Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
  • G02B27/01—Head-up displays
  • G02B27/0101—Head-up displays characterised by optical features
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
  • G02B6/0011—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being planar or of plate-like form
  • G02B6/0033—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide
  • G02B6/0035—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide provided on the surface of the light guide or in the bulk of it
  • G02B6/004—Scattering dots or dot-like elements, e.g. microbeads, scattering particles, nanoparticles
  • G02B6/0043—Scattering dots or dot-like elements, e.g. microbeads, scattering particles, nanoparticles provided on the surface of the light guide
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
  • G02B27/0018—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00 with means for preventing ghost images
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
  • G02B27/01—Head-up displays
  • G02B27/0101—Head-up displays characterised by optical features
  • G02B2027/0118—Head-up displays characterised by optical features comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
  • G02B27/01—Head-up displays
  • G02B27/017—Head mounted
  • G02B27/0172—Head mounted characterised by optical features
  • G02B2027/0174—Head mounted characterised by optical features holographic
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
  • G02B6/0011—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being planar or of plate-like form
  • G02B6/0033—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide
  • G02B6/0035—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide provided on the surface of the light guide or in the bulk of it
  • G02B6/0036—2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to suppressing eye glow in waveguide systems.
• Waveguides can be referred to as structures with the capability of confining and guiding waves (i.e., restricting the spatial region in which waves can propagate).
• One subclass includes optical waveguides, which are structures that can guide electromagnetic waves, typically those in the visible spectrum.
• Waveguide structures can be designed to control the propagation path of waves using a number of different mechanisms.
• planar waveguides can be designed to utilize diffraction gratings to diffract and couple incident light into the waveguide structure such that the incoupled light can proceed to travel within the planar structure via total internal reflection (TIR).
• TIR total internal reflection
• Fabrication of waveguides can include the use of material systems that allow for the recording of holographic optical elements within the waveguides.
• One class of such material includes polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mixtures, which are mixtures containing photopolymerizable monomers and liquid crystals.
• PDLC polymer dispersed liquid crystal
• HPDLC holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal
• Holographic optical elements such as volume phase gratings, can be recorded in such a liquid mixture by illuminating the material with two mutually coherent laser beams.
• the monomers polymerize, and the mixture undergoes a photopolymerization-induced phase separation, creating regions densely populated by liquid crystal micro-droplets, interspersed with regions of clear polymer.
• the alternating liquid crystal-rich and liquid crystal-depleted regions form the fringe planes of the grating.
• the resulting grating which is commonly referred to as a switchable Bragg grating (SBG), has all the properties normally associated with volume or Bragg gratings but with much higher refractive index modulation ranges combined with the ability to electrically tune the grating over a continuous range of diffraction efficiency (the proportion of incident light diffracted into a desired direction). The latter can extend from non-diffracting (cleared) to diffracting with close to 100% efficiency.
• Waveguide optics such as those described above, can be considered for a range of display and sensor applications.
• waveguides containing one or more grating layers encoding multiple optical functions can be realized using various waveguide architectures and material systems, enabling new innovations in neareye displays for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), compact head-up displays (HLIDs) and helmet-mounted displays or head-mounted displays (HMDs) for road transport, aviation, and military applications, and sensors for biometric and laser radar (LIDAR) applications.
• AR augmented reality
• VR virtual reality
• HLIDs compact head-up displays
• HMDs head-mounted displays
• LIDAR biometric and laser radar
• Various embodiments are directed to a waveguide display including: a source of image modulated light; a waveguide having an eye-facing surface and an external surface facing the outside world; an input coupler for coupling the light into a total reflection internal path in the waveguide; at least one grating for providing beam expansion and extracting light from the waveguide towards an eyebox; a polymer grating structure including a modulation depth and a grating pitch. The modulation depth is greater than the grating pitch across at least a portion of the polymer grating structure.
• the polymer grating structure is configured to diffract light entering the waveguide from the outside world or stray light generated within the waveguide away from optical paths that are refracted through the external surface into the outside world.
• the polymer grating structure does not substantially disturb the propagation of image modulated light within the waveguide and the extraction of the image modulated light towards the eyebox.
• the stray light generated within the waveguide comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of: light scattered from the grating material; zero order diffracted image modulated light; and image modulated light propagating along optical paths that are not extracted from the waveguide towards the eyebox.
• the polymer grating structure further includes a backfill material between adjacent polymer regions.
• the backfill material may have a refractive index higher or lower than the refractive index of the polymer regions.
• the backfill material occupies a space at a bottom portion of the space between adjacent portions of the polymer grating structure and the air occupies the space from above the top surface of the backfill material to the modulation depth.
• the backfill material includes an isotropic material.
• the isotropic backfill material includes a birefringent material.
• the birefringent material includes a liquid crystal material.
• a modulation depth of the polymer grating structure is greater than a wavelength of visible light.
• the grating pitch is the spacing of diffractive features of the polymer grating structure and the modulation depth is the depth of the polymer grating structure.
• the grating pitch of the polymer grating structure is 0.35pm to 1 pm and the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure is 1 pm to 10 pm.
• the ratio of the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure to the grating pitch spacing lies in the range from 1 :1 to 10:1 .
• the polymer grating structure is configured as a multiplexed grating.
• a portion of the polymer grating structure is configured to outcouple light from the waveguide.
• a portion of the polymer grating structure is configured as a beam expander. [0019] In still various embodiments, a portion of the polymer grating structure is configured to couple image modulated light from the source into a total reflection internal path in the waveguide.
• the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure is configured to incouple a defined balance of S polarized light and P polarized light with a high degree of efficiency.
• the polymer grating structure further includes alternating polymer regions and air gap regions and the refractive index difference between the polymer regions and the air gap regions is in the range from 1 .4 to 1 .9.
• the refractive index difference between the polymer regions and the birefringent material is 0.01 to 0.2.
• the polymer grating structure includes a two- dimensional lattice structure or a three-dimensional lattice structure.
• the polymer grating structure includes: polymer diffracting features; and a birefringent material between adjacent polymer diffracting features, wherein the birefringent material has a higher refractive index than the polymer diffracting features.
• the input coupler is grating or a prism.
• the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure varies across the waveguide to provide a spatially varying polarizationdependent diffraction efficiency characteristic.
• the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure varies across the waveguide to provide a spatially varying angle-dependent diffraction efficiency characteristic.
• At least one of a spatial, angular, or polarization diffraction efficiency characteristic may be provided by backfilling the polymer grating structure with an optical material of specified refractive index or birefringence.
• the polymer grating structure is configured as a Bragg grating or a Raman-Nath grating.
• the polymer grating structure is formed on the external surface of the waveguide and/or the eye facing surface of the waveguide and at least partially overlaps the input coupler and/or the at least one grating for providing beam expansion and extracting light from the waveguide.
• the polymer grating structure includes regions including a Bragg grating, a Raman-Nath grating, and no grating.
• the regions at least partially cover the input coupler and the at least one grating for providing beam expansion and extracting light.
• the waveguide display further includes a light control layer overlapping regions of the polymer grating structure containing no grating.
• the light control layer provides at least one selected from the group consisting of: polarization rotation, polarization-selective absorption, polarization-selective transmission, polarization-selective diffraction, angle- selective transmission, angle selective absorption, anti-reflectivity, and transmission within a defined spectral bandwidth.
• the polymer grating structure includes a rolled K- vector grating with slant angles varying continuously or in piecewise steps.
• the polymer grating structure includes a grating with spatially varying pitch.
• the light entering the waveguide from the outside world is provided by an external light source and enters the waveguide though the external surface and/or the eye-facing surface of the waveguide.
• the light entering the waveguide from the outside world includes reflections off an anatomical surface of a viewer of the display.
• the waveguide includes two substrates and the polymer grating structure is either sandwiched between the two substrates or positioned on an external surface of either substrate.
• the polymer grating structure is a composite of at least one type of polymer and at least one other material.
• the polymer grating structure is a composite of a polymer and at least one other material, wherein the polymer is removed after formation of the polymer grating structure.
• the at least one other material includes nanoparticles.
• the at least one other material includes functionalized nanoparticles.
• the polymer grating structure is coated with an optical material.
• the polymer grating structure is coated with a reflective optical material.
• a coating applied to the polymer grating structure provides an effective index up to 2.5.
• the polymer grating structure is coated with a first material and the coated grating is backfilled with a second material of refractive index higher than the refractive index of the first material.
• the polymer grating structure is coated with a first material and the coated grating is backfilled with a second material of refractive index lower than the refractive index of the first material.
• the polymer grating structure includes a first grating structure positioned on the external surface of the waveguide and a second grating structure positioned on the eye-facing surface of the waveguide.
• the first grating structure and the second grating structure have different grating periods.
• Various embodiments are further directed to a method for reducing eyeglow from a waveguide display comprising: providing a source of image modulated light, a waveguide, an input coupler; and at least one grating for providing beam expansion and extracting light from the waveguide towards an eyebox, where the waveguide includes an eye-facing surface and an external surface facing the outside world; providing a polymer grating structure comprising a modulation depth and a grating pitch, where the modulation depth is greater than the grating pitch across at least a portion of the polymer grating structure; directing image modulated light into a total internal reflection path in the waveguide, beam expanding the light and extracting it towards the eyebox; directing light propagating within the waveguide away from optical paths that are refracted through the external surface into the outside world using the polymer grating structure; and diffracting light entering the waveguide from the outside world or stray light generated within the waveguide away from optical paths that are refracted through the external surface using the polymer grating structure
• waveguide-based display devices including:
• a waveguide comprising an in-coupling optical element and an out-coupling optical element, where the in-coupling optical element is configured to in-couple image modulated light and the out-coupling optical element is configured to out-couple the image modulated light towards a user, wherein the waveguide includes an outer surface and an inner surface opposite to the outer surface, and where the inner surface is closer to the user than the outer surface; and
• the partially light blocking layer is configured to keep eye glow light exiting the outer surface of the waveguide from entering the environment outside the outer surface of the waveguide.
