Patent ID: 7002662

Claim:
A method of producing an optical element by patterning a plurality of liquid crystal films, comprising: applying a first radiation-curing liquid crystal to a surface of a substrate having an aligning function to form a first liquid crystal film on the substrate in an uncured state; selectively applying radiation to the uncured first liquid crystal film to form at least one cured region and at least one uncured region of the first liquid crystal film; contacting the at least one uncured region with an organic solvent to remove the at least one uncured region of the first liquid crystal film while retaining the at least one cured region; and applying a second radiation-curing liquid crystal to an exposed surface of the substrate exposed by removal of the at least one uncured region to form a second liquid crystal film on the exposed surface; wherein the organic solvent is a solvent that does not dissolve the exposed surface so that the exposed surface retains the aligning function after exposure to the organic solvent.