Optical waveguide, display device and near-eye display equipment

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of near-eye display, and provides an optical waveguide, a display device and near-eye display equipment. The coupling-in region, the coupling-out region and the metasurface structure are arranged on the waveguide substrate; the metasurface structure is arranged between the image source screen and the coupling-in area; wherein the metasurface structure is used for carrying out collimation processing on incident light provided by an image source screen to obtain collimated incident light; the coupling area is used for coupling the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate; the coupling-out region is used for coupling the incident light propagating in the waveguide substrate out to human eyes. Under the condition that the optical waveguide has the light ray processing capability corresponding to the optical waveguide system, the projection system and the optical waveguide system can be integrally arranged on the optical waveguide because the metasurface structure arranged on the optical waveguide has the light ray processing capability corresponding to the projection system; the miniaturization of a projection system and an optical waveguide system which are integrally arranged is promoted, so that the miniaturization of near-to-eye display equipment is promoted.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of near-eye display technology, and in particular to an optical waveguide, a display device and a near-eye display equipment. Background Art

[0002] In the related art, the display device of the near-eye display device generally includes an image source screen, a projection collimating lens, and a pupil expansion optical waveguide. Since the projection collimating lens involves more optical components, it is easy to cause the projection collimating lens to be larger in size. When manufacturing the display device of the near-eye display device, it is necessary to precisely assemble the projection collimating lens, the image source screen, and the pupil expansion optical waveguide. In the case where the volume of the projection collimating lens is larger, the volume of the display device of the near-eye display device will also increase accordingly, which is easy to have an adverse effect on the miniaturization of the near-eye display device. Summary of the invention

[0003] The main purpose of the present application is to provide an optical waveguide, a display device and a near-eye display device, aiming to solve the technical problem that the size of the display device of the near-eye display device is large due to the large size of the projection collimating lens, which in turn has an adverse effect on the miniaturization of the near-eye display device.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides an optical waveguide, comprising:

[0005] Waveguide substrate:

[0006] An incoupling region, an outcoupling region and a metasurface structure are arranged on the waveguide substrate; the metasurface structure is arranged between the image source screen and the incoupling region;

[0007] The metasurface structure is used to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen to obtain the collimated incident light; the coupling-in region is used to couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate; and the coupling-out region is used to couple the incident light propagating in the waveguide substrate out to the human eye.

[0008] In a second aspect, the present application further provides a display device, comprising:

[0009] As the aforementioned optical waveguide;

[0010] An image source screen is arranged close to the super-surface structure of the optical waveguide relative to the coupling-in region of the optical waveguide; the image source screen is used to provide incident light to the optical waveguide.

[0011] In a third aspect, the present application also provides a near-eye display device, including: a display device as described above.

[0012] The present application provides an optical waveguide, a display device and a near-eye display apparatus, wherein the optical waveguide comprises: a waveguide substrate; an in-coupling region, an out-coupling region and a metasurface structure arranged on the waveguide substrate; the metasurface structure is arranged between an image source screen and the in-coupling region; wherein the metasurface structure is used to collimate incident light provided by the image source screen to obtain collimated incident light; the in-coupling region is used to couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate; and the out-coupling region is used to couple the incident light propagating in the waveguide substrate out to the human eye.

[0013] In the case where a metasurface structure is arranged on the waveguide substrate of the optical waveguide, since the metasurface structure can play a role in collimating the incident light provided by the image source screen, it is equivalent to that the metasurface structure has the light processing capability corresponding to the projection system, such as the projection collimating lens, and the optical waveguide itself can have the light processing capability corresponding to the optical waveguide system, such as the pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet, then the projection system and the optical waveguide system can be integrated on the optical waveguide. Correspondingly, since the size of the metasurface structure is small, the metasurface structure having the light processing capability corresponding to the projection system is arranged on the optical waveguide, which is conducive to reducing the volume of the integrated projection system and the optical waveguide system, thereby promoting the miniaturization of the integrated projection system and the optical waveguide system. In addition, the optical waveguide can be arranged on the display device and the near-eye display device. In the case where the optical waveguide has the light processing capability corresponding to the projection system and the optical waveguide system, respectively, there is no need to arrange the projection system in the display device and the near-eye display device, which is conducive to reducing the volume of the display device and reducing the volume of the near-eye display device, thereby promoting the miniaturization of the display device and the near-eye display device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the projection collimating lens involved in the related technology