• the eye glow light includes light directed out of the outer surface away from the user.
• the eye glow light is light reflected by the out- coupling optical element, the in-coupling optical element, and/or the inner surface.
• the waveguide causes the in-coupled light to be directed in total internal reflection (TIR) between the inner surface and the outer surface.
• TIR total internal reflection
• the partially light blocking layer absorbs light in a portion of the visible light spectrum.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a narrowband dye absorber layer.
• the narrowband dye absorber layer includes a light absorbing dye suspended in a transparent matrix.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a metamaterial absorbing layer.
• the metamaterial absorbing layer includes an absorber formed in a metamaterial.
• the partially light blocking layer deflects light in a portion of the visible light spectrum toward the user.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a dielectric or dichroic reflector.
• the partially light blocking layer transforms the light in a portion of the visible light spectrum to non-visible radiation.
• the partially light blocking layer includes quantum dots or phosphors.
• the partially light blocking layer diffracts light in a portion of the visible light spectrum into a path that does not enter the environment.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a reflective or transmissive diffractive structure.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a reflective grating layer.
• the reflective grating layer is configured to direct light towards a light absorbing element.
• the reflective grating layer is positioned between two waveguide substrates.
• the reflective grating layer includes a holographically recorded grating.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a plurality of overlapping diffractive structures, each structure configured to diffract a unique angular bandwidth of eye-glow light and diffract it onto a light absorbing element.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a plurality of multiplexed diffractive structures, each multiplexed diffractive structure configured to diffract a unique angular bandwidth of eye glow light onto a light absorber.
• the partially light blocking layer is coated directly on the waveguide. [0073] In still various embodiments, the partially light blocking layer is coated on a substrate disposed on the waveguide.
• spacers are positioned between the substrate and the waveguide to form a gap between the substrate and the waveguide.
• the gap is an air gap.
• the substrate includes a protective layer.
• the display device further includes another waveguide positioned below the waveguide.
• the display device further includes spacers disposed between the waveguide and the other waveguide to form a gap between the waveguide and the other waveguide.
• the gap includes an air gap.
• the display device further includes another partially light blocking layer, where the other waveguide is configured to display a different wavelength of light than the waveguide, where the partially light blocking layer is configured to block a wavelength of light corresponding to the wavelength of light the waveguide is configured to display, and where the other partially light blocking layer is configured to block the wavelength of light corresponding to the wavelength of light the other waveguide is configured to display.
• the other waveguide is configured to display a different wavelength of light than the waveguide, where the partially light blocking layer is configured to block the wavelength of light corresponding to the wavelength of light of the waveguide and the other waveguide.
• the waveguide is a first waveguide and the display device further includes a second waveguide and a third waveguide.
• the first waveguide, the second waveguide, and the third waveguide are each configured to display different wavelengths of light.
• the partially light blocking layer is a first partially light blocking layer and the display device further includes a second partially light blocking layer and a third partially light blocking layer, where the first partially light blocking layer is configured to block the wavelength of light corresponding to the wavelength of light the first waveguide is configured to display, where the second partially light blocking layer is configured to block the wavelength of light corresponding to the wavelength of light the second waveguide is configured to display, and where the third partially light blocking layer is configured to block the wavelength of light corresponding to the wavelength of light the third waveguide is configured to display.
• the second waveguide is disposed between the first waveguide and the second waveguide.
• the second partially light blocking layer is formed on a top surface of the second waveguide.
• the second partially light blocking layer is formed on a substrate disposed above the first waveguide.
• the display device further includes spacers disposed between the substrate and the first waveguide to form an air gap between the substrate and the first waveguide.
• the substrate includes a protective layer.
• the partially light blocking layer overlaps the out- coupling optical element and not the in-coupling optical element.
• various embodiments are directed to an augmented or mixed reality head-worn display device including: the display device described throughout this disclosure; and a projector configured to project the image containing light towards the in-coupling optical element.
• the partially light blocking layer comprises a liquid crystal polymer or a cholesteric liquid crystal.
• the partially light blocking layer comprises a linear polarizer aligned with a principal k-vector parallel with the out-coupling optical element.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a phase scrambler that causes light to be directed back into the waveguide by the phase scrambler to be out of phase with image light out-coupled towards the user by the out coupling optical element.
• the partially light blocking layer includes a microlouver film.
• various embodiments are directed to a method of suppressing eye glow light, the method comprising:
• blocking the off-Bragg image modulated light includes absorbing the off-Bragg image modulated light.
• blocking the off-Bragg image modulated light includes deflecting the off-Bragg image modulated light toward the user.
• blocking the off-Bragg image modulated light includes transforming the off-Bragg image modulated light into non-visible radiation.
• blocking the off-Bragg image modulated light includes diffracting the off-Bragg image modulated light into a path that does not enter the environment.
• the method further includes absorbing the diffracted off-Bragg image modulated light.
• the method further includes attenuating the diffracted off-Bragg image modulated light.
• FIG. 1A conceptually illustrates the eye glow phenomenon as a product of off- Bragg interaction in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 1 B conceptually illustrates the eye glow phenomenon as a product of Fresnel reflection in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 2 illustrates a waveguide display incorporating diffractive elements as an eye glow suppression layer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 3A illustrates a waveguide display incorporating diffractive elements in an eye glow suppression layer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 3B illustrates an example of an eye glow suppression layer including transmission diffractive elements in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 3C illustrates an example of an eye glow suppression layer including reflective diffractive elements in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a waveguide display incorporating a reflection grating as an eye glow suppression structure in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is conceptually.
• FIG. 5 illustrates a waveguide display implementing a surface relief grating for eye glow suppression in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 6 illustrates a reflection grating disposed on a separate substrate for suppressing eye glow in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 7 illustrates a waveguide display including a dichroic reflector coating in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of a waveguide-based display including three different waveguides in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 9 illustrates a configuration of a waveguide-based display including three different waveguides in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 10 illustrates a configuration of a waveguide-based display including three different waveguides in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 11A illustrates a cross sectional view of a waveguide-based display including a dichroic filter in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 11 B is a schematic plan view of the waveguide-based display illustrated in FIG. 11 A.
• the term "on-axis" in relation to a ray or a beam direction refers to propagation parallel to an axis normal to the surfaces of the optical components described in relation to the invention.
• the terms light, ray, beam, and direction may be used interchangeably and in association with each other to indicate the direction of propagation of electromagnetic radiation along rectilinear trajectories.
• the term light and illumination may be used in relation to the visible and infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• grating may encompass a grating comprised of a set of gratings in some embodiments.
• grating may encompass a grating comprised of a set of gratings in some embodiments.
• Eye glow may include unwanted light emerging from the front face of a display waveguide (e.g. the waveguide face furthest from the eye) and originating at a reflective surface of the eye, a waveguide reflective surface and a surface of grating (due to leakage, stray light diffractions, scatter, and other effects).
• the light that is diffracted away is commonly called “eye-glow” and poses a liability for security, privacy, and social acceptability.
• Eye glow may refer to the phenomenon in which a user’s eyes appear to glow or shine through an eye display caused by leakage of light from the display, which creates an aesthetic that can be unsettling to some people.
• eye glow can present a different issue where, when there is sufficient clarity to the eye glow, a viewer looking at the user may be able to see the projected image intended for only the user. As such, eye glow can pose a serious security concern for many users.
• eye contact drives a highly transparent waveguide while blocking eye-glow light.
• Suppressing eye-glow light may be a selective light blocking technique for all waveguide and optical combiner augmented reality or mixed reality wearable devices.
• Eye-glow suppression may also be applied to waveguide based heads-up displays such as automotive heads-up displays or aerospace applied heads-up displays
• Stray light may include any image light that is not diffracted into the eyebox, due to diffraction efficiencies, and haze produced by the grating material and grating imperfection.
• the stray light that emerges from the outer surface of the waveguide may contribute to eye glow. In many cases, at least some of the stray light may emerge from the waveguide via the inner (near-eye) surface of the waveguide.
• the light from the inner may scatter off the user’s face which may provide some degree of eyeglow if it is refracted through the front of the waveguide. For stray light to emerge as eyeglow, it may strike the outer surface of the waveguide at an angle smaller than the critical angle. In many cases, light paths taken by such light may have a polarization rotation relative to the image light that propagates towards the eyebox. In many embodiments, eyeglow light may have a high concentration around grating regions within which multiple beam grating interactions may result in unwanted light extraction, as in the case of fold gratings and dual interaction gratings, for example.
• the disclosed eyeglow suppression systems may include one or more polymer grating structure which may offer advantages in terms of being able to divert stray light from the front surface while assisting or not disturbing the propagation of image light towards the eye box.
• the polymer grating structure may be configured as a Bragg grating with a modulation depth and a grating pitch, where the modulation depth is greater than the grating pitch across at least a portion of the polymer grating structure.
• the polymer grating structure may be configured as a Raman-Nath grating which acts in the Raman-Nath diffraction regime.
• the Raman- Nath grating may have a modulation depth less than the grating pitch across at least a portion of the polymer grating structure.
• the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure may be configured to incouple a defined balance of S polarized light and P polarized light with a high degree of efficiency.
• the polymer grating structure may have the properties of a Bragg grating across specified portions of the waveguide and the properties of a Raman-Nath grating across other portions of the waveguide.
• the polymer grating structure may functionality operate entirely within the Bragg regime or entirely within the Raman-Nath regime for eyeglow suppression.
• the Bragg grating may be used where high diffraction efficiency and polarization selectivity are advantageous.
• the Bragg grating may overlap the fold grating regions, which are often associated with polarization rotations.
• a Raman-Nath grating may be advantageous where operation at large angles is beneficial, for example tor directing stray light towards an absorber or other type of light trapping features disposed around edges of the waveguide.
