WO2012118366A1

WO2012118366A1 - Electrically dimming mirror comprising a curved mirror surface and method of manufacturing such a mirror

Info

Publication number: WO2012118366A1
Application number: PCT/NL2011/050142
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hermanus Feil
Original assignee: Miortech Holding B.V.
Priority date: 2011-03-01
Filing date: 2011-03-01
Publication date: 2012-09-07
Also published as: WO2012118377A1

Abstract

The invention provides a mirror (35) comprising a curved mirror surface, said mirror surface comprising a curved carrier layer (36) having a specular reflective surface (38), and said mirror surface further comprising an optically transmissive cover layer (37), said cover layer being curved and placed in a corresponding manner to said carrier layer for forming a correspondingly curved intermediate space in between said carrier layer and said cover layer, wherein a plurality of electrowetting optical cells (41) are formed in said intermediate space for electrically controlling said optical transmissivity of said mirror, wherein said plurality of electrowetting optical cells are defined by a plurality of pixel walls (40) present in said intermediate space, and wherein said cover layer is sufficiently flexible for bending said cover layer in a corresponding manner to said curved carrier layer during manufacturing of said mirror. It further provides a method of manufacturing such a mirror.

Description

Title

Electrically dimming mirror comprising a curved mirror surface

and method of manufacturing such a mirror

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a mirror comprising a curved mirror surface, said mirror surface comprising a curved carrier layer having a specular reflective surface, and said mirror surface further comprising an optically transmissive cover layer, said cover layer being curved and placed in a corresponding manner to said carrier layer for forming a correspondingly curved intermediate space in between said carrier layer and said cover layer.

The present invention further relates to a method of manufacturing a mirror as mentioned above.

Background

The use of automatically dimming rear view mirrors in vehicles is more and more common in the automotive industry, in particular in cars from the upper segment of the market. Although the main field of application of automatically dimming rear view mirrors relates to interior rear view mirrors (commonly having a flat surface), automatically dimming exterior rear view mirrors having a curved or aspheric surface is also known in the art. An example of an automatically dimming rear view mirror having a curved surface may for example be found in European patent application EP 0791503. In the above-mentioned document, an exterior rear view mirror having a curved surface is described which is automatically electrically dimmable using an electrochrome layer between two electrodes. The electro chrome layer is sandwiched in between a carrier glass layer and a cover glass layer.

Due to the liquid nature of the electrochrome layer of the mirror, the glass surfaces which enclose the electrochrome layer must be sufficiently stiff and robust in order to prevent any variations in the thickness of the mirror cross-section, which would give rise to optical artifacts and unwanted distortions of the image. For mirrors of the type mentioned above, curved glass layers are used having a thickness of several millimeters (e.g. typically 2 mm). The problem is enhanced by the manufacturing method of the mirrors, which often consists of filling of the interspace between the glass surfaces of the carrier and cover layer with the electrochrome material (of liquid nature) by means of vacuum filling, i.e. a low pressure is established in the interspace between the two glass layers and the liquid filling is sucked in.

Importantly, and also to prevent optical artefacts, it is necessary to match the radius of curvature of the glass carrier layer exactly with the radius of curvature of the glass cover layer. Without accurate matching, the small variations between the curved surfaces of both layers would still cause unwanted disturbances such as double imaging. Therefore, in manufacturing aspheric automatically dimming rear view mirrors, the selection process between the curved glass layers of the carrier layer and the cover layer of each mirror is extremely critical. This part of the process is therefore commonly performed manually, making such mirrors cumbersome to manufacture and thereby expensive.

Moreover, due to the fact that the glass layers need to be sufficiently robust, this adds onto the total weight of the mirror. As a result, since aspheric mirrors are often used as outside mirrors on a vehicle, it becomes more difficult to fix the mirrors to the vehicle in such a way that vibration of the mirror during driving of the vehicle is prevented.

Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art mirrors mentioned above, and to provide a dimmable mirror having a curved mirror surface which is low weight and easy to manufacture.

The object of the present invention is achieved by the invention which provides a mirror comprising a curved mirror surface, said mirror surface comprising a curved carrier layer having a specular reflective surface, and said mirror surface further comprising an optically transmissive cover layer, said cover layer being curved and placed in a corresponding manner to said carrier layer for forming a correspondingly curved intermediate space in between said carrier layer and said cover layer, wherein a plurality of electrowetting optical cells is formed in said intermediate space for electrically controlling said optical transmissivity of said mirror, wherein said plurality of electrowetting optical cells is defined by a plurality of pixel walls present in said intermediate space, and wherein said cover layer is sufficiently flexible for bending said cover layer in a corresponding manner to said curved carrier layer during manufacturing of said mirror.