[0016] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an optical waveguide provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical waveguide involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical waveguide involved in another embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a display device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 6 is a manufacturing flow chart of a display device involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 7 is a manufacturing flow chart of a display device involved in the related art;

[0022] Figure 8 is a structural schematic diagram of a near-eye display device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 9a to Figure 9b It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a near-eye display device provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0024] Explanation of the reference numerals: 10, near-eye display device; 100, display device; 110, optical waveguide; 111, waveguide substrate; 112, coupling-in region; 113, coupling-out region; 114, metasurface structure; 120, image source screen; 200, device bracket. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0026] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only examples and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps may also be decomposed, combined or partially merged, so the actual execution order may change according to actual conditions.

[0027] In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, some embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0028] In the related art, the display device of the near-eye display device may include an image source screen, a projection collimator lens, and a pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet. The projection collimator lens is equivalent to the projection system in the near-eye display device and / or the display device of the near-eye display device, and the pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet is equivalent to the optical waveguide system in the near-eye display device and / or the display device of the near-eye display device. For example, the incident light provided by the image source screen is collimated by the projection collimator lens and then coupled into the pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet, and then transmitted by the pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet into the human eye. Figure 1As shown, the projection collimating lens is generally obtained by precision assembly of multiple lenses, which easily leads to a larger volume of the projection collimating lens. For example, the multiple lenses are subjected to glass cold processing, molded glass or injection molded plastic and other manufacturing processes to manufacture the projection collimating lens. When the volume of the projection collimating lens is large, the volume of the display device is correspondingly large, which is not conducive to improving the manufacturing convenience of the miniaturized near-eye display device.

[0029] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an optical waveguide 110 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The optical waveguide 110 may be provided in the display device 100, and the display device 100 may be provided in the near-eye display device 10, so as to realize the display capability of the display device 100 and the near-eye display device 10. The near-eye display device 10 may include augmented reality (AR) glasses, virtual reality (VR) glasses, mixed reality (MR) glasses, AR helmets, VR helmets, MR helmets, etc., which are not limited here.

[0030] like Figure 2 As shown, the optical waveguide 110 includes a waveguide substrate 111; a coupling-in region 112, a coupling-out region 113 and a metasurface structure 114 arranged on the waveguide substrate 111; the metasurface structure 114 is arranged between the image source screen 120 and the coupling-in region 112; wherein the metasurface structure 114 is used to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 to obtain the collimated incident light; the coupling-in region 112 is used to couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate 111; and the coupling-out region 113 is used to couple the incident light propagating in the waveguide substrate 111 out to the human eye.

[0031] The image source screen 120 can provide incident light to the optical waveguide 110. The incident light can be irradiated onto the metasurface structure 114 disposed on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110, and the metasurface structure 114 can collimate the incident light to obtain a collimated incident light. Since the metasurface structure 114 is disposed close to the coupling-in region 112, the collimated incident light can be irradiated onto the coupling-in region 112, and coupled into the waveguide substrate 111 after being acted upon by the coupling-in region 112. When the collimated incident light meets the preset total reflection propagation condition, the collimated incident light can be totally reflected inside the waveguide substrate 111 and propagated to the outcoupling region 113, and coupled out to the human eye through the outcoupling region 113. Accordingly, the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 may correspond to the image provided by the image source screen 120. Then, when the outcoupling region 113 of the optical waveguide 110 couples the incident light transmitted by the waveguide substrate 111 to the human eye, the user can view the image provided by the image source screen 120. Based on this, the optical waveguide 110 may have display capabilities. Accordingly, the optical waveguide 110 may have a light processing capability corresponding to the optical waveguide system included in the near-eye display device and / or display apparatus in the related art, and the metasurface structure 114 provided on the optical waveguide 110 may have a processing capability corresponding to the projection system included in the near-eye display device and / or display apparatus in the related art. Then, the setting of the optical waveguide 110 may realize the integrated setting of the projection system and the optical waveguide system.

[0032] For example, the metasurface structure 114 can be used to indicate a two-dimensional plane lens structure. The metasurface structure 114 can include a periodic or quasi-periodic subwavelength unit structure. The unit structure included in the metasurface structure 114 can have a micrometer or nanostructure size, and the size of the metasurface structure 114 is correspondingly smaller. The metasurface structure 114 can be used to achieve the regulation of properties such as polarization, phase, amplitude, etc. of light.