• Waveguide architectures described herein can mitigate or suppress eye glow using a variety of different methods that can be used separately or in conjunction as appropriate depending on the application.
• the waveguide 100 includes a grating layer 110 that includes one or more holographic grating sandwiched between two substrates 111 ,112.
• Area 120 of the waveguide 100 illustrates the intended operation of the waveguide display.
• the holographic grating is designed to diffract beams under Bragg diffraction towards the eye side of the waveguide display.
• a beam 122 traveling within the waveguide 100 in a TIR path is diffracted at a predetermined angle 92 to the holographic grating towards the eye side of the waveguide 100 upon interaction with a grating within the grating layer 110, passing through to the eyes 113 of a viewer.
• light may be diffracted toward the eye side and also away from the eye side. The light that is diffracted away is commonly called “eye-glow” and poses a liability for security, privacy, and social acceptability.
• Area 130 of the waveguide 100 illustrates an off-Bragg interaction, which is a substantial source of eye glow in many waveguide displays.
• the incident beam 132 is weakly diffracted due to an off-Bragg interaction with a grating in the grating layer 110, causing a portion of the beam 132 to be diffracted at the predetermined angle 91 as eye glow beam 134, which passes through to the side opposite the eye side (or the environmental side - i.e. , the side opposite the output side) of the waveguide 100.
• This eye glow beam when seen by an outside observer, can appear as eye glow.
• the off-Bragg light paths may result in stray light paths that can reduce the signal to noise ratio of the sensor.
• Eye glow can be an issue with infrared waveguides as well.
• off-Bragg paths in eye trackers could result in detectable infrared emissions.
• the eye glow phenomenon and the intended operation are shown as occurring in separate locations of the waveguide 100, it is to be understood that the eye glow phenomenon and the intended operation can in fact occur concurrently throughout the waveguide display depending on the architecture of the device. Furthermore, while a significant contributor to eye glow is illustrated in FIG. 1A, it is contemplated that other factors can contribute to eye glow. For example, Fresnel reflection on the surface interface on the eye side of the waveguide display can also result in eye glow. In some cases, scattering, which may also take place on the surface of the user’s eye, or solar illumination entering the waveguide and getting diffracted out of the waveguide may contribute to eyeglow.
• FIG. 1 B Examples of reflections that cause eye glow in accordance with an embodiment of the invention are conceptually illustrated in FIG. 1 B.
• a beam diffracted towards the user’s eye can have a portion reflected back at the surface interface which represents a Fresnel reflection.
• the reflected beam 140a may travel through the waveguide and exit on the environmental side of the waveguide as an eye glow beam.
• a reflected beam 140b may also be produced by the grating layer 110.
• FIGS. 1A and 1 B illustrate general ray paths and interactions and may not show the nature of waveguiding optics in its entirety. For example, rays exiting and entering the waveguide at non-normal angles can result in a refractive change in angle at the waveguide’s surfaces.
• Eye glow suppression structures can be introduced multiple times in the same display system, the specific configuration of which can be based on the particular system. For example, in systems that use multiple different waveguides (e.g. for different wavelength and/or angular bands), multiple eye glow suppression structures can be included in the overall system. In numerous embodiments, a single eye glow suppression structure can be included that mitigates eye glow beams from multiple waveguides. In addition to block the unwanted eye-glow light, the waveguides have high transmission to allow a user to see the real world. Thus, a highly transparent waveguide is advantageous while simultaneously blocking eye-glow light. Suppressing eye-glow light may be a selective light blocking technique for all waveguide and optical combiner AR/XR wearables.
• a diffractive element such as at least one reflection grating can be implemented to suppress a substantial portion of eye glow within a waveguide display.
• a grating layer having at least one of such reflection gratings can be implemented for each waveguide layer.
• the reflection grating can be implemented in many different ways.
• the reflection grating is implemented as a holographic grating in a grating layer within a secondary waveguide. This secondary reflection waveguide can be disposed adjacent the base waveguide.
• the substrates of the two waveguides can be index-matched to provide a single TIR structure within which light can propagate.
• the reflection waveguide and the base waveguide can be configured with an air gap in between.
• the reflection grating is implemented in a grating layer disposed adjacent the substrate facing the environmental side and opposite the grating layer of the base waveguide.
• the waveguide display can include three substrate layers that alternate and interleave with the two grating layers, forming a single TIR structure.
• the reflection grating can also be implemented as a surface relief grating. For example, a surface reflection grating can be implemented on the surface of the environmental side of the waveguide.
• each waveguide layer in a multi-layered waveguide display can include a reflection grating, or reflection grating layer, for suppressing eye glow.
• the reflection grating can be configured to reflect a predetermined wavelength and/or angular band.
• each of the R, G, and B layer can be implemented with a respective reflection grating, or reflection grating layer, configured to reflect a spectral wavelength band corresponding to the layer (i.e., a reflection grating designed to reflect red light can be implemented for the R layer of the waveguide display).
• the reflection gratings can be multiplexed.
• the reflection grating(s) can be recorded or formed with grating vectors that conform to the rake angle of the waveguide display.
• filters can be utilized to suppress eyeglow.
• a dichroic reflector or a dielectric mirror e.g. dielectric reflector
• a multi-layered waveguide display system can include a dichroic reflector for each waveguide layer, where each dichroic reflector is configured to reflect a specific wavelength and/or angular band corresponding to the individual waveguide layer.
• the waveguide display includes an additional protective layer. In such cases, one of the dichroic reflectors desired for implementation can be incorporated onto the protective layer.
• quantum dots which structures that can absorb light of a first wavelength and emit light of a second wavelength.
• quantum dots can be incorporated within the substrate adjacent the environmental side of the waveguide.
• the quantum dots can be configured to absorb specific wavelengths of light corresponding to the particular waveguide layer within which it is incorporated.
• quantum dots configured to absorb certain wavelengths of red corresponding to the red light source can be incorporated in a substrate of the red waveguide layer.
• the quantum dots can be further configured to emit light shifted to a predetermined wavelength band (e.g. infrared), allowing for the suppression of eye glow.
• Optical structures recorded in waveguides can include many different types of optical elements, such as but not limited to diffraction gratings.
• Gratings can be implemented to perform various optical functions, including but not limited to coupling light, directing light, and preventing the transmission of light.
• the gratings are surface relief gratings that reside on the outer surface of the waveguide.
• the grating implemented is a Bragg grating (also referred to as a volume grating), which are structures having a periodic refractive index modulation.
• Bragg gratings can be fabricated using a variety of different methods. One process includes interferential exposure of holographic photopolymer materials to form periodic structures.
• Bragg gratings can have high efficiency with little light being diffracted into higher orders.
• the relative amount of light in the diffracted and zero order can be varied by controlling the refractive index modulation of the grating, a property that can be used to make lossy waveguide gratings for extracting light over a large pupil.
• SBGs can be fabricated by first placing a thin film of a mixture of photopolymerizable monomers and liquid crystal material between substrates.
• the substrates can be made of various types of materials, such glass and plastics. In many cases, the substrates are in a parallel configuration. In other embodiments, the substrates form a wedge shape.
• One or both substrates can support electrodes, typically transparent tin oxide films, for applying an electric field across the film.
• the grating structure in an SBG can be recorded in the liquid material (often referred to as the syrup) through photopolymerization-induced phase separation using interferential exposure with a spatially periodic intensity modulation.
• Factors such as but not limited to control of the irradiation intensity, component volume fractions of the materials in the mixture, and exposure temperature can determine the resulting grating morphology and performance.
• HPDLC material is used.
• the monomers polymerize, and the mixture undergoes a phase separation.
• the LC molecules aggregate to form discrete or coalesced droplets that are periodically distributed in polymer networks on the scale of optical wavelengths.
• the alternating liquid crystal-rich and liquid crystal-depleted regions form the fringe planes of the grating, which can produce Bragg diffraction with a strong optical polarization resulting from the orientation ordering of the LC molecules in the droplets.
• the resulting volume phase grating can exhibit very high diffraction efficiency, which can be controlled by the magnitude of the electric field applied across the film.
• the electrodes are configured such that the applied electric field will be perpendicular to the substrates.
• the electrodes are fabricated from indium tin oxide (ITO). In the OFF state with no electric field applied, the extraordinary axis of the liquid crystals generally aligns normal to the fringes.
• the grating thus exhibits high refractive index modulation and high diffraction efficiency for P-polarized light.
• the grating switches to the ON state wherein the extraordinary axes of the liquid crystal molecules align parallel to the applied field and hence perpendicular to the substrate.
• the grating In the ON state, the grating exhibits lower refractive index modulation and lower diffraction efficiency for both S- and P-polarized light.
• the grating region no longer diffracts light.
• Each grating region can be divided into a multiplicity of grating elements such as for example a pixel matrix according to the function of the HPDLC device.
• the electrode on one substrate surface is uniform and continuous, while electrodes on the opposing substrate surface are patterned in accordance to the multiplicity of selectively switchable grating elements.
• the SBG elements are switched clear in 30 ps with a longer relaxation time to switch ON.
• the diffraction efficiency of the device can be adjusted, by means of the applied voltage, over a continuous range. In many cases, the device exhibits near 100% efficiency with no voltage applied and essentially zero efficiency with a sufficiently high voltage applied.
• magnetic fields can be used to control the LC orientation. In some HPDLC applications, phase separation of the LC material from the polymer can be accomplished to such a degree that no discernible droplet structure results.
• An SBG can also be used as a passive grating. In this mode, its chief benefit is a uniquely high refractive index modulation.
• SBGs can be used to provide transmission or reflection gratings for free space applications.
• SBGs can be implemented as waveguide devices in which the HPDLC forms either the waveguide core or an evanescently coupled layer in proximity to the waveguide.