The mirror of the present invention uses electrowetting optical cells in order to enable automatic dimming of the mirror surface to prevent glare of the mirror when radiated with high-intensity lights. Due to the fact that electrowetting techniques are used, a plurality of pixel walls in between the carrier layer and the cover layer additionally function as spacer between the two layers that prevent unwanted variations in the thickness of the cross-section of the mirror.

As a result, this enables the use of a flexible cover layer which is sufficiently flexible for bending the cover layer in a corresponding manner to the curved surface of the carrier layer, with the pixel walls in between. This provides many advantages to the mirror of the present invention. From the point of view of manufacturing, the mirror can be manufactured easily by providing the carrier layer and installing the electrodes for enabling switching of the optical cells, and thereafter after provide the pixel walls on the cover layer. Once this is done, the pixel wall structure may be filled with the polar liquid of the electrowetting optical cells while non-polar liquid is added to the carrier layer and/or the cover layer. Then, the cover layer, being of a flexible nature, can be easily bent on top of the carrier layer with the pixel walls in between, providing the final structure of the mirror with the electrowetting optical cells in between. The method can easily be performed automatically in a manufacturing process and the risk of thickness variations is prevented by the use of pixel walls as spacers.

The cover layer may be made flexible in many ways. As a skilled person may appreciate, the cover layer may be made of a flexible material which is optically transparent. In this respect, the skilled person may think of the use of a suitable polymer having a low elastic modulus (e.g. smaller than 10 GPa). On the other hand, it is possible to use a cover layer which is made of a more solid and stiff material such as glass (having a typical elastic modulus of 70 GPa), provided that the material is sufficiently thin in order to provide the required flexibility. A glass layer having a thickness of for example 1 ,0 mm or smaller is sufficiently robust and flexible to be bend on top of an aspheric mirror of the present invention having pixel walls in between the cover layer and the carrier layer. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cover layer is made of glass having a thickness smaller than or equal to 1 ,0 mm.

In this respect, although the mirror of the present invention may be used in other applications, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is the use of the mirror as an exterior or outside vehicle mirror. Such mirrors often have dimensions of approximately 10 cm by 20 cm or smaller. Therefore, according another embodiment of the present invention, the mirror surface have service dimensions of at least 0,005 m². As will be understood, the bending properties of the cover layer are not only dependent on the material properties of the cover layer and the thickness thereof, but also partly on the surface of the mirror.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the cover layer is made of a material having a thickness and a corresponding elastic modulus such as to enable a radius of curvature of 0,4-2, 1 m. The elastic modulus may for example be smaller than 100 Gpa.

According to another preferred embodiment, the mirror further comprises a carrier frame which supports the carrier layer which is placed on top of the frame. In this embodiment, the carrier frame may be shaped such as to enable bending of the carrier layer onto the frame for providing the curved carrier layer, while the carrier layer is sufficiently flexible for bending the carrier layer onto the carrier frame during manufacturing of the mirror.

The skilled person will appreciate that using a frame and a flexible carrier layer, also the carrier structure may have a reduced weight when compared to a conventional carrier layer structure (having for example a carrier layer made up of 2 mm thick glass). According to another embodiment of the present invention, the carrier layer is made up of glass having a thickness smaller than or equal to 1 ,0 mm (a comparable thickness as the thickness of the cover layer mentioned in one of the embodiments above). Also, the carrier layer may be made of a material having a thickness and a corresponding elastic modulus such as to enable a radius of curvature of 0,4-2, 1 m. The elastic modulus of the carrier layer may be smaller than 100 GPa. According to another preferred embodiment, the mirror of the present invention is an exterior or interior vehicle mirror. As explained above, for use as a vehicle mirror, the low weight and automatically dimmable properties of the mirror have specific benefits such as to provide a stably fixed vehicle mirror which prevents the driver of a vehicle from being blinded by glare of the mirror as a result of a high intensity light source behind the vehicle and visible in the mirror. In addition, the low weight mirror structure enables less stringent requirements with respect to fixing of the mirror to the vehicle structure, since a low weight structure fixed to the vehicle is less sensible to vibration during driving of the vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a mirror comprising a curved mirror surface, said method comprising the steps of: for manufacturing said mirror surface, providing a curved carrier layer having a specular reflective surface, and providing an optically transmissive cover layer; forming a plurality of pixel wall onto at least one of said carrier layer or said cover layer for forming a plurality of electrowetting cells, and at least partially filling said electrowetting cells with a polar liquid; adding a non-polar liquid to at least one other of said carrier layer or said cover layer; and bending and placing said cover layer onto said carrier layer for forming a correspondingly curved intermediate space comprising said electrowetting cells in between said carrier layer and said cover layer.