[0033] In an exemplary embodiment, the metasurface structure 114 is formed based on a planar two-dimensional (2D) metamaterial with a sub-wavelength thickness. Metamaterials are used to indicate materials with special physical properties. The properties of metamaterials are superior to traditional materials, and the transmission and reflection properties of light can be regulated by designing the microstructure of the metamaterial. For example, when designing the metasurface structure 114, the metamaterial can be processed into a two-dimensional planar structure with a very small thickness to form the metasurface structure 114.

[0034] Since the metasurface structure 114 has the ability to regulate the polarization, phase, amplitude and other properties of light, the metasurface structure 114 of the optical waveguide 110 has the ability to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 .

[0035] Exemplarily, the phase distribution of the metasurface structure 114 may be designed so that the optical waveguide 110 may collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 using the metasurface structure 114 .

[0036] In some embodiments, the phase distribution of the metasurface structure 114 satisfies:

[0037]

[0038] Wherein, λ is used to indicate the wavelength of the incident light irradiating the metasurface structure 114 , f is used to indicate the focal length of the metasurface structure 114 , and x and y are used to indicate the spatial coordinates of the center point of the metasurface structure 114 .

[0039] The phase distribution of the metasurface structure 114 satisfies In this case, the optical waveguide 110 can phase modulate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 through the metasurface structure 114, so as to focus the incident light by changing the shape of the wavefront of the incident light, thereby achieving collimation processing of the incident light.

[0040] In some embodiments, the metasurface structure 114 includes a metasurface or a metalens.

[0041] For example, a metasurface can be used to indicate an artificial layered material with a thickness less than the wavelength. The metasurface can realize flexible and effective control of the polarization, amplitude, phase, polarization mode, propagation mode and other characteristics of electromagnetic waves. According to the internal structural form of the metasurface, the metasurface can be divided into a microstructure with a lateral subwavelength and a uniform film layer. According to the type of regulated waves, the metasurface can be divided into an optical metasurface, an acoustic metasurface, a mechanical metasurface, etc. Taking the optical metasurface as an example, the optical metasurface can control the polarization, phase, amplitude, frequency and other characteristics of electromagnetic waves through subwavelength microstructures, such as adjusting the polarization, phase, amplitude and other characteristics of the incident light provided by the image source screen 120.

[0042] For example, a superlens, which can also be called a meta-lens, is a flat lens with a focusing function. A superlens can be made based on an optical element that focuses light on a supersurface, and has a focusing ability that exceeds the diffraction limit and the ability to capture light signals. A superlens uses a supersurface to focus light, and the supersurface is its key component. Superlenses have the advantages of thinner volume, lighter weight, lower cost, better imaging, and easier integration, providing a potential solution for compact integrated supersurface structures 114. And by adjusting the shape, rotation direction, height and other parameters of the structure, the properties of light such as polarization, phase and amplitude can be controlled, such as the polarization, phase and amplitude of the incident light provided by the image source screen 120. Superlenses can be used to make up for the limitations of ordinary lenses that are limited by the diffraction limit and focus light into small points.

[0043] In the case where the optical waveguide 110 is provided with a metasurface structure 114, the optical waveguide 110 can utilize the metasurface structure 114, such as the metasurface or the metalens, to respectively control the polarization, phase, amplitude and other properties of light, so as to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120. Accordingly, since the metasurface structure 114, such as the metasurface or the metalens, is respectively small in size, it is beneficial to reduce the volume of the optical waveguide 110, so as to promote the miniaturization of the optical waveguide 110.

[0044] In this way, based on the setting of the metasurface structure 114 in the optical waveguide 110, the optical waveguide 110 can be equipped with the ability to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120, and obtain the collimated incident light. The collimated incident light can be coupled out to the human eye through the coupling-in area 112 and the coupling-out area 113 in sequence, so that the optical waveguide 110 can have the ability to display the image provided by the image source screen 120. Based on this, the optical waveguide 110 can realize the integrated setting of the projection system and the optical waveguide system. When the volume of the metasurface structure 114 is small, it is beneficial to reduce the volume of the optical waveguide 110, thereby promoting the miniaturization of the optical waveguide 110.

[0045] Exemplarily, when the coupling-in region 112, the coupling-out region 113 and the metasurface structure 114 are arranged on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110, the arrangement positions of the coupling-in region 112, the coupling-out region 113 and the metasurface structure 114 on the waveguide substrate 111 can be designed.

