Molecular Imprints, Inc.

Magic Leap, Inc.

University of Texas System

Canon Nanotechnologies, Inc.

3m Innovative Properties Company

Frank Y Xu

Vikramjit Singh

Shuqiang Yang

Michael Nevin Miller

Kang Luo

Sidlgata V Sreenivasan

Edward Brian Fletcher

Nai-Wen Pi

Samarth Bhargava

Michael Anthony Klug

Michael P C Watts

Pankaj B Lad

Byung-Jin Choi

Gerard M Schmid

Niyaz Khusnatdinov

Ian Matthew McMackin

Victor Kai Liu

Kevin Messer

Nicholas A Stacey

Jeffrey Dean Schmulen

Xiaopei Deng

Christophe Peroz

Weijun Liu

Marlon Edward Menezes

Mauro Melli

Robert D TeKolste

Van Nguyen Truskett

Chulwoo Oh

Mario Johannes Meissl

Fen Wan

Douglas J Resnick

Neal Paul Ricks

William Hudson Welch

Daniel Babbs

Anshuman Cherala

Byung Jin Choi

Sharad D Bhagat

Dwayne L LaBrake

Jason A Schaefer

Ronald D Voisin

Michal Beau Dennison Vaughn

Thomas Mercier

Se-Hyuk Im

Christopher John Fleckenstein

Ecron D Thompson

Duane J Voth

Qizhen Xue

Matthew Grant Dixon

Brian T Schowengerdt

Eric C Browy

Ravi Kumar Komanduri

Mohamed M Hilali

David Carl Jurbergs

Pawan Kumar Nimmakayala

Xiaoming Lu

Kosta S Selinidis

Liang Kai Wang

Melanie Maputol West

Ryan Jason Ong

Mahadevan GanapathiSubramanian

David C Wang

Zongxing Wang

Se Hyun Ahn

Huihang Dong

Mathew P C Watts

Tasha Amit Mangaldas

Se-Hyun Ahn

Kevin R Curtis

Pierre St Hilaire

Wayne Scott Mahoney

Rolf W Biernath

Michael A Kropp

Dean M Moren

Robert Dale Tekolste

Wendy L Thompson

Chieh Chang

Steven C Shackleton

Evgeni Poliakov

Taun L McKenzie

Ling Li

Zhengmao Ye

Cynthia B Brooks

Yeshwanth Srinivasan

Wendong Xing

Brian George Hill

Brandon Michael-James Born

Ali Karbasi

David James Lentz

Christopher J Mackay

Xiao Li

Richard M Bymark

Darren D Donaldson

Jun Sung Chun

Wesley D Martin

Van Xuan Hong Truskett

Nicholas E Stacey

Manfred Stepputtis

Dieter Barucha

K Brent Binkley

Very high refractive index (n>2.2) lightguide substrates enable the production of 70° field of view eyepieces with all three color primaries in a single eyepiece layer. Disclosed herein are viewing optics assembly architectures that make use of such eyepieces to reduce size and cost, simplifying manufacturing and assembly, and better-accommodating novel microdisplay designs.

Very high index eyepiece substrate-based viewing optics assembly architectures

An augmented reality device includes a projector, projector optics optically coupled to the projector, and an eyepiece optically coupled to the projector optics. The eyepiece includes an eyepiece waveguide characterized by lateral dimensions and an optical path length difference as a function of one or more of the lateral dimensions.

Method and system for variable optical thickness waveguides for augmented reality devices

Methods and systems for manufacturing an optical waveguide include depositing an adhesion promoting layer on a substrate. Multiple curable resist droplets are dispensed on the adhesion promoting layer. The adhesion promoting layer is disposed between and contacts the substrate and the curable resist droplets. The curable resist droplets define an optical eyepiece layer such that a zero residual layer thickness (RLT) region of the optical eyepiece layer is free of the curable resist droplets. The optical eyepiece layer is incised from the substrate to form the optical waveguide.

Eyepiece assembly adhesion using a zero residual layer region

Blazed diffraction gratings provide optical elements in head-mounted display systems to, e.g., incouple light into or out-couple light out of a waveguide. These blazed diffraction gratings may be configured to have reduced polarization sensitivity. Such gratings may, for example, incouple or outcouple light of different polarizations with similar level of efficiency. The blazed diffraction gratings and waveguides may be formed in a high refractive index substrate such as lithium niobate. In some implementations, the blazed diffraction gratings may include diffractive features having a feature height of 40 nm to 120 nm, for example, 80 nm. The diffractive features may be etched into the high index substrate, e.g., lithium niobate.

Display device having diffraction gratings with reduced polarization sensitivity

A method of fabricating a blazed diffraction grating comprises providing a master template substrate and imprinting periodically repeating lines on the master template substrate in a plurality of master template regions. In some embodiments, the periodically repeating lines in different ones of the master template regions extend in different directions. The method additionally comprises using at least one of the master template regions as a master template to imprint at least one blazed diffraction grating pattern on a grating substrate. In some embodiments, the method further comprises coating the periodically repeating lines with a material having a greater hardness than the material that forms the lines.