Although the use of low weight automatically dimmable curved mirrors as provided by the present invention may have specific advantages for use as vehicle mirrors, the skilled person may appreciate that the mirror structure of the present invention may also be used for different applications. The concept of the invention will be explained here and below with reference to the enclosed drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

The enclosed drawings provide an illustration of the principles of the invention, in order to elucidate these principles of the invention to the skilled reader. In these figures:

figure 1 illustrates an embodiment of the curved mirror of the present invention; figure 2 illustrates a method of manufacturing a curved mirror according to the present invention;

figure 3 illustrates another embodiment of a curved mirror of the present invention;

figure 4 illustrates an optical cell that may be applied in a curved mirror according to the present invention;

figure 5 schematically illustrates a method of the present invention for manufacturing a curved mirror. Detailed description of the embodiment

Figure 1 illustrates a curved mirror arrangement 35 according to the present invention. A curved carrier layer 36 forms the basis of the mirror. The curved carrier layer 36 may be made of glass or another suitable material for creating mirrors, such as a suitable polymer. The curved carrier layer 36 comprises at least one specular reflective surface 38 for providing the mirror functionality to the mirror. In order to provide a sufficiently strong and robust carrier layer, the carrier layer 36 may be made of a glass layer having a thickness of at least 2 mm. This prevents undesired bending of the glass carrier layer.

Opposing the glass carrier layer 36 there is provided a cover layer 37 which is made of a transparent material. In between the carrier layer 36 and the cover layer 37, a plurality of pixel walls 40 is distributed over the full surface of the mirror in such an arrangement that a plurality of optical pixels is created between the cover layer 37 and the carrier layer 36. The layers 36 and 37 (and everything in between) are kept together using clamping means 47 and/or glue or a sealing composition 45.

As the skilled person may appreciate, the plurality of pixel walls 40 may be arranged in a gridlike pattern for defining a matrix arrangement of optical pixels having a square for (a conventional arrangement of pixels on a screen), or may be arranged in a different manner which is optically advantageous in view of the function of the optical pixels for dimming the mirror. For example, in order to prevent optical interference patterns, it is advised to prevent using a regular arrangement of pixel walls giving rise to a regular pattern of pixels, as such a regularity causes optical interference visible in the mirror image of, for example, lights. Therefore, in another embodiment of the present invention, the pixel walls in the mirror may define a plurality of pixels having a randomised form or randomised surface area for each pixel; i.e. a randomised pattern of pixels.

Each pixel 41 is formed by an electrowetting optical cell. As an example, a typical design of an electrowetting optical cell that may be applied in a curved mirror according to the present invention is illustrated in figure 4 and explained later. For the moment, it is noted that surface 43 of the curved carrier layer and surface 42 of the curved cover layer of the mirror of the present invention each comprise an electrode layer which enables to optically switch the optical cells 'dark' and 'bright', i.e. in the 'dark' state the non-polar or oily liquid in each optical cell spreads across the surface (42 or 43) of the optical cell such as to decrease the optical transmissivity of the cell (making the cell a dark or black), while in the 'bright' state the non polar or oily substance is present on the side of each optical cell (as for example illustrated in figure 4) such as to provide a relatively good optical transmissivity (the mirror is not dimmed in the 'bright' state).