• the substrates used to form the HPDLC cell provide a total internal reflection (TIR) light guiding structure. Light can be coupled out of the SBG when the switchable grating diffracts the light at an angle beyond the TIR condition.
• TIR total internal reflection
• LC can be extracted or evacuated from the SBG to provide an evacuated Bragg grating (EBG).
• EBGs can be characterized as a surface relief grating (SRG) that has properties very similar to a Bragg grating due to the depth of the SRG structure (which is much greater than that practically achievable using surface etching and other conventional processes commonly used to fabricate SRGs).
• the LC can be extracted using a variety of different methods, including but not limited to flushing with isopropyl alcohol and solvents.
• one of the transparent substrates of the SBG is removed, and the LC is extracted. In further embodiments, the removed substrate is replaced.
• the SRG can be at least partially backfilled with a material of higher or lower refractive index.
• gratings offer scope for tailoring the efficiency, angular/spectral response, polarization, and other properties to suit various waveguide applications. Examples of EBGs and methods for manufacturing EBGs are discussed in US Pat. Pub. No. 2021/0063634, entitled “Evacuating Bragg Gratings and Methods of Manufacturing” and filed Aug. 28, 2020 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
• Waveguides in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can include various grating configurations designed for specific purposes and functions.
• the waveguide is designed to implement a grating configuration capable of preserving eyebox size while reducing lens size by effectively expanding the exit pupil of a collimating optical system.
• the exit pupil can be defined as a virtual aperture where only the light rays which pass though this virtual aperture can enter the eyes of a user.
• the waveguide includes an input grating optically coupled to a light source, a fold grating for providing a first direction beam expansion, and an output grating for providing beam expansion in a second direction, which is typically orthogonal to the first direction, and beam extraction towards the eyebox.
• the grating configuration implemented waveguide architectures can depend on the specific requirements of a given application.
• the grating configuration includes multiple fold gratings.
• the grating configuration includes an input grating and a second grating for performing beam expansion and beam extraction simultaneously.
• the second grating can include gratings of different prescriptions, for propagating different portions of the field-of-view, arranged in separate overlapping grating layers or multiplexed in a single grating layer.
• various types of gratings and waveguide architectures can also be utilized.
• the gratings within each layer are designed to have different spectral and/or angular responses.
• a full color waveguide is implemented using three grating layers, each designed to operate in a different spectral band (red, green, and blue).
• a full color waveguide is implemented using two grating layers, a red-green grating layer and a green-blue grating layer. As can readily be appreciated, such techniques can be implemented similarly for increasing angular bandwidth operation of the waveguide.
• multiple gratings can be multiplexed within a single grating layer - i.e., multiple gratings can be superimposed within the same volume.
• the waveguide includes at least one grating layer having two or more grating prescriptions multiplexed in the same volume.
• the waveguide includes two grating layers, each layer having two grating prescriptions multiplexed in the same volume. Multiplexing two or more grating prescriptions within the same volume can be achieved using various fabrication techniques.
• a multiplexed master grating is utilized with an exposure configuration to form a multiplexed grating.
• a multiplexed grating is fabricated by sequentially exposing an optical recording material layer with two or more configurations of exposure light, where each configuration is designed to form a grating prescription.
• a multiplexed grating is fabricated by exposing an optical recording material layer by alternating between or among two or more configurations of exposure light, where each configuration is designed to form a grating prescription.
• various techniques including those well known in the art, can be used as appropriate to fabricate multiplexed gratings.
• the waveguide can incorporate at least one of: angle multiplexed gratings, color multiplexed gratings, fold gratings, dual interaction gratings, rolled K-vector gratings, crossed fold gratings, tessellated gratings, chirped gratings, gratings with spatially varying refractive index modulation, gratings having spatially varying grating thickness, gratings having spatially varying average refractive index, gratings with spatially varying refractive index modulation tensors, and gratings having spatially varying average refractive index tensors.
• the waveguide can incorporate at least one of: a half wave plate, a quarter wave plate, an anti-reflection coating, a beam splitting layer, an alignment layer, a photochromic back layer for glare reduction, and louvre films for glare reduction.
• the waveguide can support gratings providing separate optical paths for different polarizations.
• the waveguide can support gratings providing separate optical paths for different spectral bandwidths.
• the gratings can be HPDLC gratings, switching gratings recorded in HPDLC (such switchable Bragg Gratings), Bragg gratings recorded in holographic photopolymer, or surface relief gratings.
• the waveguide operates in a monochrome band. In some embodiments, the waveguide operates in the green band. In several embodiments, waveguide layers operating in different spectral bands such as red, green, and blue (RGB) can be stacked to provide a three-layer waveguiding structure. In further embodiments, the layers are stacked with air gaps between the waveguide layers. In various embodiments, the waveguide layers operate in broader bands such as blue-green and green-red to provide two-waveguide layer solutions. In other embodiments, the gratings are color multiplexed to reduce the number of grating layers. Various types of gratings can be implemented. In some embodiments, at least one grating in each layer is a switchable grating.
• Waveguides incorporating optical structures such as those discussed above can be implemented in a variety of different applications, including but not limited to waveguide displays.
• the waveguide display is implemented with an eyebox of greater than 10 mm with an eye relief greater than 25 mm.
• the waveguide display includes a waveguide with a thickness between 2.0 - 5.0 mm.
• the waveguide display can provide an image field-of- view of at least 50° diagonal.
• the waveguide display can provide an image field-of-view of at least 70° diagonal.
• the waveguide display can employ many different types of picture generation units (PGUs).
• PGUs picture generation units
• the PGU can be a reflective or transmissive spatial light modulator such as a liquid crystal on Silicon (LCoS) panel or a micro electromechanical system (MEMS) panel.
• the PGU can be an emissive device such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel.
• OLED organic light emitting diode
• an OLED display can have a luminance greater than 4000 nits and a resolution of 4kx4k pixels.
• the waveguide can have an optical efficiency greater than 10% such that a greater than 400 nit image luminance can be provided using an OLED display of luminance 4000 nits.
• Waveguides implementing P-diffracting gratings typically have a waveguide efficiency of 5% - 6.2%. Since P-diffracting or S-diffracting gratings can waste half of the light from an unpolarized source such as an OLED panel, many embodiments are directed towards waveguides capable of providing both S- diffracting and P-diffracting gratings to allow for an increase in the efficiency of the waveguide by up to a factor of two. In some embodiments, the S-diffracting and P- diffracting gratings are implemented in separate overlapping grating layers.
• the waveguide includes Bragg-like gratings produced by extracting LC from HPDLC gratings, such as those described above, to enable high S and P diffraction efficiency over certain wavelength and angle ranges for suitably chosen values of grating thickness (typically, in the range 2 - 5 pm). Examples of waveguide based display devices are discussed in US Pat. Pub. No. 2018/0284440, entitled “Waveguide Display” and filed Mar. 30, 2018 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
• Waveguides and waveguide displays can include protective layers in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
• the waveguide or waveguide display incorporates at least one protective layer.
• the waveguide or waveguide display incorporates two protective layers, with one on each side of the device.
• waveguides and waveguide displays can be constructed with transparent substrates that, through their air interfaces, provide a TIR light guiding structure.
• the protective layer can be implemented and incorporated such that there is minimal disruption to the substrates’ air interfaces.
• the protective layer can by virtue of its material properties and/or method of deposition onto a waveguide substrate, compensate for surface defects in the substrate, such as not limited to a surface ripple, scratches, and other nonuniformities that cause the surface geometry to deviate from perfect planarity (or other desired surface geometries).
• Protective layers can be implemented in various thicknesses, geometries, and sizes. For example, thicker protective layers can be utilized for applications that require more durable waveguides.
• the protective layer is sized and shaped similar to the waveguide in which it is incorporated. For curved waveguides, the protective layer can also be curved. In further embodiments, the protective layer is curved with a similar curvature as the waveguide.
• Protective layers in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can be made of various materials.
• the properties of the protective layer including but not limited to thicknesses, shapes and material compositions, can be selected based on the specific requirements of a given application.
• protective layers can be implemented to provide structural support for various applications.
• the protective layer can be made of a robust material, such as but not limited to plastics and other polymers.
• the protective layer can also be made of glass, silica, soda lime glass, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene, polyethylene, and other plastics/polymers.
• the protective layer can be incorporated using spacers to provide and maintain an air gap between the waveguide’s substrates and the protective layers.
• spacers can be implemented similarly to those described in the sections above. For instance, a suspension of spacers and acetone can be sprayed onto the outer surface of the waveguide. In many cases, it is desirable to uniformly spray the suspension. The acetone can evaporate, leaving behind the spacers. The protective layer (which has had glue/adhesive/sealant/etc. added at the edges) can then be placed and vacuumed down into contact with the spacers. Although in some applications the spacers may move a small amount, they generally stay in place due to van der Waals forces.
• the spacers can be made of any of a variety of materials, including but not limited to plastics (e.g., divinylbenzene), silica, and conductive materials.
• the material of the spacers is selected such that its refractive index does not substantially affect the propagation of light within the waveguide cell.
• the spacers can take any suitable geometry, including but not limited to rods and spheres. Additionally, spacers of any suitable size can be utilized. For instance, in many cases, the sizes of the spacers range from 1 to 30 pm. As can readily be appreciated, the shape and size of the spacers utilized can depend on the specific requirements of a given application. In some cases, the protective layer may advantageously be disposed further away from the waveguide. In such embodiments, larger sized spacers can be utilized.
• the incorporation of protective layers can be implemented with different waveguide configurations, including single and multi-layered waveguides.
• multi-layered waveguides can incorporate two protective layers, one disposed near each of the outer surfaces.
• the protective layers can also be implemented for a variety of other applications.
• the protective layer allows for dimming and/or darkening.
• the protective layer can incorporate materials for photochromic or thermochromic capabilities.
