SUMMARY
UCLA researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have developed a single-layer diffractive optical element with glass waveguide that is cheap and easy to manufacture with enhanced light filtering efficacy.
BACKGROUND
Due to the growing ubiquity of reality augmenting devices, optical focusing components are becoming essential to modern gaming and electronics industries. These components are made using optical elements and layered glass waveguides, with each layer interacting with a specific wavelength of light. While effective, manufacturing of the components can be difficult and the resulting components have suboptimal image resolution due to the fact that waveguide diffraction patterns aren’t selective to a single wavelength. New methods are needed to fabricate and manufacture optical focusing components more efficiently and with higher resolution to meet the growing utility of reality augmenting devices.
INNOVATION
UCLA researchers have developed a high resolution optical focusing component that is easy to produce. The component is composed of a diffractive optical element with a single layer waveguide. The component can be fabricated using CMOS-compatible deposition, lithography, and etching techniques. In addition, by using a single layer waveguide, the potential for diffraction interference is eliminated, increasing the component resolution with several prototype devices demonstrating input and output at 1080P resolution.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS
- Virtual reality gaming
- Educational tools
- Driving
- Biomedicine
- Mobile electronics
ADVANTAGES
- Single layer removes interference
- Easy to fabricate
- Multiple fabrication methods
- High resolution
- Cheaper than tandem devices
STATUS OF DEVELOPMENT
Three prototype devices have been successfully developed and light propagated through the device has been rigorously simulated.