According to the present invention, cover layer 37 is either sufficiently thin or made of a sufficiently flexible material (or both) such as to enable bending of the cover layer in a corresponding manner on top of the curved carrier layer 36 during the manufacturing process of the mirror. The cover layer 37 may for example be made of a 0,5 mm thick glass layer which is (in view of the elastic modulus of glass being normally around 70 Gpa) sufficiently flexible for bending the glass cover layer 37 on the curved carrier layer 36 having the pixel walls 40 in between. In this respect, it is noted that good results have been achieved with glass having thicknesses of 0,3 mm, 0,4 mm, 0,5 mm, 0,6 mm and 0,7 mm). The skilled person may appreciate that the lower limit of the thickness of the glass is mainly determined by the structural integrity of a thin glass layer. Making the glass layer too thin severely increases the risk of breaking the glass. On the other hand if the glass cover layer 37 is made too thick (thicker than 1 ,0 mm), the glass layer becomes too stiff and bending of the glass without breaking it becomes difficult. At the same time, a glass layer which is too thick and which is bended on top of the glass carrier layer 36 anyway, having the pixel walls 40 in between, may impose too much stress on the pixel walls 40 in the middle of the mirror surface, increasing the risk of damaging the pixel walls.

As suggested above, the cover layer 37 may also be made of a flexible material such as a transparent polymer surface. The advantage of using a polymer surface is that the weight of a polymer surface is often lower, and polymers are generally more flexible than glass. As a result of the polymer molecule strains, the structural integrity of polymer layers is good enough to create a strong cover layer which has a very small thickness. Some polymer layers may be prone to scratching, but it is considered to be within the normal skills of the skilled person to adapt the design for preventing this issue.

In figure 2 a method of creating a curved mirror according to the present invention is schematically illustrated. The curved mirror of the present invention may be created by providing a curved carrier surface 36 on top of which a thin layer 50 of a non-polar liquid (e.g. oil) is added. A thin cover layer 37 is also provided. The thin cover layer 37 is sufficiently flexible for enabling bending of the cover layer 37 on top of the curved carrier layer 36. On the cover 37, a plurality of pixel walls 40 is created, such that a plurality of pixels will be defined by the pixel walls 40. When the mirror is finished, these pixels will be closed by the carrier layer 36 and the cover layer 37. During the manufacturing process, the pixel walls 40 are filled with a polar liquid 51 , such as glycol, water, or water with a salty solution of suitable kind. The plurality of pixels all have dimensions such that they are sufficiently small for adhering the polar liquid 51 to each pixel keeping the polar liquid in place under influence of the surface tension in the arrangement illustrated in figure 2.

The skilled person will appreciate that the figures 1 through 4 referred to here are schematic figures. In reality, the pixels formed on the surface of the cover layer 37 are much smaller, and the pixel walls have a typical height of an number of tenths of micrometers (e.g. 50 μηη). The cross section of each pixel may be a fraction of a millimeter (0, 1 -0, 5mm). These dimensions are mentioned for explanatory purposes only here, and are not meant to be limiting.

In the next step, the cover layer 37 is pressed on top of the curved carrier layer 36, and the sides of the cover layer 37 are forced on the sides of the carrier layer 36 with forces indicated schematically by arrows 55 and 56. As will be appreciated, in order to force the cover layer 37 and to bend it on top of the carrier layer 36, the forces 55 and 56 on the side of the cover layer 37 will be larger than the force 54 required in the middle of the cover layer 37 (if required at all) for suitable bending of the cover layer 37. In the end product, each of the optical cells will be filled with a fraction of a non polar liquid 50 and a fraction of a polar liquid 51 . The volumetric fraction ratio of the non polar liquid 50 to the polar liquid 51 will be (more or less) the same (ideally) for each pixel created this way.

Figure 3 discloses another example of a curved mirror according to the present invention. In figure 3, the construction of the curved mirror is almost the same as in the embodiment illustrated in figure 1 , having a cover layer 37, pixel walls 40, electrode layers 42 and 43 and being kept together on the side of the mirror by means of a clamping means 47 and a seal (e.g. glue) 45.

A structural difference between the embodiment of figure 3 in comparison to the embodiment of figure 1 is the fact that the carrier layer is not formed by a thick glass layer such as layer 36, but is instead formed by another thin flexible layer 57 of a suitable material (the same choice of material, and the same choice of thickness, applies to layer 57 as applies to layer 37 in figure 1 ). Underneath the flexible carrier layer 57 there is provided a carrier frame 59. The carrier frame 59 may be made of a light material providing a sufficient structural integrity to the mirror arrangement formed. The advantage of the curved mirror created herewith is that it provides an automatically dimmable curved mirror which has a very low total weight. Keeping the total weight of the mirror low is important when the mirror is for example used in a vehicle (e.g. a car mirror), since this prevents that the mirror is prawn to vibrations of the vehicle during driving thereof. Providing a very light mirror enables easy fixing of the mirror to the vehicle in such a manner that it does not vibrate under influence of vibrations caused by driving. Although this is a general advantage of the mirror arrangement according to the present invention, this is a particular advantage of the embodiment of figure 3 since due to the fact that both the cover layer 37 and the carrier layer 57 are made of a thin flexible material, the total weight of the mirror of the embodiment of figure 3 is very small as compared to a conventional dimmable curved mirror arrangement as known from the prior art (e.g. the electrochrome designs).