• the protective layer can also be configured to allow for controllable dimming and/or darkening.
• the protective layer implements electrochromic capabilities.
• the protective layer can also provide a surface for other films, including but not limited to anti-reflective coatings and absorption filters.
• the protective layer provides optical power.
• the protective layer provides variable, tunable optical power.
• Such focus tunable lenses can be implemented using fluidic lenses or SBGs.
• a picture generation unit is implemented and, depending on the waveguide application and design, may require an unobstructed light path between the PGU and the waveguide as the protective layer could refract the input beam, leading to positional errors.
• an incident beam will contain rays that are at an angle to the waveguiding substrates.
• the protective layer can be designed and shaped accordingly to prevent the protective layer’s interference with the light path.
• Eye glow suppression may be implemented in a partially light blocking layer which may include diffractive elements.
• the diffractive elements may be a reflection grating.
• at least one reflection grating is implemented and utilized within a waveguide display system for suppressing eye glow. Reflection gratings can be introduced on the environmental of a waveguide display to reflect eye glow beams back into the waveguide that would otherwise escape. In many embodiments, this reflection occurs at an angle that coincides with the angle of associated out-coupled light, preventing any distortion or ghost imaging from the perspective of the viewer.
• a waveguide display incorporating a reflection grating as an eye glow suppression structure in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is conceptually illustrated in FIG. 2.
• the system includes a waveguide 200 containing a grating layer 210 for providing in-coupling, propagation, and out-coupling of light.
• the system includes a second waveguide 230 having a grating layer 240 with at least one reflection grating.
• the reflective grating layer 240 may include one or more holographic gratings sandwiched between two substrates similar to the gratings described above. In such configurations, the substrates of waveguides 200 and 230 are index-matched, forming a single TIR structure within which light can propagate.
• a beam 252 traveling in a TIR path within the two waveguides 200, 230 can be out-coupled (254) towards a viewer by a grating within grating layer 210.
• area 260 illustrates an example of off-Bragg interactions that can cause eye glow.
• This example is not limiting and other causes of eye glow exist and are described above in connection with FIGS. 1 A and 1 B.
• ray 264 is a result of an off-Bragg interaction with a grating within grating layer 210 that originates from ray 262.
• Ray 264 passes through waveguide 200 and is incident upon a reflection grating within grating layer 230, where a portion of ray 264 is diffracted into the second waveguide 230.
• a light absorbing layer 270 may absorb the ray 264.
• the light absorbing layer 270 may absorb the eye-glow light diffracted by the diffractive element and block any outside light from being diffracted toward the light absorbing layer 270.
• the light absorbing layer 270 may be positioned in many places throughout the waveguide display such as toward the temple of the user with side-mounted projector or absorbing frame of glasses; toward the nose of the user; upward toward the projector mounting in top-down projector system; toward the edge of frame holding the waveguide; and toward other specific location with absorbing elements.
• the second waveguide 230 may include a thin substrate made of polycarbonate or glass. The thin substrate may be doped with a small amount (e.g. ⁇ 5% tint) of absorbing dye at a desired wavelength.
• the eye-glow light may have a long path through the second waveguide 230 effectively absorbing all the light.
• Environmental light may have a short path through the second waveguide 230 but be left unchanged during transmission through the waveguide 230.
• a small portion of the eye glow ray is not passed due to small errors in, or physical limitations of, the reflection grating layer 240 and continues on through waveguide 230 and manifests as eye glow.
• these rays are significantly weaker than typical unmitigated eye glow rays.
• FIG. 2 illustrates a specific configuration of a waveguide display implementing a reflection grating for eye glow suppression
• the waveguide containing the reflection grating is of the same size and shape as the base waveguide.
• the waveguide containing the reflection grating is smaller than the base waveguide, covering a predetermined portion of the gratings within the base waveguide.
• reflection waveguides do not need to be positioned such that they are touching the base waveguide.
• the gap is air-filled, but can be filled with any material, such as but not limited to index-matching materials, as appropriate to the requirements of specific applications of embodiments of the invention.
• a reflection grating eye glow suppression structure with an air gap in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3A.
• the waveguide 230 containing the reflection grating 240 is separated from the base waveguide 200 with an air gap through the use of spacer beads 320.
• TIR paths of the main light rays are confined to the base waveguide 310.
• the reflection grating 240 may be a transmission diffractive element which may in-couple light into the waveguide through transmission diffraction.
• FIG. 3B illustrates an example of the diffractive elements as transmission diffractive elements in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• the transmission diffractive element 240a in-couples inbound light 352 into the waveguide through transmission diffraction.
• the in-coupled light 354 travels in total internal reflection through the waveguide.
• the reflection grating 240 may be a reflective diffractive element which may in-couple light into the waveguide through reflective diffraction.
• FIG. 3C illustrates an example of the diffractive elements as reflective diffractive elements in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• the reflective diffractive element 240b in-couples inbound light 352 into the waveguide through reflective diffraction.
• the in-coupled light 354 travels in total internal reflection through the waveguide.
• the reflection grating 240 may be a polymer grating structure.
• the polymer grating structure can be configured in many different ways depending on the waveguide regions and optical paths contributing to eye glow. The principal waveguide regions and optical paths may be determined using ray tracing techniques.
• the polymer grating structure may be configured such that it at least partially overlaps at least one of the input coupler and the gratings for providing beam expansion and extracting light from the waveguide.
• the reflection grating 240 may be formed on at least one of the external surface of the waveguide (as illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3A-3C) and the eye-facing surface of the waveguide (as described below).
• the reflection grating 240 may also be formed between the substrates of the waveguide 200 such that the reflection grating 240 is formed as a portion of the grating layer 210 of the waveguide 200.
• a portion of the reflection grating 240 may be used as the input coupler to couple image modulated light from the source into a total reflection internal path in the waveguide 200.
• a portion of the reflection grating 240 may be used as the output coupler configured to outcouple light from the waveguide 200.
• a portion of the reflection grating 240 may be used as the fold grating configured as a beam expander.
• the input coupler may be a grating or a prism.
• FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a waveguide display incorporating a reflection grating as an eye glow suppression structure in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is conceptually.
• FIG. 4 includes many identically labeled elements from FIG. 2 which function similarly to FIG. 2. The description from FIG. 2 is applicable to the waveguide display of FIG. 4 and this description will not be repeated in detail.
• a waveguide 200 may be located between a top grating 240 and a bottom grating 241 .
• the top grating 240 and the bottom grating 241 may have different grating periods.
• Eyeglow contributing rays incident on the top grating 240 and the bottom grating 241 may originate from different sources and may have followed different waveguide ray paths and thus, the top grating 240 and the bottom grating 241 may include different diffracting prescriptions to deflect them away from eyeglow paths.
• the top grating 240 and the bottom grating 241 may include different prescriptions that may differ not only in terms of their periods but may also include different grating modulations.
• the bottom grating 241 may include a prescription for diffracting incident light (e.g. originating at an external light source) entering the waveguide via its top surface that is at a relatively small angle to the normal of the bottom grating 241 into a much larger angle towards the light absorber 270a.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be a polymer grating structure.
• the system includes a waveguide 230a having housing the bottom grating 241.
• the bottom grating 241 may include one or more holographic gratings sandwiched between two substrates similar to the gratings described above.
• the substrates of waveguides 200 and 231 may be index-matched, forming a single TIR structure within which light can propagate.
• a light absorbing layer 270a may absorb the ray 265.
• the light absorbing layer 270a may absorb the eye-glow light 265 diffracted by the diffractive element and block any outside light from being diffracted toward the light absorbing layer 270a.
• the light absorbing layer 270a may be positioned in many places throughout the waveguide display such as toward the temple of the user with side-mounted projector or absorbing frame of glasses; toward the nose of the user; upward toward the projector mounting in top-down projector system; toward the edge of frame holding the waveguide; and toward other specific location with absorbing elements.
• the waveguide 231 may include a thin substrate made of polycarbonate or glass. The thin substrate may be doped with a small amount (e.g. ⁇ 5% tint) of absorbing dye at a desired wavelength. In some embodiments, through TIR, the eye-glow light may have a long path through the waveguide 231 effectively absorbing all the light.
• the top grating 240 and the bottom grating 241 may be a combination of Bragg grating and Raman-Nath grating.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include a Bragg grating in some regions and a Raman-Nath grating in other regions.
• each of the input, fold and gratings may have regions that overlaps with the Bragg grating or Raman-Nath grating.
• the two types of gratings may be interspersed across the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 .
• a fold grating in the waveguide 200 may be overlapped by Bragg gratings in some regions of the fold grating and Raman-Nath gratings in other regions.
• Any of the main imaging gratings e.g. the input grating, the fold grating and the output grating
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include a Bragg grating region, a Raman-Nath grating region and/or a region containing no grating each of which may overlap portions of a fold grating due to the complex ray paths and grating interactions.
• the regions containing no grating may play a role in light management as they support eyeglow suppression layers of the types described below.
• FIG. 4 illustrates both a top grating 240 and a bottom grating 241
• embodiments including just the top grating 240 (as illustrated in FIG. 2) or just the bottom grating 241 (not illustrated) are also disclosed.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be formed on a separate substrate which may include air separating the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 from the waveguide 200 used to propagate image light towards the eyebox. Examples of this are discussed in connection with FIG. 3A.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include regions including a Bragg grating, a Raman-Nath grating, or no grating. Any one of the three types of regions may at least partially cover at least one of an input grating, a fold grating and an output grating.
• a light control coating may be applied to regions of the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 containing no grating. Many different types of light control coatings may be used to assist with eyeglow management.
• the light control coating may provide at least one optical function selected from the group of polarization rotation, polarization-selective absorption, polarization-selective transmission, polarization-selective diffraction, angle- selective transmission, angle selective absorption, anti-reflectivity, and/or transmission within a defined spectral bandwidth.
