Patent 9304243 was granted and assigned to 3M on April, 2016 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An illumination device, such as a backlight for electronic display devices, is disclosed. The illumination device includes a viscoelastic lightguide optically coupled to a light source, and a nanovoided polymeric layer is used in conjunction with the lightguide to manage light emitted by the light source. The viscoelastic lightguide may be a pressure sensitive adhesive.