[0046] In some embodiments, the waveguide substrate 111 includes a first side surface and a second side surface that are opposite to each other; the first side surface and the second side surface are used to set at least one of the coupling-in region 112 , the coupling-out region 113 , and the metasurface structure 114 .

[0047] For example, when the coupling-in region 112, the coupling-out region 113, and the metasurface structure 114 all have certain sizes, in order to ensure that the first side surface and the second side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 can be used to set at least one of the coupling-in region 112, the coupling-out region 113, and the metasurface structure 114, and to ensure the display capability of the optical waveguide 110, the first side surface and the second side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 can be the two longer side surfaces of the waveguide substrate 111. Accordingly, the other side surfaces of the waveguide substrate 111 except the first side surface and the second side surface can be the shorter side surfaces of the waveguide substrate 111.

[0048] In an exemplary embodiment, one side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 may be defined as the first side surface, and a side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 opposite to the first side surface may be defined as the second side surface. Figure 2, when the first side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 is located at the upper side of the waveguide substrate 111, the second side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 may be located at the lower side of the waveguide substrate 111. Of course, this is not limited to this. When the first side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 is located at the lower side of the waveguide substrate 111, the second side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 may be located at the upper side of the waveguide substrate 111, which is not limited here. The first side surface and the second side surface of the waveguide substrate 111 may be preset or may be set by the user, which is not limited here.

[0049] When the coupling-in region 112 , the coupling-out region 113 , and the metasurface structure 114 are provided on the waveguide substrate 111 , the coupling-in region 112 , the coupling-out region 113 , and the metasurface structure 114 may be provided on at least one of the first side surface and the second side surface.

[0050] In some embodiments, the metasurface structure 114 is disposed on one of the first side and the second side, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 are disposed on the other of the first side and the second side, and the coupling-in region 112 is a first reflective optical structure.

[0051] like Figure 3 As shown, the metasurface structure 114 can be located on different sides of the waveguide substrate 111 from the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113. For example, the metasurface structure 114 can be arranged on one of the first side and the second side, and the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 can be arranged on the other of the first side and the second side. Among them, the coupling-in region 112 is a first reflective optical structure. In the case where the metasurface structure 114 is arranged between the image source screen 120 and the coupling-in region 112, the metasurface structure 114 can collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 and propagate it to the coupling-in region 112. Accordingly, the coupling-in region 112 can couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate 111 through the light reflection ability of the first reflective optical structure, so as to propagate through the waveguide substrate 111 to the coupling-out region 113 located on a different side from the metasurface structure 114.

[0052] In some embodiments, the metasurface structure 114 and the out-coupling region 113 are disposed on one of the first side and the second side, the in-coupling region 112 is disposed on the other of the first side and the second side, and the in-coupling region 112 is a first reflective optical structure.

[0053] like Figure 2As shown, the metasurface structure 114 can be located on the same side of the waveguide substrate 111 as the outcoupling region 113, and on a different side of the waveguide substrate 111 as the incoupling region 112. The metasurface structure 114 and the outcoupling region 113 can be arranged on one of the first side and the second side, and the incoupling region 112 can be arranged on the other of the first side and the second side. The incoupling region 112 is a first reflective optical structure. When the metasurface structure 114 is arranged between the image source screen 120 and the incoupling region 112, the metasurface structure 114 can collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 and then propagate it to the incoupling region 112. Accordingly, the incoupling region 112 can couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate 111 through the light reflection ability of the first reflective optical structure, so that it propagates through the waveguide substrate 111 to the outcoupling region 113 located on the same side as the metasurface structure 114.

[0054] In an exemplary embodiment, when the metasurface structure 114 and the coupling region 112 are arranged on different sides, the coupling region 112 may be a first reflective optical structure. The first reflective optical structure may include a reflective grating, but is not limited thereto and is not limited here.

[0055] In some embodiments, the metasurface structure 114 is disposed on one of the first side and the second side, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 are disposed between the first side and the second side, and the setting direction of the coupling-in region 112 is different from the setting direction of the coupling-out region 113, and the coupling-in region 112 is a second reflective optical structure.

[0056] like Figure 4 As shown, the super surface structure 114 can be arranged on one of the first side surface and the second side surface. The coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 can be arranged between the first side surface and the second side surface, and the setting direction of the coupling-in region 112 is different from the setting direction of the coupling-out region 113. Among them, the coupling-in region 113 is a second reflective optical structure. In the case where the super surface structure 114 is arranged between the image source screen 120 and the coupling-in region 112, the super surface structure 114 can collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 and propagate it to the coupling-in region 112. Accordingly, the coupling-in region 112 can couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate 111 through the light reflection ability of the second reflective optical structure, so as to propagate to the coupling-out region 113 located between the first side surface and the second side surface through the waveguide substrate 111.