• the light control coating may provide spatial variation of the above example optical functions.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include a rolled K-vector grating based on either continuously varying or piecewise varying slant angles.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include a grating with spatially varying pitch.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be configured as multiplexed gratings.
• light 265 entering the waveguide 200 from the outside world may include sunlight or room lighting entering the waveguide 200 via the top surface (e.g. the world side of the waveguide) or via the bottom surface (e.g. eye facing surface) of the waveguide 200.
• Other sources of light 265 that potentially cause eyeglow may include car headlights and laser sources.
• light from external sources may reflect off the eye of a viewer of the display after propagating through the waveguide.
• image light reflected off an anatomical surface such as an eye surface may contribute to eyeglow.
• the light entering the waveguide 200 from the outside world is provided by an external light source and enters the waveguide 200 though the external surface and/or the eye-facing surface of the waveguide which may contribute to eyeglow.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be a holographic reflection grating.
• the holographic reflection gratings may be Bragg gratings and manufactured through holographic exposure as discussed above.
• the holographic reflection gratings may be EBGs and manufactured in processes discussed above. EBGs may be useful in producing deep SRGs which may be Bragg gratings which may include a modulation depth and a grating pitch, where the modulation depth is greater than the grating pitch across at least a portion of the polymer grating structure.
• EBGs may be configured as a Raman-Nath grating which acts in the Raman-Nath diffraction regime.
• the Raman-Nath grating may have a modulation depth less than the grating pitch across at least a portion of the polymer grating structure.
• the EBG may be an evacuated periodic grating configured to act in the Raman-Nath regime and have a modulation depth smaller that the grating pitch in the region. Such a grating does not strictly in the Bragg regime.
• EBGs may be useful in manufacturing gratings which include regions that act in the Bragg regime, regions that act in the Raman-Nath regime, and/or regions with no gratings.
• the polymer grating structure modulation depth may vary across the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 to provide a spatially varying polarization-dependent diffraction efficiency characteristic according to principles discussed in US Pat. Pub. No. 2021/0063634 which has been incorporated by reference in its entirety above.
• the polymer grating structure modulation depth may vary across the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 to provide a spatially varying angle-dependent diffraction efficiency characteristic or a spatially varying polarization dependent diffraction efficiency characteristic.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 incorporate EBGs
• at least one of the spatial, angular, or polarization diffraction efficiency characteristics of the EBGs may be tailored by backfilling the EBGs with an optical material of specified refractive index and/or birefringence.
• the backfilling material may be an isotropic material such as a birefringent material.
• the backfill material may occupy a space at a bottom portion of the space between adjacent portions of the polymer grating structure and the air occupies the space from above the top surface of the backfill material to the modulation depth.
• the ratio of the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure to the grating pitch spacing lies in the range from 1 :1 to 10:1.
• the grating pitch of the polymer grating structure is 0.35pm to 1 pm and the modulation depth of the polymer grating structure is 1 pm to 10 pm.
• the grating pitch may be the spacing of diffractive features of the polymer grating structure and the modulation depth may be the depth of the polymer grating structure.
• the polymer grating structure may have a modulation depth greater than a wavelength of visible light.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include a polymer grating structure including a composite structure.
• the composite structure may include at least one type of polymer and at least one another material.
• the polymer grating structure may be a composite of a polymer and at least one other material, where the polymer is removed after formation of the grating.
• the at least one other material may be nanoparticles.
• the nanoparticles may be functionalized nanoparticles. Gratings including nanoparticles are described in PCT App. No. PCT/US2021/041673, entitled “Nanoparticle-Based Holographic Photopolymer Materials and Related Applications” and filed Jul. 14, 2021 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may include a two-dimensional lattice structure or a three-dimensional lattice structure.
• the two-dimensional lattice structure may be a 2D photonic crystal.
• An example of a 2D lattice may be an array of diffracting columns with bases lying on a plane.
• the three-dimensional lattice structure may be a 3D photonic crystal.
• the 3D lattice may include diffractive pointlike regions.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be coated with an optical material. In many embodiments, the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be coated with a reflective optical material. In many embodiments, the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be applied with a coating with an effective index up to 2.5. In many embodiments, the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be coated with a first material and the coated grating may be backfilled with a second material of refractive index higher than the refractive index of the first material.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 may be coated with a first material and the coated grating may be backfilled with a second material of refractive index lower than the refractive index of the first material.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 includes polymer diffracting features and a birefringent material between adjacent polymer diffracting features, wherein the birefringent material has a higher refractive index than the polymer diffracting features.
• the refractive index difference between the polymer diffracting features and the birefringent material is 0.01 to 0.2.
• the top grating 240 and/or the bottom grating 241 includes alternating polymer regions and air gap regions and the refractive index difference between the polymer regions and the air gap regions is in the range from 1.4 to 1.9.
• the birefringent material is a liquid crystal material.
• a method for reducing eyeglow from a waveguide display may include the steps of:
• the reflection grating 240 may be a surface relief reflection grating.
• the reflection grating 240 can be etched directly onto the surface of the side opposite the eye side of the waveguide.
• a waveguide display implementing a surface relief grating for eye glow suppression in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is conceptually illustrated in FIG. 5.
• the waveguide 400 includes a grating layer 410 and a surface relief reflection grating 420 disposed on the surface of the environmental side of the waveguide 400.
• ray 432 in a TIR path within the waveguide 400 is diffracted out to the eye side by an output grating within grating layer 410.
• ray 442 is diffracted as eye glow ray 444 towards the environmental side of the waveguide 400.
• the eye glow ray 444 can be reflected by the surface relief reflection grating 420 back towards the eye side as ray 446.
• ray 446 is parallel to a corresponding normal output ray.
• a portion of ray 446 may be reflected due to Fresnel reflection back towards the surface relief reflection grating, but in turn may be at least partially reflected by the surface relief reflection grating 420 (not illustrated). While rays are shown as passing through the reflection grating 420, in numerous embodiments, this does not occur.
• the surface relief reflection grating 420 mbe provided by a metasurface.
• a metasurface allows a greater degree of wavefront phase and amplitude control resulting from the use of nanometer-scale pitch diffracting features.
• Conventional diffractive optical elements such as Bragg gratings have diffractive features of micron scale pitch, i.e. diffractive feature pitches that are significant fractions of visible band wavelengths
• the reflection gratings 240 described in connection with FIG. 2 can be placed on very thin substrates adjacent the waveguides with similar results.
• the substrate can be disposed such that there is a gap between the substrate and the waveguide.
• the gap can be filled with any material, including (but not limited to) air.
• a reflection grating disposed on a separate substrate for suppressing eye glow in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is conceptually illustrated in FIG. 6.
• the waveguide 500 having a reflection grating 510 is separated with the base waveguide 200 using spacer beads 530.
• the reflection grating 510 is disposed on the surface of the waveguide 500 facing the environmental side of the display.
• the reflection grating 510 may be disposed on the surface facing the base waveguide 200.
• any number and positioning of reflection waveguide optics can be used as appropriate to the requirements of specific applications of embodiments of the invention.
• any number of different types of gratings can be added to suppress eye glow rays.
• evacuated Bragg gratings can be used instead of surface relief gratings.
• non-grating structures can be used to suppress eye glow. These structures are described in further detail below.
• eye glow suppression may be implemented in a partial light blocking layer which may include reflective elements.
• the reflective elements may include the use of filters, such as but not limited to dichroic reflectors and dielectric mirrors, that can accurately selectively pass certain wavelength bands while reflecting others.
• Dielectric reflective coatings may be applied to reflect the eye-glow light back to the user.
• the reflective coating may be designed as a narrow notch filter around the illumination wavelengths, effectively reflecting only specific wavelengths while transmitting all other visible wavelengths, allowing the waveguides to appear nearly transparent with a high transmission.
• the reflective coating may act as a mirror for the designed wavelengths, reflecting the light with an angle equal to the angle incident to the reflective coating layer.
• a filter such as a dichroic filter may be designed to have an angledependent reflection or transmission efficiency. Such filters may be multi-layered structures.
• the filter may be designed with polarization-sensitive efficiencies. Using one or more of spectral, angular, or polarization filter characteristics may help to optimize the suppression of eye glow.
• the eye glow suppression may balance a higher degree of eye glow suppression in the central portion of the user’s field of view against residual eye glow at the periphery of the user’s field of view.
• the coating may be applied in various locations.
• the coating may be applied on each waveguide individually, which may allow for larger angular deviations before ghosting is apparent.
• the coating may also be applied on a front protective cover. It has been observed that further distance from the user may create a larger deviation between desired image and ghost image.
• the front protective cover may be spaced further from the waveguide hence offering a little more optical path. The added path length could be used to reduce coherence of artifacts such as Newton’s Rings fringes in laser beam scanner (LBS) projectors.
• the reflection may be aligned to the eyeside ‘signal’ image.
• the misalignment may be minimal which may be on the scale of the resolution of the image of the eye glow reflection vs the signal image; if misalignment does occur, this may lead to image point spread function broadening and hence loss of image sharpness, or if the reflection angle error is larger, then it will cause a ghost image.
• the coherence of the eye glow reflection may be considered in the case of laser illumination solutions, particularly with laser beam scanners (LBS).
• LBS laser beam scanners
• a phase scrambler on the non-eye side of the waveguide may cause the Fresnel reflections to be out of phase with the signal light which may decrease the Newton’s rings fringe artifacts which may be found with LBS projectors.
• an ‘eyeglow suppression’ spectral notch reflection filter could increase the intensity of Newton’s rings fringes from LBS, where LBS Newton’s rings are caused by the interference of the signal beam and the non-eyeside reflection.
• antireflection coatings on the non-eyeside may be included leading to a reduction in both eyeglow and LBS Newton’s rings fringes.
• the protective cover may be plastic.
• the thermal property limitations during coating may be minimal.
• a low temperature coating e.g. 50-60 degrees C
• a high temperature coating may be used.
