Waveguide device and augmented reality apparatus
By combining a thin-film waveguide layer and a lens substrate, the problem of achieving optimal configuration in waveguide applications is solved, resulting in a high-yield, low-cost, and high-reliability waveguide device suitable for augmented reality devices.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SHENZHEN HUYNEW TECH CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-05-21
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-03
AI Technical Summary
Existing waveguide devices are difficult to optimize in applications, and suffer from problems such as production difficulties, low yield, high cost, and lack of durability.
The structure employs a combination of a thin-film waveguide layer, a lens substrate, a blocking layer, and a compensation layer. The thin-film waveguide layer includes a dielectric thin film and a grating. The lens substrate is independent of the light transmission function. The structural parameters are precisely controlled through semiconductor technology. The blocking layer prevents beam leakage, and the compensation layer corrects optical errors.
This achieves a more reasonable configuration that better meets application requirements, improves preparation yield and durability, reduces costs, and facilitates large-scale production and market promotion.
Smart Images
Figure CN224457055U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model relates to the field of augmented reality display technology, and in particular to a waveguide device and an augmented reality device. Background Technology
[0002] In the field of augmented reality devices, the waveguide layer is a key component, and its performance and characteristics are particularly important to the overall performance of the device. Currently, waveguides mainly adopt a parallel substrate architecture, where the substrate serves as both the light transmission medium and the lens substrate. However, in practical applications, the light transmission medium generally requires high refractive index and low loss, while the lens substrate requires maturity, stability, durability, high reliability, and light weight. This makes it difficult to achieve optimal configuration in current waveguide applications. For example, using resin lenses leads to production difficulties and low yield, while using high-refractive-index light transmission materials results in problems such as low maturity, lack of durability, and high cost.
[0003] Therefore, improvements to existing technologies are necessary. Utility Model Content
[0004] This invention provides a waveguide device and an augmented reality device to solve the problems existing in the prior art.
[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution:
[0006] A waveguide device includes a projection module and a waveguide module;
[0007] The projection module is used to project the image source;
[0008] The waveguide module is used to conduct and emit an image beam, and includes a thin-film waveguide layer, a lens substrate, a blocking layer, and a compensation layer for compensating the emitted image beam.
[0009] The thin-film waveguide layer includes a dielectric thin film, and a coupling grating, a folding grating and a coupling output grating disposed on the dielectric thin film. After the image source is projected by the projection module, it enters the folding grating through the coupling grating and then exits through the coupling output grating. After being compensated by the compensation layer, it is then exited.
[0010] Optionally, the waveguide device includes at least one barrier layer, which is disposed between the thin-film waveguide layer and the lens substrate;
[0011] The compensation layer is located on the side of the thin-film waveguide layer away from the lens substrate.
[0012] Optionally, the waveguide device includes two blocking layers, one of which is disposed between the thin-film waveguide layer and the lens substrate, and the other blocking layer is disposed between the thin-film waveguide layer and the compensation layer.
[0013] Optionally, the thin-film waveguide layer is a transparent waveguide layer, and the thin-film waveguide layer is a dielectric film layer made of a dielectric material;
[0014] The dielectric film is a single film material of silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, or silicon nitride, or any combination thereof.
[0015] Alternatively, the dielectric film may be a single film material of silicon carbide or lithium niobate.
[0016] Optionally, the refractive index of the thin-film waveguide layer is 1.6-4, the thickness is 1-200 μm, and the light transmittance is greater than 85%.
[0017] The refractive index of the barrier layer and the compensation layer is 1-1.4, and the thickness of the compensation layer is 200-1000 μm.
[0018] Optionally, the thickness D of the lens substrate ranges from 200 to 1000 μm, the thickness D1 of the thin film waveguide layer ranges from 1 to 200 μm, the thickness D2 of the blocking layer ranges from 1 to 100 μm, and the thickness D3 of the compensation layer ranges from 200 to 1000 μm.
[0019] Where D, D1, D2, and D3 satisfy the following relationship:
[0020] .
[0021] Optionally, the linear density of the thin-film waveguide layer is 200-600 nm, and the structural depth is 100-600 nm.
[0022] Optionally, the compensation layer is provided with microstructures formed by dry etching, wet etching or imprinting processes.
[0023] Optionally, the lens substrate is a glass layer or a resin layer.