[0057] In an exemplary embodiment, when the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 are arranged between the first side and the second side of the waveguide substrate 111, the optical waveguide 110 may include a geometric optical waveguide 110, and the coupling-in region 112 may be a second reflective optical structure. The second reflective optical structure may include a coupling-in reflection surface. Accordingly, the coupling-out region 113 may include at least one selective coupling-out reflection surface. The incident light provided by the image source screen 120 may be irradiated onto the coupling-in reflection surface after being collimated by the metasurface structure 114. After being coupled into the interior of the waveguide substrate 111 through the coupling-in reflection surface, and being totally reflected and propagated to at least one selective coupling-out reflection surface, it is coupled out of the waveguide substrate 111 through at least one selective coupling-out reflection surface, and then coupled out to the human eye. Of course, this is not limited to this, and no limitation is made here.

[0058] Based on this, when setting the coupling-in region 112 , the coupling-out region 113 and the metasurface structure 114 on the waveguide substrate 111 , they can be set in different ways, which is beneficial to improving the design flexibility of the optical waveguide 110 .

[0059] Exemplarily, the metasurface structure 114 , the coupling-in region 112 , and the coupling-out region 113 are disposed on the waveguide substrate 111 using a preset processing technique.

[0060] For example, in the process of setting the supersurface structure 114, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110, the same preset processing technology can be used to process the supersurface structure 114, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 to simplify the processing flow of the optical waveguide 110, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency of the optical waveguide 110.

[0061] In some embodiments, the preset processing technology includes at least one of a double-sided etching process, a double-sided imprinting process, and a single-sided etching and single-sided imprinting process.

[0062] Since the size of the supersurface structure 114 is small, and the sizes of the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 are also small, when the supersurface structure 114, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 are set on the waveguide substrate 111, at least one of a double-sided etching process, a double-sided imprinting process, and a single-sided etching and single-sided imprinting process can be used to set the supersurface structure 114, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110.

[0063] For example, at least one of the coupling-in region 112, the coupling-out region 113, and the metasurface structure 114 can be provided on the first side and the second side of the waveguide substrate 111 by at least one of a double-sided etching process, a double-sided imprinting process, and a single-sided etching and single-sided imprinting process. Of course, the preset processing technology is not limited thereto and is not limited here.

[0064] In this way, through the preset processing technology, the metasurface structure 114, the coupling-in region 112 and the coupling-out region 113 can be set on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110, which is beneficial to simplify the manufacturing process of the optical waveguide 110 and improve the manufacturing efficiency of the optical waveguide 110.

[0065] The optical waveguide 110 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: a waveguide substrate 111; a coupling-in region 112, a coupling-out region 113 and a metasurface structure 114 arranged on the waveguide substrate 111; the metasurface structure 114 is arranged between the image source screen 120 and the coupling-in region 112; wherein the metasurface structure 114 is used to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 to obtain the collimated incident light; the coupling-in region 112 is used to couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate 111; and the coupling-out region 113 is used to couple the incident light propagating in the waveguide substrate 111 to the human eye.

[0066] In the case where the metasurface structure 114 is disposed on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110, since the metasurface structure 114 can collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen 120, it is equivalent to that the metasurface structure 114 has the light processing capability corresponding to the projection system, such as a projection collimating lens, and the optical waveguide 110 itself can have the light processing capability corresponding to the optical waveguide system, such as the pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet, so the projection system and the optical waveguide system can be integrated on the optical waveguide 110. Accordingly, since the size of the metasurface structure 114 is small, the metasurface structure 114 having the light processing capability corresponding to the projection system is disposed on the optical waveguide 110, which is conducive to reducing the volume of the integrated projection system and the optical waveguide system, thereby promoting the miniaturization of the integrated projection system and the optical waveguide system. Furthermore, the optical waveguide 110 can be disposed on the display device 100 and the near-eye display device 10. When the optical waveguide 110 has the light processing capabilities corresponding to the projection system and the optical waveguide system, there is no need to set the projection system in the display device 100 and the near-eye display device 10, which is beneficial for reducing the volume of the display device 100 and the volume of the near-eye display device 10, thereby promoting the miniaturization of the display device 100 and the miniaturization of the near-eye display device 10.