• a reflective coating may be applied to one side of the protective cover for one waveband (e.g. a green reflective notch), and another reflective coating may be applied to the other side coated with different waveband (e.g. a red/blue notch). It is appreciated that any combination of wavebands may be used (e.g. any other combination of R,G,B notches).
• the reflective coating may be combined with see thru AR, UV protection, gradient absorption or dimming coatings, anti-scratch or hard coat coatings.
• a material may provide flatness between layers (e.g. thickness shims, spacer beads, etc.).
• the reflective layer may be laminated to the waveguide or waveguide stack.
• the reflective layer may be a narrow notch reflector designed for lasers which partially reduces LED eye glow when the notch lies within the spectrum of the LED.
• the reflective layer may pass a wide range of colors except for a specific band (or set of bands) which is reflected, or act as a high-pass or low-pass filter which reflect all wavelengths less than, or higher than, a given wavelength, respectively.
• alternating thin layers of dielectric material is coated to form the desired filter.
• dichroic reflectors or dielectric mirrors can be applied to waveguides to reflect eye glow rays in a manner which produces similar results as those described above with respect to reflection gratings, although with different underlying operating principles.
• the waveguide 600 includes a dichroic reflector 610 on the surface facing the environmental side.
• the waveguide 600 may include a grating layer 602 which is the same as the grating layer 210 which was discussed in connection with FIG. 2.
• the dichroic reflector 610 may be designed to reflect a predetermined wavelength band of light that correspond to waveguide 600.
• the dichroic reflector 610 for a given waveguide layer can be designed to reflect light in which the given waveguide layer is intended to operate (e.g., the dichroic reflector for the red waveguide can be designed to reflect a wavelength band corresponding to red light from the light source).
• the dichroic reflector 610 can reflect at least a portion of rays that would otherwise escape and manifest as eye glow back towards the viewer. Similar as to described above in connection with FIGS. 2-6, intended rays are shown in area 620, whereas eye glow rays generated by off-Bragg interactions and their suppression are shown in area 630. Again, while intended rays and eye glow rays are shown separately, it is readily appreciated that these rays occur concurrently throughout the waveguide. [0179] When using dichroic reflectors, a percentage of environmental light that is able to pass through the waveguide display to the viewer’s eyes may be diminished.
• dichroic reflector structures may be designed as a notch filter which may selectively reflect the wavelength band that is used in the waveguide (e.g. the colors selected for the particular waveguide). For example, a narrow band can be selected around 638nm, 520nm, and 455nm (standard display red, green, and blue, respectively) in order to suppress eye glow while keeping the remainder of the visible spectrum (e.g. 440-640nm) unaffected. As can readily be appreciated, the selected band can correspond to the wavelength bands of the light source.
• dichroic reflectors are often applied at high temperatures which, depending on the construction of the waveguide and/or any anti reflective coatings, may cause deformation to the waveguide. To avoid this, a lower temperature dichroic reflector application process can be used.
• the dichroic reflector can be included in a protective layer of a waveguide.
• Dichroic reflectors can be applied in multiple iterations or as a single application depending on the needs of the overall system. For example, as described above, in an RGB display where three different waveguides are used for each of R, G, and B, a dichroic reflector (or reflection grating/reflection waveguide) can be interspersed between the three different waveguides or on the environmental side of the waveguide stack.
• FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a waveguide-based display including three different waveguides in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• a first waveguide 600a may be configured to display a first color such as red
• a second waveguide 600b may be configured to display a second color such as green
• a third waveguide 600c may be configured to display a third color such as blue.
• Each of the waveguides 600a, 600b, 600c may include the features of the waveguide 200 described in connection with FIG. 2.
• the dichroic reflector 610 described in connection with FIG. 7 may be applied to the top of the first waveguide 600a.
• Spacers 700 may be applied to between adjacent waveguides.
• the gaps between adjacent waveguides may be filled with various materials such as air.
• FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a waveguide-based display including three different waveguides in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• This configuration includes many of the same features as the device of FIG. 8. This description is applicable and therefore the description will not be repeated.
• a dichroic reflector 610b may be applied to the top of the second waveguide 600b and a dichroic reflector 610c the third waveguide 600c.
• the dichroic reflector 610a may as well as be on the top of the first waveguide 600a.
• the dichroic filter 610a, 610b, 610c may be tailored to the specific waveguide 600a, 600b, 600c.
• FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a waveguide-based display including three different waveguides in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• This configuration includes many of the same features as described in connection with FIGS. 8 and 9. These descriptions are applicable and therefore these descriptions will not be repeated.
• the dichroic filter 610b of the second waveguide 600b has been removed. Instead, a dichroic filter 910 placed in a separate substrate 900 may be placed above the first waveguide 600a.
• the separate substrate 900 may be a protective layer.
• the dichroic filter 910 on the separate substrate 900 may correspond to the second waveguide 600b.
• the second waveguide 600b may be a green waveguide and the dichroic reflector 910 may correspond to green and be applied to the protective layer 900.
• FIG. 11A illustrates a cross sectional view of a waveguide-based display including a dichroic filter in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 11 B illustrates a schematic plan view of the waveguide-based display of FIG. 11 B.
• the waveguide 600 includes an incoupling optical element 1006 and an outcoupling optical element 1004.
• a dichroic filter 1004 overlaps the outcoupling optical element 1004.
• the dichroic filter 1004 may not overlap the incoupling optical element 1006.
• any number of dichroic reflectors can be used as appropriate to the requirements of specific applications of embodiments of the invention.
• the eye glow suppression layer may include a light absorbing layer which may absorb light in a portion of the visible light spectrum.
• the light absorbing layer may be a narrowband dye absorber layer which may include a light absorbing dye suspended in a transparent matrix. Dye for absorption may be extremely narrow in wavelengths absorbed. Any unnecessary wavelengths absorbed will cause the waveguide to have a lower transmission, dimming the outside world and appearing dark.
• the location of the dye absorbing layer may vary.
• the dye absorber layer may be positioned on a protective cover if using multiple waveguides to guide one color FOV. If each waveguide is only guiding one color, then the dye can be applied to a protective cover on the front of the waveguide stack.
• Dyes may be angularly insensitive, covering a broad range of incident angles of eye-glow light.
• Exemplary dyes for the visible light region are manufactured by Yamada Chemical Co., Ltd (Japan).
• High absorption efficiency, narrow spectral absorption bandwidth and thermal stability may be important selection criteria.
• One possible approach for improving the absorber performance involves dilution of the dye in a transparent matrix, which can be an inert organic polymer compound or an inorganic compound.
• the resulting absorber can give narrow band absorption and high out of band transmittance.
• a multilayer configuration may allow absorption of more than one wavelength.
• the light absorbing layer may be a metamaterial absorbing layer.
• Metamaterial absorbers can be created with an extremely narrow spectral bandwidth. Absorption may be sensitive to angular deviations when it has such a narrowband absorption.
• the metamaterial absorbing layer may be placed on each waveguide individually if not sharing colors through multiple waveguides.
• the metamaterial absorbing layer may be placed on a protective cover above the top waveguide if sharing the colors in the waveguides.
• Metasurfaces which would include surfaces patterned with one or more types of nanostructures. Metasurfaces may be configured for light absorption, beam deflection and polarization as functions of one or both wavelength or angle. More than one of the above functions can be integrated into a single metasurface. Metasurfaces can offer complete or partial solutions to suppressing eye glow contributed by specular reflections from waveguides surface, eye surfaces and scattering surfaces.
• the eye glow suppression structure may include wavelength altering elements such as quantum dots or phosphors.
• Quantum dots are nano-scale semiconductors that can absorb light of a first wavelength and emit light of a second wavelength.
• Quantum dots can be introduced into the substrate of a waveguide or applied to the loss side of a waveguide optic system to suppress eye glow rays.
• quantum dots that absorb eye glow rays of a specific wavelength and emit light at a non-visible wavelength e.g. infrared
• the eye glow rays may still escape the waveguide however these eye glow rays may altered into the non-visible range.
• the infrared and lower band is desirable due to the biologically harmful properties of ultraviolet light. However, depending on the use of the waveguide optic system, it may be acceptable to transform the light into the ultraviolet or higher band.
• quantum dots can be used to shift the light wavelength in stages, and/or quantum dots can be incorporated into a waveguide optic system which also leverages one or more of the alternative eye glow suppression structures described herein. Depending on the number of wavelengths used in the waveguide optic system for display purposes, different sets of quantum dots can be applied to mitigate some or all of the different wavelengths.
• quantum dots can be incorporated into a system that includes any or all of the above eye glow suppression structures. Indeed, while particular eye glow suppression structures are illustrated in the figures discussed above, any number of different architectures can be used which incorporate eye glow suppression structures as described herein.
• the waveguide display In many applications, it is desirable for the waveguide display to operate with a large eyebox. Although convenient for the viewer, this can produce a large amount of unused light impinging the user’s face (e.g., light that does not reach the user’s pupils). Depending on the implementation of the waveguide display, this unused light can be quite visible to an outside observer. As such, many embodiments of the invention are directed towards solutions for reducing the amount of unused light incident upon the user’s face while preserving the operating size of the eyebox.
• the waveguide display includes at least one switchable Bragg grating (SBGs) for the control of out-coupled light to reduce the amount of unused light.
• SBGs switchable Bragg grating
• eyebox size can be enlarged by multiplying or replicating in-coupled light through the use of diffractive gratings.
• switchable Bragg gratings are implemented, the display can be configured to control the propagation of light such that only light that would reach the viewer’s eye(s) is out-coupled, thereby reducing the amount of unused light ejected towards the user’s face.
• the required configuration for achieving such control is determined dynamically as the user’s eyes are typically not static during operation. Accordingly, the configuration can also be implemented dynamically once determined.
• a small duty cycle ( ⁇ 1 %) can be used with the required output luminance.
