of the ink-printed substrate web is not more than about 0.05 mgcm2.
11. A disposable diaper comprising:
a liquid permeable topsheet;
a liquid impermeable backsheet; and
an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet,
the backsheet comprising an ink-printed substrate web comprising a laminate of a polymeric film web and a synthetic nonwoven web, the film web being disposed adjacent to the absorbent core and the nonwoven web being disposed opposite the absorbent core, the nonwoven web having a surface facing toward the polymeric film web and an opposing outer surface;
an ink composition forming an ink film on the outer surface of the nonwoven web; and
a coating composition forming a coating film on the ink film and thereby sandwiching the ink film between the coating film and the nonwoven web,
wherein the ink composition forms an ink composition cross-linked structure within the ink film and the coating composition forms a coating composition cross-linked structure within the coating film.
12. The disposable diaper of claim 11 wherein the ink composition comprises an ink composition binder polymer, an ink composition hardener, and a coloring agent, the coating composition comprises a coating composition binder polymer, and a coating composition hardener, the ink composition hardener forms the ink composition cross-linked structure with the ink composition binder, and the coating composition hardener forms the coating composition cross-linked structure with the coating composition binder.