[0067] See also Figure 5 , Figure 5 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a display device 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0068] like Figure 5As shown, the display device 100 includes the aforementioned optical waveguide 110; an image source screen 120, which is disposed close to the metasurface structure 114 of the optical waveguide 110 relative to the coupling region 112 of the optical waveguide 110; and the image source screen 120 is used to provide incident light to the optical waveguide 110.

[0069] In the case where the image source screen 120 of the display device 100 provides incident light to the optical waveguide 110 of the display device 100, since the image source screen 120 is arranged closer to the metasurface structure 114 of the optical waveguide 110 than the coupling-in region 112 of the optical waveguide 110, the incident light can be preferentially irradiated onto the metasurface structure 114. When there is incident light irradiating the metasurface structure 114 of the optical waveguide 110, the metasurface structure 114 can collimate the incident light to obtain a collimated incident light. Accordingly, the collimated incident light can propagate to the coupling-in region 112 of the optical waveguide 110, and after being coupled into the interior of the waveguide substrate 111 through the coupling-in region 112, it propagates to the coupling-out region 113 inside the waveguide substrate 111 and then couples out to the human eye. Since the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 can correspond to the image provided by the image source screen 120, when the outcoupling region 113 couples the corresponding incident light to the human eye, the user can view the image corresponding to the incident light, and the display capability of the display device 100 can be realized. Based on the setting of the metasurface structure 114 in the optical waveguide 110, the optical waveguide 110 can have the corresponding light processing capabilities of the projection system and the optical waveguide system. When the optical waveguide 110 is set in the display device 100, the projection system and the optical waveguide system can be integrated in the display device 100, which is conducive to promoting the miniaturization of the integrated projection system and the optical waveguide system. In addition, since the coupling region 112, the outcoupling region 113 and the metasurface structure 114 set on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110 are all small in size, it is conducive to reducing the volume of the optical waveguide 110, thereby reducing the volume of the display device 100, thereby facilitating the manufacturing convenience of the miniaturized display device 100. The specific principle and implementation of the optical waveguide 110 may refer to the optical waveguide 110 of the aforementioned embodiment, and will not be described in detail here.

[0070] In some embodiments, Figure 6As shown, when manufacturing the display device 100, the manufacturing process of the display device 100 may include the manufacturing process of the optical waveguide 110 and the assembly process between the optical waveguide 110 and the image display screen. The manufacturing process of the optical waveguide 110 may include the design of the optical waveguide 110, the template processing corresponding to the optical waveguide 110, the production of the optical waveguide 110, and the performance detection of the optical waveguide 110. Among them, the design of the optical waveguide 110, for example, includes designing at least one of the position, quantity, and element type of the coupling-in region 112, the coupling-out region 113, and the metasurface structure 114 set on the waveguide substrate 111. The template processing corresponding to the optical waveguide 110, for example, includes producing the mold required for processing the optical waveguide 110 according to the preset processing technology, so as to provide for the subsequent mass production of the same type of optical waveguide 110. The production of the optical waveguide 110, for example, includes producing the optical waveguide 110 according to the mold corresponding to the optical waveguide 110. In the process of producing the optical waveguide 110, for example, a preset processing technology, such as at least one of a double-sided etching process, a double-sided imprinting process, and a single-sided etching and single-sided imprinting process, can be used to produce the optical waveguide 110, which is not limited here. The performance detection of the optical waveguide 110, for example, includes detecting whether the optical waveguide 110 has the ability to collimate the incident light, the coupling-in capability, and the coupling-out capability, so as to determine whether the optical waveguide 110 has the display capability. In the case where it is determined that the optical waveguide 110 has the display capability, the optical waveguide 110 and the image source screen 120 can be assembled to obtain the corresponding display device 100. The display device 100 also has the ability to display the image provided by the image source screen 120.

