Abstract
Recently, metasurfaces composed of artificially fabricated subwavelength structures have shown remarkable potential for the manipulation of light with unprecedented functionality. Here, we first demonstrate a metasurface application to realize a compact near-eye display system for augmented reality with a wide field of view. A key component is a see-through metalens with an anisotropic response, a high numerical aperture with a large aperture, and broadband characteristics. By virtue of these high-performance features, the metalens can overcome the existing bottleneck imposed by the narrow field of view and bulkiness of current systems, which hinders their usability and further development. Experimental demonstrations with a nanoimprinted large-area see-through metalens are reported, showing full-color imaging with a wide field of view and feasibility of mass production. This work on novel metasurface applications shows great potential for the development of optical display systems for future consumer electronics and computer vision applications.
Highlights
Metasurfaces composed of artificially fabricated subwavelength structures have shown remarkable potential for the manipulation of light with unprecedented functionality
For the realization of ultimate Augmented reality (AR) glasses, it is necessary to provide an ultra-wide field of view (FOV), a compact form factor and a sufficient eyebox in which the intact image can be observed in the pupil, but no clear solution to all of these problems has yet emerged
In conventional AR glasses, light from a real-world scene passes through transparent optical elements such as half spherical mirrors, diffractive optical elements (DOEs), and holographic optical elements (HOEs)
Summary
Metasurfaces composed of artificially fabricated subwavelength structures have shown remarkable potential for the manipulation of light with unprecedented functionality. We propose a metasurface application that enables an AR near-eye display with an ultra-wide FOV, full-color imaging, high resolution and a sufficiently large eyebox, which has not yet been reported To this end, a see-through metalens with a high NA, a large-area, broadband characteristics, and an engineered anisotropic optical response is proposed. By virtue of the anisotropic optical response, the see-through metalens can perform two different optical functions: it can serve as an imaging lens for virtual information and as transparent glass through which to view a real-world scene Since these two optical functions can be provided at the same time, the see-through metalens can be positioned right in front of the eye without any optical components like conventional glasses. It is worth noting that this research demonstrates the great potential of metasurfaces for practical application in our daily lives
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