Facebook Technologies, LLC

Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC

Oculus, Vr, LLC

Hee Yoon Lee

Pasi Saarikko

Wanli Chi

Ningfeng Huang

Giuseppe Calafiore

Andrew Maimone

Douglas Robert Lanman

Matthieu Charles Raoul Leibovici

Brian M Wheelwright

Robert Dale Cavin

Alexander Jobe Fix

Ganghun Kim

Andrew John Ouderkirk

Wai Sze Tiffany Lam

Maxwell Parsons

Yu Shi

Scott Charles McEldowney

Alexander Koshelev

Lu Lu

Nicholas Daniel Trail

Babak Amirsolaimani

Stephan Lutgen

Barry David Silverstein

Gang Li

Behnam Bastani

Nihar Ranjan Mohanty

Yijing Fu

Erik Shipton

Sharvil Shailesh Talati

David Massoubre

Austin Lane

Alireza Moheghi

Siddharth Buddhiraju

Francois Olivier

Francois Gerard Franck Olivier

Xinqiao Liu

Robin Sharma

James Ronald Bonar

Byron Taylor

Anneli Munkholm

Elliott Franke

Christopher Pynn

Haiwen Wang

Hagar Edelstain

Eric Fest

Yufeng Zhu

An output grating for waveguide of a head-mounted display is configured to suppress the (1, 1) diffraction order of the output grating. The grating has a design of two or more materials having different refractive indices. The design is repeated periodically in a first dimension and repeated periodically in a second dimension, to form a two-dimensional pattern. A refractive index of the two-dimensional pattern is approximated by a two-dimensional Fourier series comprising a first coefficient of order (1, 0), a second coefficient of order (0, 1), and a third coefficient of order (1, 1). The third coefficient is less than half the first coefficient and less than half the second coefficient, such that light from the (1, 1) diffraction order of the grating is suppressed.

Suppression of first-order diffraction in a two-dimensional grating of an output coupler for a head-mounted display

A method for correcting artifacts in artificial reality headsets is provided. The method includes coupling a first image portion into a waveguide in a display for an artificial reality device, provided by a first array of pixels, coupling a second image portion into the waveguide in the display, provided by a second array of pixels, directing the first image portion through an eyebox, directing the second image portion through the eyebox, and tiling, in a user's retina, the first image portion and the second image portion to form an image having an extended field of view that includes an overlapping area comprising light provided by the first array of pixels and the second array of pixels. A system including a memory storing instructions and a processor to execute the instructions to cause the system to perform the above method are also provided.

Correcting artifacts in tiled display assemblies for artificial reality headsets

A waveguide assembly is provided. The waveguide assembly includes a pair of pupil-replicating waveguides. The first pupil-replicating waveguide is configured for receiving an input beam of image light and providing an intermediate beam comprising multiple offset portions of the input beam. The second pupil-replicating waveguide is configured for receiving the intermediate beam from the first pupil-replicating waveguide and providing an output beam comprising multiple offset portions of the intermediate beam. The input beam may be expanded by the waveguide assembly in such a manner that pupil gaps are reduced or eliminated.

Cascaded pupil-replicating waveguides

A waveguide display includes a waveguide, an input coupler configured to couple display light into the waveguide, and a surface-relief grating on the waveguide and configured to couple the display light out of the waveguide towards an eyebox of the waveguide display on a first side of the waveguide. The surface-relief grating is formed in a plurality of grating layers having uniform or non-uniform thickness profiles. The plurality of grating layers is characterized by a refractive index modulation that increases and then decreases as the distance of the grating layer from the waveguide increases.

Gradient refractive index grating for display leakage reduction

A pupil-replicating waveguide includes a high-index substrate and a low-index substrate coupled by an intermediate layer between the substrates. The refractive index of the intermediate layer is lower than the refractive index of the low-index substrate. The intermediate layer prevents highly oblique rays of image light from entering the low-index substrate, thereby reducing intensity drops in the field of view conveyed by the pupil-replicating waveguide, the intensity drops caused by insufficient replication of the highly oblique rays in the low-index substrate.