[0071] In the related art, the display device may include an image source screen, a projection collimating lens, and a pupil expansion optical waveguide. Figure 7 As shown, the manufacturing process of the display device involved in the related technology includes the manufacturing process of the lens, the projection optical machine assembly process corresponding to the lens and the image source screen, the manufacturing process of the optical waveguide sheet, and the assembly process of the display device corresponding to the optical machine and the optical waveguide sheet. Among them, the manufacturing process of the lens includes lens design, multi-lens structure design, mold design corresponding to the lens, lens assembly, and lens detection. The manufacturing process of the optical waveguide sheet includes optical waveguide sheet design, template processing corresponding to the optical waveguide sheet, optical waveguide sheet production, and optical waveguide sheet detection. Accordingly, after the projection collimating lens is manufactured, it is necessary to assemble the projection collimating lens and the image source screen into a projection optical machine through a precision machining process, such as a high-precision AA process. In addition, the projection optical machine needs to be precisely assembled with the pupil expansion optical waveguide sheet to obtain the corresponding display device, so that the display device can have display capabilities. The manufacturing process of the display device designed by the related technology is cumbersome and has a long cycle, and the volume of the projection collimating lens is large, which easily leads to a correspondingly large volume of the display device.

[0072] Compared with the manufacturing process of the display device in the related art, the present application simplifies the projection collimating lens into a metasurface structure 114 provided on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110, and can integrate the projection system and the optical waveguide system on the optical waveguide 110, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the optical waveguide 110 and reducing the volume of the optical waveguide 110. Correspondingly, the manufacturing process of the display device 100 can be simplified and the volume of the display device 100 can be reduced. Based on this, the display device 100 of the present application can be used to prepare the near-eye display device 10 in the future, which is conducive to simplifying the manufacturing process of the near-eye display device 10 and reducing the volume of the near-eye display device 10.

[0073] The display device 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: the aforementioned optical waveguide 110; an image source screen 120, wherein the image source screen 120 is disposed close to the metasurface structure 114 of the optical waveguide 110 relative to the coupling region 112 of the optical waveguide 110; and the image source screen 120 is used to provide incident light to the optical waveguide 110.

[0074] Based on the image source screen 120 of the display device 100 being arranged close to the metasurface structure 114 of the optical waveguide 110 in the display device 100, when the image source screen 120 provides incident light to the optical waveguide 110, it can provide incident light to the metasurface structure 114. Accordingly, the metasurface structure 114 can collimate the incident light and then propagate it to the coupling-in region 112 of the optical waveguide 110, and then couple it into the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110 through the coupling-in region 112 and then propagate it to the coupling-out region 113 of the optical waveguide 110, so as to be coupled out to the human eye through the coupling-out region 113, and then the user can view the image corresponding to the incident light provided by the image source screen 120, so that the display device 100 has display capability, and the display device 100 can realize the integrated setting of the projection system and the optical waveguide system through the optical waveguide 110. Accordingly, when the size of the metasurface structure 114 is small, it is beneficial to reduce the volume of the optical waveguide 110 , and further reduce the volume of the display device 100 , thereby facilitating the miniaturization process of the display device 100 .

[0075] See also Figure 8 , Figure 8 It is a structural schematic diagram of a near-eye display device 10 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0076] like Figure 8 As shown, the near-eye display device 10 includes the display apparatus 100 as described above.

[0077] Since the display device 100 has display capability, when the display device 100 is provided in the near-eye display device 10, the near-eye display device 10 may also have display capability. In addition, the near-eye display device 10 may realize an integrated setting of the projection system and the optical waveguide system through the optical waveguide 110 in the display device 100. The specific principle and implementation of the display device 100 may refer to the display device 100 in the aforementioned embodiment, and will not be described in detail here.

[0078] In some embodiments, the display device 100 of the near-eye display device 10 can provide incident light to the optical waveguide 110 through the image source screen 120. The metasurface structure 114 provided on the waveguide substrate 111 of the optical waveguide 110 can collimate the incident light to obtain the collimated incident light. The collimated incident light can be irradiated to the coupling-in region 112 on the waveguide substrate 111, so as to be coupled into the inside of the waveguide substrate 111 through the coupling-in region 112, and after propagating to the coupling-out region 113 inside the waveguide substrate 111, it is coupled out to the human eye of the user wearing the near-eye display device 10 through the coupling-out region 113. Since the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 corresponds to the image provided by the image source screen 120, when the coupling-out region 113 couples the corresponding incident light to the human eye, the near-eye display device 10 can have near-eye display capability.

[0079] The near-eye display device 10 may be provided with more devices other than the display device 100 , such as an eye tracking device, a gesture recognition device, a voice recognition device, etc., which are not limited here.

[0080] In some embodiments, the near-eye display device 10 further includes a device support 200 , which is disposed close to the image source screen 120 of the display device 100 relative to the optical waveguide 110 in the display device 100 .

