Patent ID: 7595099

Claim:
A method of producing an anisotropic optical element having optical properties that are anisotropic with respect to a direction of a normal to an element plane, comprising the steps of: applying flatwise, to a substrate to form thereon a film, a polymerizable cholesteric liquid crystal having a first phase transition temperature that is a transition point at which a transition from a cholesteric phase to an isotropic phase on a higher-temperature side occurs and a second phase transition temperature that is a transition point at which a transition from the cholesteric phase to a phase on a lower-temperature side occurs, raising a temperature of the film formed on the substrate to a temperature equal to or more than the first phase transition temperature, causing a transition from the isotropic phase to the cholesteric phase of the liquid crystal in the film and orienting the liquid crystal in such a manner that a mean direction of directions of helical axes in liquid crystal domains in the film is tilted in a desired manner relative to a direction of a normal to a film plane, by lowering the temperature of the film to a temperature equal to or less than the first phase transition temperature, with a gas blown, from a predetermined direction corresponding to the desired manner, on the film whose temperature has been raised to the temperature equal to or more than the first phase transition temperature, and polymerizing the liquid crystal in the film with the liquid crystal in the film maintained at the cholesteric phase, wherein an angle at which the gas is blown is related to a tilt of the mean direction of direction of helical axes such that when the angle at which the gas is blown is made smaller, the tilt of the mean direction of directions of helical axes is made greater.