Design of an augmented reality display based on polarization grating*

Abstract

A new optical system for an augmented reality (AR) display is proposed in this paper. The optical system mainly includes a ray deflector, coupling input grating, optical waveguide, and coupling output grating. Both the ray deflector and the coupling input grating are designed based on the diffraction characteristics of the polarization grating, and the coupling output grating is the Bragg reflection grating. Compared with other AR schemes, this AR optical system not only reduces the number of projections from two to one, but also improves the efficiency of light coupling into the optical waveguides. The energy loss is reduced by utilizing the single-order diffraction characteristics of the polarization grating in its coupling input structure. The light deflector uses the polarization selectivity of the polarization grating and the characteristics of the rotating light of the twisted nematic liquid crystal layer to realize beam deflection. The working principle of the optical system is experimentally and theoretically demonstrated.