[0081] For example, since the user needs to wear the near-eye display device 10 in front of the user's eyes, the near-eye display device 10 needs to be wearable. Based on this, the near-eye display device 10 can be provided with a device bracket 200, so that the near-eye display device 10 can be worn in front of the user's eyes through the support function of the device bracket 200.

[0082] like Figure 9a as well as Figure 9bAs shown, the image source screen 120 can be disposed between the device support 200 and the optical waveguide 110, so that the device support 200 can make the near-eye display device 10 wearable while not blocking the incident light provided by the image source screen 120 of the display device 100 to the optical waveguide 110 of the display device 100. Accordingly, in the case where the image source screen 120 is disposed between the device support 200 and the optical waveguide 110, the device support 200 and the display device 100 can also be compactly arranged. If the device support 200, the image source screen 120 and the optical waveguide 110 can be compactly arranged, it is beneficial to reduce the volume of the near-eye display device 10, so as to promote the miniaturization of the near-eye display device 10.

[0083] The near-eye display device 10 provided in an embodiment of the present application includes: the aforementioned display apparatus 100 .

[0084] Since the display device 100 can have display capability, the near-eye display device 10 can also have display capability when the display device 100 is provided. In addition, the near-eye display device 10 can realize the integrated setting of the projection system and the optical waveguide system through the optical waveguide 110 in the display device 100. Accordingly, when the volume of the display device 100 is small, it is beneficial to reduce the volume of the near-eye display device 10, thereby facilitating the miniaturization process of the near-eye display device 10.

[0085] It should be understood that the terms used in this application specification are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the application. As used in this application specification and the appended claims, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include plural forms.

[0086] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used in the specification of this application and the appended claims refers to any combination of one or more of the associated listed items and all possible combinations, including these combinations. It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or system including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or system. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "including a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or system including the element.

[0087] The serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are for description only and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments. The above description is only a specific implementation mode of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and these modifications or replacements should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An optical waveguide, characterized in that: include: Waveguide substrate: An incoupling region, an outcoupling region and a metasurface structure are arranged on the waveguide substrate; the metasurface structure is arranged between the image source screen and the incoupling region; The metasurface structure is used to collimate the incident light provided by the image source screen to obtain the collimated incident light; the coupling-in region is used to couple the collimated incident light into the waveguide substrate; and the coupling-out region is used to couple the incident light propagating in the waveguide substrate out to the human eye.

2. The optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that The waveguide substrate comprises a first side and a second side opposite to each other; The first side surface and the second side surface are used to set at least one of the coupling-in region, the coupling-out region, and the metasurface structure.

3. The optical waveguide according to claim 2, characterized in that The metasurface structure is arranged on one of the first side and the second side, the coupling-in region and the coupling-out region are arranged on the other of the first side and the second side, and the coupling-in region is a first reflective optical structure; and / or, The metasurface structure and the out-coupling region are arranged on one of the first side and the second side, the in-coupling region is arranged on the other of the first side and the second side, and the in-coupling region is a first reflective optical structure; and / or, The metasurface structure is arranged on one of the first side surface and the second side surface, the coupling-in region and the coupling-out region are arranged between the first side surface and the second side surface, the setting direction of the coupling-in region is different from the setting direction of the coupling-out region, and the coupling-in region is a second reflective optical structure.

4. The optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that The phase distribution of the metasurface structure satisfies: Among them, λ is used to indicate the wavelength of the incident light irradiating the metasurface structure, f is used to indicate the focal length of the metasurface structure, and x and y are used to indicate the spatial coordinates of the center point of the metasurface structure.

5. The optical waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The metasurface structure includes a metasurface or a metalens.

6. The optical waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The metasurface structure, the coupling-in region and the coupling-out region are arranged on the waveguide substrate by using a preset processing technology.

7. The optical waveguide according to claim 6, characterized in that The preset processing technology includes at least one of a double-sided etching process, a double-sided embossing process, and a single-sided etching and single-sided embossing process.

8. A display device, characterized in that: include: The optical waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 7; An image source screen is arranged close to the super-surface structure of the optical waveguide relative to the coupling-in region of the optical waveguide; the image source screen is used to provide incident light to the optical waveguide.

9. A near-eye display device, characterized in that: Comprising the display device as claimed in claim 8.

10. The near-eye display device according to claim 9, characterized in that: include: The near-eye display device also includes a device bracket, which is arranged close to the image source screen of the display device relative to the optical waveguide in the display device.

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