• an absorbing layer can be switched on and off, synchronized with the light source. This may absorb the eye-glow light while the source is on, but appear transparent to the observer averaged over many cycles.
• the absorbing layer may be a switchable grating such as SBGs.
• the switchable grating may include a diffractive eyeglow element. This decreases the time of possible unwanted light being diffracted back toward the user through the diffractive element.
• the switchable gratings may be switchable output gratings.
• the switchable output gratings may be multiplexed grating schemes with a switching waveplate.
• the output light may be polarized after mixing from multiple gratings. If the gratings are switched in time, each grating may create a highly polarized output.
• switching a waveplate synchronized with the switchable gratings may rotate the polarization of one or both outputs to be orthogonal with a linear polarizer at the output which may block the eye glow light.
• switching a linear polarizer to be orthogonal with light output from the switchable grating may block the eye-glow light without having a permanent linear polarizer on the output.
• switchable subwavelength gratings may provide a wavelength specific optical retarder for synchronising eyeglow suppression with the light source.
• the grating pitch may be much less than the wavelength of light.
• the waveguide display includes an eyetracker.
• the eyetracker can be implemented in many different ways.
• a waveguide-based eyetracker is implemented to determine eye position and/or eye gaze information.
• the waveguide display can utilize a controller to implement a configuration of the states of the switchable Bragg grating to only out-couple light that would reach the user’s eye.
• the light that is outcoupled out of the waveguide otherwise would continue propagating through the waveguide to the edges.
• waveguide displays in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can be designed to mitigate unused light from escaping the edges of the waveguide.
• the edges can be covered with a light absorbing material which may absorb any light that reaches the edges.
• the waveguide can include a transparent electrode such as an indium tin oxide (ITO) or index-matched ITO (IMITO) layer on either side as electrodes for switching the gratings between their ON/OFF states.
• ITO indium tin oxide
• IMITO index-matched ITO
• the waveguide includes a first ITO/IMITO layer on one side of grating layer and a second ITO/IMITO layer on the opposing side.
• the second layer can be patterned into selectively addressable elements. This allows for the switching of discrete areas of the switchable Bragg gratings.
• the selectively addressable elements are large enough as to not introduce line/gap artifacts, which can result in noticeable scattering and/or diffractive effects.
• various transparent conductive oxide layers can also be utilized.
• absorptive losses by layers may be considered in the waveguide design.
• some ITO layers can contribute ⁇ 0.25% of absorptive loss per pass.
• the total propagation loss down the waveguide can be substantial.
• controlling the amount of out-coupled light can include switching a portion of the output grating to its diffractive state. The switched portion can correspond to the viewer’s eye position and/or eye gaze information.
• the distance in which the light propagates through the waveguide can vary, which when taken in consideration with the absorptive losses due to the ITO/IMITO layer(s) can result in varying losses in the out-coupled light.
• the light propagation path can result in different amounts of TIR bounces within the waveguide (e.g., some configurations can result in longer light paths that interacts with the ITO/IMITO layer(s) a higher number of times).
• the total losses in light intensity may be higher, resulting in non-uniform ity across different configurations.
• many embodiments are directed towards grating architectures and switching configurations designed to account for these differences.
• the waveguide display may be configured to include an output grating having independently addressable sections capable of switching between diffractive and non-diffractive states.
• the waveguide display can be configured to provide a scrolling output (e.g., the output image may be displayed in sections that are scrolled sequentially).
• the output configuration for a certain eye position/eye gaze setting can be configured to have a uniform profile.
• the switching can include a feathering effect with regards to switching timing to retain field uniformity.
• Eye glow may be caused by several different effects. These effects may be split into collimated leakage and scattered leakage. Scattered leakage may be generated by hologram material, waveguide material, or holographic haze (haze recorded in the hologram). Scattered leakage may cause light to be scattered out of the waveguide towards the eye. Collimated leakage, e.g. light emerging eyeglow that preserves the angular image content coupled into the waveguide may be extracted with low diffraction efficiency. This may apply in particular to light that is off-Bragg. Such eyeglow may allow at least some of the displayed image to be viewed from the external world which may present privacy and data security issues.
• Scattered leakage may be generated by hologram material, waveguide material, or holographic haze (haze recorded in the hologram). Scattered leakage may cause light to be scattered out of the waveguide towards the eye.
• Collimated leakage e.g. light emerging eyeglow that preserves the angular image content coupled into the waveguide
• a ghost grating occurs in the holographic recording process as a result of stray light or scattering centers resulting from incomplete phase separation, an apparent off Bragg interaction may arise from the ghost grating, which may manifest itself within a multiplexed grating.
• This type of grating might be weakly recorded and might be difficult to separate from an off Bragg grating. The effect may be to collimate light diffracting out of the waveguide in the wrong direction.
• For Fresnel reflections light diffracted from the grating plane towards the eye of the user may exit the waveguide. At the interface of the waveguide (on the eye side) and air, a Fresnel reflection may occur. Reflection from this interface will mostly exit from the waveguide on the user side. However, a small fraction of that light may in turn reflect back from the waveguide/air interface on the non-user side of the waveguide. Additionally, some light reinteracts with the grating following reflection from the waveguide/air eyeside reflection.
• Fresnel reflections may be alleviated through an AR coating on the waveguide.
• Waveguides including higher index glass may have higher Fresnel reflections.
• AR coating therefore may reduce eye glow.
• the eye of the user can contribute reflected light which can take the form of scatter and specular reflections, most typically a mixture of the two. Contributions to the scatter or reflection from the user’s eye may occur at any of the surfaces or optical media in the eye and can include Purkinje reflections.
• Scattered light from the hologram and waveguide material and from haze recorded into a hologram may have directional and isotropic characteristics determined by the nature of the scattering centres. Some of this light may go straight through the waveguide outer surface. Other exit paths may include a reflection at the eye of the user and surfaces of the waveguide near the user.
• liquid crystal layers may be supported by the waveguide to decrease eye glow.
• the liquid crystal layers may be cholesteric liquid crystal layers.
• Liquid crystal layers may offer narrow band reflection gratings which may offer high diffraction efficiency.
• the liquid crystal layers may be inexpensive to manufacture.
• the liquid crystal layers may be configured in multilayer stacking to cover multiple waveband notches (e.g. R/G/B laser light sources). A chiral dopant may be added to the liquid crystal layers to control grating period.
• an eye glow control layer may be included on the waveguide.
• the eye glow control layer may include polymerizable liquid crystals called Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCPs), also known as reactive mesogens.
• LCPs may have all the usual properties of LC but can also be polymerized to form solid materials with LC alignment and birefringence properties existing in the liquid state being retained when the material is solidified in a polymer.
• UV alignment may be used to align the LC directors into desired directions while the LC is in its liquid state.
• LCPs can enable a range of optical functions such as selective colour reflectors, retardation (quarter wave, half wave etc.) and others.
• LCPs may contain liquid crystalline monomers that such as reactive acrylate end groups which polymerize with one another in the presence of photo-initiators and directional UV light to form a rigid 2D or 3D network.
• An LCP eyeglow control layer may be used in conjunction with other eye glow control layers as discussed throughout this disclosure.
• Exemplary LCP materials are developed by Merck KGaA (Germany).
• the eye glow control layer may be based on tuneable reflection filters using reflective cholesteric reactive mesogen nanopost structures. The reflection wavelength may be dependent on the pitch of the nanoposts, which can be fabricated using printing techniques. Nanoposts may be typically formed as arrays of features of height between 10 micron and 500 nm with pitch in the range of 1-10 micron.
• Output eye glow leakage may be strongly, but not perfectly polarized in waveguide solutions where the output grating may be represented with a single grating.
• strongly polarized eye glow leakage may be minimized using a linear polarizer (e.g. analyzer) placed in front of the waveguide, but at the expense of see through transmission.
• Output gratings with cross multiplexed output gratings e.g. Integrated Dual Axis-expansion IDA designs
• MUX output gratings are at 90 degrees with respect to each other, then the output polarization may be mixed; a linear analyzer will then only serve to partially cut down the eye glow.
• MUX output gratings minimize the k-vector components of each grating in one particular direction (e.g. minimize the vertical component of the k-vector) leaving only horizontal components in opposite directions. Even if the gratings were not completely aligned (in opposite directions) and were arranged such that one direction had stronger output polarization than the orthogonal direction, then use of a linear analyzer would still be beneficial.
• a linear analyzer may not completely block eye glow leakage, although an orientation can be found where the eye glow can be blocked by a factor greater than the loss factor in see through transmission by the linear analyzer.
• the orientation of the eye glow polarization may be strongly aligned with the k-vector in anisotropic output gratings, and orthogonal to the k-vector in anisotropic gratings.
• a dimming layer may be applied to a top surface of the waveguide which may reduce eye glow.
• a dimming layer may also reduce optical see thru transmission as well.
• the dimming layer may be a passive dimming layer or an active dimming layer.
• the active dimming layer may be an electro-chromic or photochromic dimming layer.
• the active dimming layer may provide a temporal transmission variation matched to and synchronized to the luminance of the image content displayed by the projector (e.g. picture generation unit).
• microlouver films may be applied to a top surface of the waveguide which may reduce eye glow.
• microlouver films may be used to suppress eye glow at extreme angles which may be at the limit of the effective angular bandwidth of many of the gratings and thin film coating solutions described throughout this disclosure.
• the microlouver film may be combined with a polarizer.
• Exemplary microlouver films are Light Control films manufactured by 3M Company (Minnesota).

Landscapes

• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Diffracting Gratings Or Hologram Optical Elements (AREA)
• Optical Integrated Circuits (AREA)
• Surface Treatment Of Optical Elements (AREA)
• Optical Filters (AREA)
• Polarising Elements (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=82023421

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (13)

Citations (10)

Family Cites Families (762)