[0024] This utility model also provides an augmented reality device, including a waveguide device as described in any of the preceding claims, and an image display component for providing an image source. The image display component cooperates with the projection module of the waveguide device to project the image source onto the waveguide module via the projection module.
[0025] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:
[0026] This utility model provides a waveguide device and augmented reality equipment. By replacing the traditional block glass waveguide with a thin-film waveguide layer, the optical transmission medium and the lens substrate are decoupled, which is conducive to achieving a more reasonable configuration that meets application requirements, effectively improving the manufacturing yield and durability and reliability, and reducing costs, which is beneficial for large-scale production and market promotion.
[0027] This invention has other features and advantages that will be apparent from or will be set forth in detail in the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description, which together serve to explain the particular principles of this invention. Attached Figure Description
[0028] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a waveguide device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] Figure 2 This is another structural schematic diagram of a waveguide device provided in an embodiment of the present utility model.
[0031] Reference numerals: 11, compensation layer; 12, thin film waveguide layer; 120, dielectric thin film; 121, coupling grating; 122, folding grating; 123, coupling grating; 13, blocking layer; 14, lens substrate. Detailed Implementation
[0032] To illustrate the possible application scenarios, technical principles, implementable specific solutions, and achievable objectives and effects of this application in detail, the following description, in conjunction with the listed specific embodiments and accompanying drawings, provides a detailed explanation. The embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the technical solutions of this application and are therefore intended to limit the scope of protection of this application.
[0033] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The term "embodiment" appearing in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it specifically limit its independence or connection with other embodiments. In principle, in this application, as long as there are no technical contradictions or conflicts, the technical features mentioned in each embodiment can be combined in any way to form corresponding implementable technical solutions.
[0034] Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains; the use of related terms herein is merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit this application.
[0035] In the description of this application, the term "and / or" is used to describe the logical relationship between objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B means: A exists, B exists, and A and B exist simultaneously. Additionally, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following objects have an "or" logical relationship.
[0036] In this application, terms such as “first” and “second” are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual quantity, hierarchy or order relationship between these entities or operations.
[0037] Unless otherwise specified, the use of terms such as “comprising,” “including,” “having,” or other similar expressions in this application is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, which does not exclude the presence of additional elements in a process, method, or product that includes the stated elements, such that a process, method, or product that includes a list of elements may include not only those defined elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, or product.
[0038] Similar to the understanding in the Examination Guidelines, in this application, expressions such as "greater than," "less than," and "exceeding" are understood to exclude the stated number; expressions such as "above," "below," and "within" are understood to include the stated number. Furthermore, in the description of the embodiments in this application, "multiple" means two or more (including two), and similar expressions related to "multiple" are also understood in this way, such as "multiple groups" and "multiple times," unless otherwise explicitly specified.
[0039] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the space-related expressions used, such as "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "vertical," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," and "circumferential," indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the specific embodiments or drawings. They are only for the purpose of describing the specific embodiments of this application or for the reader's understanding, and do not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to must have a specific position, a specific orientation, or be constructed or operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the embodiments of this application.
[0040] Unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," "fixing," and "setting," as used in the description of the embodiments of this application, should be interpreted broadly. For example, "connection" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral setting; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can be the internal connection of two components or the interaction between two components. For those skilled in the art to which this application pertains, the specific meaning of the above terms in the embodiments of this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.
[0041] Example 1
[0042] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 This embodiment provides a waveguide device, including a projection module and a waveguide module.
[0043] In practical applications, the main function of the projection module is to process and project image sources, which can be video, images, or other information transmitted from external devices such as smartphones and tablets. The projection module performs optical processing on the image source, such as adjusting parameters like brightness, contrast, and color, to ensure that it can be projected into the waveguide module with appropriate light intensity and image quality.
[0044] In this embodiment, the waveguide module is used to conduct and emit an image beam, including a thin-film waveguide layer 12, a lens substrate 14, a blocking layer 13, and a compensation layer 11 for compensating the emitted image beam.
[0045] It is understandable that the thin-film waveguide layer 12 is one of the core components of the waveguide module, including the dielectric thin film 120, and the coupling grating 121, the folding grating 122 and the coupling grating 123 disposed on the dielectric thin film 120.
