Compact Stereo Waveguide Display Based on a Unidirectional Polarization-Multiplexed Metagrating In-Coupler

Published

March 22, 2021

Author(s)

Zeyang Liu, Cheng Zhang, Wenqi Zhu, Zhanhua Huang, Henri Lezec, Amit Agrawal, L. Jay Guo

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) vision in augmented reality (AR) displays is attractive as it enables a highly immersive and realistic viewer experience. Current approaches create 3D vision by projecting stereoscopic images to the eyes using two separate projection systems, which are inevitably bulky to integrate for wearable devices. Here, we design a compact stereo waveguide AR display system using one piece of thin flat glass integrated with a polarization-multiplexed metagrating in-coupler and two diffractive grating out-couplers. Incident light of opposite circular polarization states carrying stereoscopic images are first steered by the metagrating coupler to opposite propagation directions in the flat-glass waveguide, subsequently extracted by the diffractive grating couplers and finally received by the two eyes, forming a 3D stereo vision. Experimentally, we fabricate a display prototype and demonstrate independent projection of two polarization-multiplexed stereoscopic images. This work paves a new path towards implementation of high-performance stereo displays with compact size, light weight, and multi-color compatibility.

Citation

ACS Photonics

Volume

8

Issue

4

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.0c01885

Local Download

Citation

Liu, Z. , Zhang, C. , Zhu, W. , Huang, Z. , Lezec, H. , Agrawal, A. and Guo, L. (2021), Compact Stereo Waveguide Display Based on a Unidirectional Polarization-Multiplexed Metagrating In-Coupler, ACS Photonics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.0c01885, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=931689 (Accessed October 17, 2025)