Layered pupil-replicating waveguide

An apparatus may include (1) a planar liquid-crystal structure including a plurality of liquid crystals, and (2) a plurality of electrodes coupled to the planar liquid-crystal structure such that (a) when a first plurality of voltages are applied to at least some of the plurality of electrodes, the plurality of liquid crystals are oriented such that the planar liquid-crystal structure operates as a diffraction grating having a first pitch, and (2) when a second plurality of voltages are applied to at least some of the plurality of electrodes, the plurality of liquid crystals are oriented such that the planar liquid-crystal structure operates as a diffraction grating having a second pitch different from the first pitch.

Variable-pitch liquid crystal diffraction grating

A diffraction grating includes a substrate and a plurality of fringes supported by the substrate. The fringes run parallel to each other in a first direction. A refractive index of a material of the plurality of fringes is anisotropic, whereby a refractive index contrast of the diffraction grating depends on direction of electric field of an impinging light beam, and through that dependence is a function of an azimuthal angle of the impinging light beam. A dependence of the diffraction efficiency on the azimuthal angle is affected by the dependence of the refractive index contrast on the direction of electric field of an impinging light beam. A pupil-replicating waveguide may use such a diffraction grating as a coupler for in- our out-coupling image light.

Anisotropic diffraction grating and waveguide

A display waveguide configured for conveying image light to a viewer has a waveguide body whose refractive index varies in the thickness direction to include a high-index region between lower-index regions. Multi-layer and gradient index implementations are described. The waveguide transmits a portion of image light within the high-index region of the waveguide to provide a wider field of view.

Display waveguide with a high-index portion

A waveguide display includes a display projector for emitting polychromatic image light, and a waveguide assembly for transmitting image light to an exit pupil. The waveguide assembly includes two or more waveguides disposed in a stack, each having an in-coupler aligned with the other in-couplers and an offset out-coupler aligned with the other out-couplers. The assembly is configured so that at least one color channel of the image light propagates to the exit pupil along at least two waveguides. A method for selecting the waveguides of the stack to suppress color channel splitting at the exit pupil is provided.

Display waveguide assembly with color cross-coupling

A waveguide display includes a source assembly, an output waveguide, and a controller. The source assembly includes a light source and an optics system. The light source includes source elements arranged in a 1D or 2D array that emit image light. The optics system includes a scanning mirror assembly that scans the image light to particular locations based on scanning instructions. The output waveguide receives the scanned image light from the scanning mirror assembly and outputs an expanded image light. In some embodiments, the waveguide display includes a source waveguide and the 1D array of source elements. The source waveguide receives a conditioned image light from the source assembly. The controller generates the scanning instructions and provides the scanning instructions to the scanning mirror assembly. In some embodiments, the controller provides the scanning instructions to an actuator assembly of the source waveguide.

Scanning waveguide display

A pupil replication waveguide for a projector display includes a slab of transparent material for propagating display light in the slab via total internal reflection. A diffraction grating is supported by the slab. The diffraction grating includes a plurality of tapered slanted fringes in a substrate for out-coupling the display light from the slab by diffraction into a blazed diffraction order. A greater portion of the display light is out-coupled into the blazed diffraction order, and a smaller portion of the display light is out-coupled into a non-blazed diffraction order. The tapered fringes result in the duty cycle of the diffraction grating varying along the thickness direction of the diffraction grating, to facilitate suppressing the portion of the display light out-coupled into the non-blazed diffraction order.

Outward coupling suppression in waveguide display

A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and one or more diffractive optical elements configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.

Holographic in-field illuminator

Holographic pattern generation for head-mounted display (HMD) eye tracking using a diffractive optical element

Techniques disclosed herein relate to modifying refractive index modulation in a holographic optical element, such as a holographic grating. According to certain embodiments, a holographic optical element or apodized grating includes a polymer layer comprising a first region characterized by a first refractive index and a second region characterized by a second refractive index. The holographic optical element or apodized grating includes a plurality of nanoparticles dispersed in the polymer layer. The nanoparticles have a higher concentration in either the first region or the second region. In some embodiments, the nanoparticles may be configured to increase the refractive index modulation. In some embodiments, the nanoparticles may be configured to apodize the grating by decreasing the refractive index modulation proximate to sides of the grating. The refractive index may be modulated by applying a monomer reservoir buffer layer to the polymer layer, either before or after hologram fabrication.

Refractive index modulation modification in a holographic grating

A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and a plurality of optical fibers configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.

Holographic pattern generation for head-mounted display (HMD) eye tracking using a fiber exposure

Growing community of inventors

Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Hee Yoon Lee