[0046] In this embodiment, the thin-film waveguide layer 12 is a dielectric film layer made of a dielectric material, which is a single film material or any combination of silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, and silicon nitride; or, the dielectric film layer is a single film material of silicon carbide or lithium niobate. Other materials may also be used.
[0047] When silicon nitride and titanium dioxide are combined, the advantages of both materials can be fully utilized to improve the optical performance of the thin-film waveguide layer 12.
[0048] In addition, the refractive index of the thin-film waveguide layer 12 is 1.6-4, the thickness is 1-200μm, and the transmittance is greater than 85%; the linear density of the thin-film waveguide layer 12 is 200-600nm, and the structural depth is 100-600nm.
[0049] The coupling grating 121 is used to efficiently couple the image beam projected from the projection module into the thin-film waveguide layer 12; the deflection grating 122 is used to change the propagation direction of the image beam in the thin-film waveguide layer 12 so that it can be conducted along a predetermined path; the coupling grating 123 is used to finally couple the image beam out from the thin-film waveguide layer 12 so that it can enter the human eye or subsequent optical system.
[0050] In this embodiment, the thin-film waveguide layer is fabricated on the barrier layer using semiconductor technology, and then peeled off to the lens substrate. Because semiconductor technology offers advantages such as high precision and repeatability, it can precisely control the structural and performance parameters of the thin-film waveguide layer, such as linear density, structural depth, and film thickness, ensuring that it meets optical design requirements.
[0051] In this embodiment, by employing a thin-film waveguide layer 12 containing a dielectric thin film, the light transmission and support functions are no longer dependent on a single substrate. Instead, the light transmission function is separated to an independent thin-film waveguide layer 12, which enables the decoupling of the light transmission medium and the lens substrate 14. Since the thin-film waveguide layer 12 and the lens substrate 14 are independent of each other, they can each select the optimal material, which is conducive to achieving a more reasonable configuration that meets the application requirements.
[0052] By setting a compensation layer 11 in the waveguide module, optical errors generated during the fabrication process can be dynamically corrected, reducing the waveguide module's dependence on the accuracy of a single process step and allowing process parameters to fluctuate within a certain range, thereby improving the fabrication yield.
[0053] In addition, the barrier layer can compensate for optical deviations caused by temperature changes, mechanical stress, or material aging, which helps maintain image quality stability during long-term use and thus improves durability and reliability.
[0054] Finally, since traditional bulk glass waveguides require optical materials with millimeter-thickness, the raw material cost is high and the processing loss is large, this embodiment replaces the traditional bulk glass waveguide with a thin film waveguide layer 12, which greatly reduces the amount of material used, thereby reducing material costs and facilitating large-scale production and market promotion.
[0055] The refractive index of the blocking layer 13 is 1-1.4. Its function is to prevent the image beam from leaking into the lens substrate 14 during propagation, thereby improving the optical efficiency of the waveguide device.
[0056] Please refer to Figure 1 In one embodiment of this invention, a barrier layer 13 is provided, which is disposed between the thin film waveguide layer 12 and the lens substrate 14; the compensation layer 11 is located on the side of the thin film waveguide layer 12 away from the lens substrate 14.
[0057] Please refer to Figure 2In another embodiment of this invention, the barrier layer 13 has two layers, one of which is disposed between the thin film waveguide layer 12 and the lens substrate 14, and the other of which is disposed on the side of the thin film waveguide layer 12 away from the lens substrate 14, between the thin film waveguide layer 12 and the compensation layer 11.
[0058] In this embodiment, the lens substrate 14 is a glass layer or a resin layer, which has good optical and mechanical properties and can provide stable support for the thin-film waveguide layer 12. Specifically, the thickness D of the lens substrate 14 ranges from 200 to 1000 μm.
[0059] Furthermore, the thickness D1 of the thin-film waveguide layer 12 ranges from 1 to 200 μm, the thickness D2 of the blocking layer 13 ranges from 1 to 100 μm, and the thickness D3 of the compensation layer 11 ranges from 200 to 1000 μm.
[0060] Where D, D1, D2, and D3 satisfy the following relationship:
[0061] .
[0062] In this embodiment, the refractive index of the compensation layer 11 and the barrier layer 13 is 1-1.4.