Method of fabricating diffraction gratings

An optical device includes a liquid crystal layer having a first plurality of liquid crystal molecules arranged in a first pattern and a second plurality of liquid crystal molecules arranged in a second pattern. The first and the second pattern are separated from each other by a distance of about 20 nm to about 100 nm along a longitudinal or a transverse axis of the liquid crystal layer. The first and the second plurality of liquid crystal molecules are configured as first and second grating structures that can redirect light of visible or infrared wavelengths.

Liquid crystal diffractive devices with nano-scale pattern and methods of manufacturing the same

An imprint lithography method of configuring an optical layer includes selecting one or more parameters of a nanolayer to be applied to a substrate for changing an effective refractive index of the substrate and imprinting the nanolayer on the substrate to change the effective refractive index of the substrate such that a relative amount of light transmittable through the substrate is changed by a selected amount.

Configuring optical layers in imprint lithography processes

A method of fabricating an optical element includes providing a substrate, forming a castable material coupled to the substrate, and casting the castable material using a mold. The method also includes curing the castable material and removing the mold. The optical element comprises a planar region and a clear aperture adjacent the planar region and characterized by an optical power.

Method and system for integration of refractive optics with a diffractive eyepiece waveguide display

The disclosure describes an improved drop-on-demand, controlled volume technique for dispensing resist onto a substrate, which is then imprinted to create a patterned optical device suitable for use in optical applications such as augmented reality and/or mixed reality systems. The technique enables the dispensation of drops of resist at precise locations on the substrate, with precisely controlled drop volume corresponding to an imprint template having different zones associated with different total resist volumes. Controlled drop size and placement also provides for substantially less variation in residual layer thickness across the surface of the substrate after imprinting, compared to previously available techniques. The technique employs resist having a refractive index closer to that of the substrate index, reducing optical artifacts in the device. To ensure reliable dispensing of the higher index and higher viscosity resist in smaller drop sizes, the dispensing system can continuously circulate the resist.

Surface relief waveguides with high refractive index resist

Fabricating a high refractive index photonic device includes disposing a polymerizable composition on a first surface of a first substrate and contacting the polymerizable composition with a first surface of a second substrate, thereby spreading the polymerizable composition on the first surface of the first substrate. The polymerizable composition is cured to yield a polymeric structure having a first surface in contact with the first surface of the first substrate, a second surface opposite the first surface of the polymeric structure and in contact with the first surface of the second substrate, and a selected residual layer thickness between the first surface of the polymeric structure and the second surface of the polymeric structure in the range of 10 μm to 1 cm. The polymeric structure is separated from the first substrate and the second substrate to yield a monolithic photonic device having a refractive index of at least 1.6.

Monolithic high refractive index photonic devices

Display devices include waveguides with in-coupling optical elements that mitigate re-bounce of in-coupled light to improve overall in-coupling efficiency and/or uniformity. A waveguide receives light from a light source and/or projection optics and includes an in-coupling optical element that in-couples the received light to propagate by total internal reflection in a propagation direction within the waveguide. Once in-coupled into the waveguide the light may undergo re-bounce, in which the light reflects off a waveguide surface and, after the reflection, strikes the in-coupling optical element. Upon striking the in-coupling optical element, the light may be partially absorbed and/or out-coupled by the optical element, thereby effectively reducing the amount of in-coupled light propagating through the waveguide. The in-coupling optical element can be truncated or have reduced diffraction efficiency along the propagation direction to reduce the occurrence of light loss due to re-bounce of in-coupled light, resulting in less in-coupled light being prematurely out-coupled and/or absorbed during subsequent interactions with the in-coupling optical element.

Diffractive optical elements with mitigation of rebounce-induced light loss and related systems and methods

Diffraction gratings provide optical elements in head-mounted display systems to, e.g., incouple light into or outcouple light out of a waveguide. These diffraction gratings may be configured to have reduced polarization sensitivity. Such gratings may, for example, incouple or outcouple light of different polarizations, or polarized and unpolarized light, with a similar level of efficiency. The diffraction gratings and waveguides may include a transmissive layer and a metal layer. The diffraction grating may comprise a blazed grating.

Display device with diffraction grating having reduced polarization sensitivity

Recesses are formed on a front side and a rear side of a waveguide. A solid porogen material is spun onto the front side and the rear side and fills the recesses. First front and rear cap layers are then formed on raised formations of the waveguide and on the solid porogen material. The entire structure is then heated and the solid porogen material decomposes to a porogen gas. The first front and rear cap layers are porous to allow the porogen gas to escape and air to enter into the recesses. The air maximizes a difference in refractive indices between the high-index transparent material of the waveguide and the air to promote reflection in the waveguide from interfaces between the waveguide and the air.

Air pocket structures for promoting total internal reflection in a waveguide

Growing community of inventors

Round Rock, TX, United States of America

Frank Y Xu