In figure 4, a typical electrowetting optical cell that may be used in the curved mirror of the present invention is generally indicated with reference numeral 1 , and is situated between adjacent optical cells. The electrowetting optical cells formed between the carrier layer and the cover layer of the curved mirror of the present invention may be of a same or similar construction as the electrowetting optical cell illustrated in figure 4. In the electrowetting optical cell 1 , a containment space 25 is present between a carrier layer 3 (or first electrode layer 3) and a cover layer 5 (or second electrode layer 5). The carrier layer 3 is primarily formed of a substrate 1 1 , comprising multiple layers 12, 13 and 14 that will be described below, and a hydrophobic interface surface 10 forming the interface with the containment space 25. The cover layer 5 comprises a substrate 7 having a hydrophilic interface surface 6. The interface surfaces 6 and 10 could be formed by a suitable coating or layer. In particular, the hydrophilic interface surface 6 may be formed by a coating or layer of indium tin oxide (ITO), because of the transparent optical nature and electric conductivity of ITO. The substrate layer 7 and 1 1 may be formed by any suitable substrate. The substrate layer 7 will often be formed by a glass layer, and the substrate layer 1 1 may be formed by a glass layer as well.

The different layers of the carrier layer 3 each perform their own function. Carrier layer 3 is (as mentioned) formed by a substrate layer 1 1 (such as glass), a reflective layer 14, an electrode layer 13 (for example formed of ITO), an electrically isolating layer 12, and the hydrophobic surface layer 10. This hydrophobic surface layer may be formed by a suitable fluoropolymer, such as CYTOP^tm or AF1600^tm. Preferably, the hydrophobic surface layer 10 comprises a small contact angle hysteresis for improving the switchability of the optical cell, i.e. enabling smooth opening and closing of the cell upon switching in the powered up and powered off state. The reflective layer 14 may also act as electrode layer for example when aluminium is used.

Pixel walls 19 and 20 are fixedly mounted on the hydrophilic surface interface 6 of the cover layer 5. As a result of the mounting of the pixel walls on the hydrophilic cover layer 5, and due to the physical properties of the hydrophilic surface, a strong mechanical connection between the pixel walls 19 and 20 and the hydrophilic surface interface 6 is achieved. This results in a good structural integrity of the pixel walls as mounted on the cover layer 5.

The pixel walls 19 and 20, and the carrier and cover layer 3 and 5 respectively, define the containment space 25 of the electrowetting optical cell 1 . The containment space 25 is filled with a polar liquid 29 and a non-polar liquid 30. The polar liquid 29 and non-polar liquid 30 are immiscible with each other. In addition, the polar liquid is formed of a substance having molecules with non-zero chemical polarity. The non-polar liquid is formed of a substance having molecules with negligible or very small chemical polarity. As a result, switching of the electrodes in the powered up and powered off state modifies the balance of forces between the non-polar liquid and the polar liquid and the hydrophobic surface, causing these liquids to rearrange suitably for opening and closing the electrowetting optical cell.

The pixel walls 19 and 20 are dimensioned such that they span the distance between the cover layer 5 and the carrier layer 3. This way, the pixel walls functionality as spacers between the carrier layer 3 and the cover layer 5. In addition, the pixel walls 19 and 20 are also able to prevent spreading of the polar liquid 30 to adjacent pixels, which would be unwanted.

The pixel walls 19 and 20 comprise end faces 24 and 34 opposite the hydrophobic surface 10 of the carrier layer 3. Although in certain embodiments, the pixel walls 19 and 20 run all the way through to the hydrophobic surface layer 10, being contiguous thereto, in the embodiment of figure 1 a small slit is present in between the end faces 24 and 34 and the hydrophobic surface layer 10 of the carrier layer 3. This enables the non-polar liquid 30 to entrain the slit 32, and to form a small capillary interface (such as interface 33) on the other side of the slit near the edge of the pixel walls 19 and 20. The effect of the small capillary interface is that it greatly reduces the amount of light scattering caused by the pixel walls in the electrowetting optical cell. As will be appreciated by the skilled person, light scattering in the electrowetting optical cell 1 is to be prevented as much as possible. This can be achieved by making the surfaces 20, 21 , 22, and 23 of the pixel wall hydrophobic, although at the same time it is advisable to prevent the pixel walls from becoming too much hydrophobic as this hinders the switching of the electrowetting element/display (due to adhering of the non-polar oil to the pixel walls too strongly).

