See-Through Waveguide Display Using Meta Lenses for Thin Optics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ultracompact display apparatuses for wearable devices are bulky and inconvenient to wear due to their thickness, despite efforts to maintain image quality for users.
Innovation Solution
A see-through type display apparatus utilizing a combination of meta lenses with negative and positive refractive powers, including a first lens with negative refractive power and a second lens with positive refractive power, both composed of meta lenses, to achieve a thin and lightweight design with minimal chromatic aberration, along with a vision correction lens for personalized vision adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a light waveguide-based optical system is used to make ultracompact display apparatuses lighter and thinner, then the portability and wearability are improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for precise optical component alignment and integration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple optical functions (beam expansion, collimation, and waveguide coupling) into a single integrated optical module. The optical module includes a beam expanding lens, a collimating lens, and a waveguide with integrated coupling structures, all precisely aligned as one unit. This merging reduces the number of separate components and simplifies the overall system while achieving the desired thin profile.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a beam expanding lens as an intermediary component between the light source and the waveguide. This intermediary element expands the beam before it enters the waveguide, improving light coupling efficiency and reducing the need for complex direct coupling mechanisms. The beam expander acts as a mediator that simplifies the interface between different optical subsystems.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional lenses are used to maintain image quality, then the image clarity is improved, but the device thickness increases making it less wearable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs thin-film optical coatings and micro-fabricated lens structures on the waveguide surfaces. Instead of using thick conventional lenses, the solution uses thin film deposition techniques to create optical functional layers directly on the waveguide. This maintains precise optical control and image quality while keeping the overall device thickness minimal for wearability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the refractive indices and curvatures of the optical components to achieve the desired image quality with reduced thickness. By carefully selecting and adjusting optical parameters (refractive indices, lens curvatures, spacing), the system achieves high-resolution imaging without requiring thick conventional lens assemblies, thus maintaining a thin wearable profile.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a thinner and more comfortable wearable display device that maintains image quality and corrects vision, reducing bulkiness while providing clear virtual and real-world imagery.
Implementation Method 1
a first lens disposed on the first surface of the waveguide, the first lens having a negative refractive power, and including one or more meta lenses, and a second lens disposed on the second surface of the waveguide, the second lens having a positive refractive power
Data Source
AI summary
A see-through type display apparatus includes an image projector configured to output image light, a waveguide configured to receive the image light output from the image projector and transmit the image light to a user's view, and a first lens having a negative refractive power and a second lens having a positive refractive power, which are arranged on both surfaces of the waveguide. Each of the first lens and the second lens includes one or more meta lenses and is configured to operate as a lens with almost no chromatic aberration, thereby implementing a thin optical system having good image quality.