[0063] It is understandable that since the blocking layer 13 and the compensation layer 11 are low-refractive-index materials and the thin-film waveguide is a high-refractive-index material, the high-refractive-index material sandwiched between the low-refractive-index materials can meet the conditions for total internal reflection, which is beneficial to improving optical transmission efficiency, optimizing imaging quality and enhancing the stability of the device.
[0064] The optical compensation layer 11 is composed of a low-refractive-index dielectric film, and the required compensation depth is achieved by dry or wet etching. Specifically, the compensation layer 11 is provided with microstructures formed by wet etching. These microstructures can fine-tune parameters such as the phase and amplitude of the emitted image beam, thereby compensating for image distortion caused by aberrations, dispersion and other factors of the optical system, and can also compensate for refractive power to suit different groups of people.
[0065] Alternatively, the optical compensation layer 11 is made of a low-refractive-index embossing material, and the required compensation depth is achieved by embossing.
[0066] Example 2
[0067] This embodiment provides an augmented reality device, which includes the waveguide device described in the above embodiment, and also includes an image display component for providing an image source.
[0068] The image display component can be an external device, such as a smartphone or tablet, transmitting video or image information. The image display component works in conjunction with the projection module of the waveguide device to transmit the image source to the projection module, which then projects the image source onto the waveguide module.
[0069] When using this augmented reality device, the user wears the device. The image source provided by the image display component is projected onto the waveguide module via the projection module. The waveguide module conducts and emits the image beam, which is then compensated by the compensation layer 11 before entering the user's eye. At the same time, real-world light from the outside environment can also enter the user's eye through the waveguide device, thereby achieving the superposition of virtual images and real-world scenes, bringing the user an immersive augmented reality experience.
[0070] Finally, it should be noted that although the above embodiments have been described in the text and drawings of this application, this should not limit the scope of patent protection of this application. Any technical solutions that are based on the essential concept of this application and utilize the content described in the text and drawings of this application, resulting in equivalent structural or procedural substitutions or modifications, as well as the direct or indirect application of the technical solutions of the above embodiments to other related technical fields, are all included within the scope of patent protection of this application.
Claims
1. A waveguide device, characterized by, Includes a projection module and a waveguide module; The projection module is used to project the image source; The waveguide module is used to conduct and emit an image beam, and includes a thin-film waveguide layer, a lens substrate, a blocking layer, and a compensation layer for compensating the emitted image beam. The thin-film waveguide layer includes a dielectric thin film, and a coupling grating, a folding grating and a coupling output grating disposed on the dielectric thin film. After the image source is projected by the projection module, it enters the folding grating through the coupling grating and then exits through the coupling output grating. After being compensated by the compensation layer, it is then exited.
2. The waveguide device of claim 1, wherein, It includes at least one barrier layer, which is disposed between the thin-film waveguide layer and the lens substrate; The compensation layer is located on the side of the thin-film waveguide layer away from the lens substrate.
3. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, It includes two barrier layers, one of which is located between the thin-film waveguide layer and the lens substrate, and the other barrier layer is located between the thin-film waveguide layer and the compensation layer.
4. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The thin-film waveguide layer is a transparent waveguide layer, and the thin-film waveguide layer is a dielectric film layer made of dielectric material; The dielectric film is a single film material of silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, or silicon nitride, or any combination thereof. Alternatively, the dielectric film may be a single film material of silicon carbide or lithium niobate.
5. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The refractive index of the thin-film waveguide layer is 1.6-4, the thickness is 1-200 μm, and the light transmittance is greater than 85%. The refractive index of the barrier layer and the compensation layer is 1-1.
4.
6. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The thickness D of the lens substrate ranges from 200 to 1000 μm, the thickness D1 of the thin film waveguide layer ranges from 1 to 200 μm, the thickness D2 of the blocking layer ranges from 1 to 100 μm, and the thickness D3 of the compensation layer ranges from 200 to 1000 μm. Where D, D1, D2, and D3 satisfy the following relationship: 。 7. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The linear density of the thin-film waveguide layer is 200-600 nm, and the structural depth is 100-600 nm.
8. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The compensation layer has microstructures formed by dry etching, wet etching or imprinting processes.
9. The waveguide apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The lens substrate is a glass layer or a resin layer.
10. An augmented reality device, characterized by The waveguide device according to any one of claims 1-9 further includes an image display component for providing an image source, the image display component cooperating with the projection module of the waveguide device to project the image source onto the waveguide module via the projection module.