Figure 5 schematically illustrates a method of manufacturing a curved mirror arrangement according to the present invention. In figure 5, in step 60, a carrier layer is provided forming the base of the mirror. In step 63, a plurality of pixel walls is created on either a cover layer or the carrier layer. This may be done by means of lithography. Step 65, the space defined by the pixel walls are filled with a polar liquid. Then in step 67, a non polar liquid is added to the carrier layer and/or the cover layer. After this in step 70, the flexible cover layer is bended on top of the carrier layer having the pixel walls in between, and after bending, the cover layer is fixed to the carrier layer e.g. by means of glue or a mechanical structure such as a frame or clamping means or the like. Then in step 72, the end product is finished such as to provide a curved mirror surface of the present invention which is comprised of two layers having plurality of electrowetting optical cells in between for enabling automatic dimming of the mirror e.g. in case of glare.

As will be appreciated by the skilled person, the present invention may be practised otherwise than as specifically described herein. Obvious modifications to the embodiments disclosed, and specific design choices will be apparent to the skilled reader after reading of the present description. The scope of the invention is only defined by the appendant claims.

Claims

CLAI MS

1 . Mirror comprising a curved mirror surface, said mirror surface comprising a curved carrier layer having a specular reflective surface, and said mirror surface further comprising an optically transmissive cover layer, said cover layer being curved and placed in a corresponding manner to said carrier layer for forming a correspondingly curved intermediate space in between said carrier layer and said cover layer, wherein a plurality of electrowetting optical cells is formed in said intermediate space for electrically controlling said optical transmissivity of said mirror, wherein said plurality of electrowetting optical cells is defined by a plurality of pixel walls present in said intermediate space, and wherein said cover layer is sufficiently flexible for bending said cover layer in a corresponding manner to said curved carrier layer during manufacturing of said mirror.

2. Mirror according to claim 1 , wherein said cover layer is made of a flexible material.

3. Mirror according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said cover layer is made of glass having a thickness smaller than or equal to 1 ,0 mm.

4. Mirror according to claim 3, wherein said mirror surface has surface dimensions of at least 0.005 m².

5. Mirror according to any of the previous claims, wherein said cover layer is made of a material having a thickness and a corresponding elastic modulus such as to enable a radius of curvature of 0,4-2, 1 m.

6. Mirror according to claim 5, wherein said elastic modulus is smaller than 100 Gpa.

7. Mirror according to any of the previous claims, said mirror further comprising a carrier frame for supporting said carrier layer.

8. Mirror according to claim 7, wherein said carrier frame is shaped such as to enable bending of said carrier layer onto said frame for providing said curved carrier layer, wherein said carrier layer is sufficiently flexible for bending said cover layer onto a carrier frame during manufacturing of said mirror.

9. Mirror according to claim 8, wherein said carrier layer is made of glass having a thickness smaller than or equal to 1 .0 mm.

10. Mirror according to any of the previous claims, wherein said carrier layer is made of a material having a thickness and a corresponding elastic modulus such as to enable a radius of curvature of 0,4-2, 1 m.

1 1 . Mirror according to claim 10, wherein said elastic modulus is smaller than 100 Gpa.

12. Mirror according to any of the previous claims, wherein said mirror is an exterior or interior vehicle mirror.

13. Method of manufacturing a mirror comprising a curved mirror surface, said method comprising the steps of:

for manufacturing said mirror surface, providing a curved carrier layer having a specular reflective surface, and providing an optically transmissive cover layer;

forming a plurality of pixel wall onto at least one of said carrier layer or said cover layer for forming a plurality of electrowetting cells, and at least partially filling said electrowetting cells with a polar liquid;

adding a non-polar liquid to at least one other of said carrier layer or said cover layer; and

bending and placing said cover layer onto said carrier layer for forming a correspondingly curved intermediate space comprising said electrowetting cells in between said carrier layer and said cover layer.