Systems and methods for mixed reality
A virtual image generation system comprises a planar optical waveguide having opposing first and second faces, an in-coupling (IC) element configured for optically coupling a collimated light beam from an image projection assembly into the planar optical waveguide as an in-coupled light beam, a first orthogonal pupil expansion (OPE) element associated with the first face of the planar optical waveguide for splitting the in-coupled light beam into a first set of orthogonal light beamlets, a second orthogonal pupil expansion (OPE) element associated with the second face of the planar optical waveguide for splitting the in-coupled light beam into a second set of orthogonal light beamlets, and an exit pupil expansion (EPE) element associated with the planar optical waveguide for splitting the first and second sets of orthogonal light beamlets into an array of out-coupled light beamlets that exit the planar optical waveguide.
1. A virtual image generation system comprising:
a planar optical waveguide comprising a plurality of substrates including a primary substrate having a first thickness and at least two secondary substrates having second thicknesses, and at least two semi-reflective interfaces respectively disposed between the substrates;
a pre-pupil expansion (PPE) element configured for using one or more beam-multiplication techniques to pre-expand an entrance pupil of a collimated light beam from an image projection assembly;
an in-coupling (IC) element configured for optically coupling the collimated light beam from the PPE, for propagation as an in-coupled light beam within the planar optical waveguide, wherein the at least two semi-reflective interfaces are each configured for splitting the in-coupled light beam into a plurality of primary light beamlets that propagate within the primary substrate; and
one or more diffractive optical elements (DOEs) associated with the planar optical waveguide for further splitting the plurality of primary light beamlets into an array of out-coupled light beamlets that exit a face of the planar optical waveguide,
wherein the substrates are optically transparent materials and each of the at least two semi-reflective interfaces comprises a semi-reflective coating.
2. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the at least two secondary substrates comprise two secondary substrates disposed adjacent one another, each of the second thicknesses is less than the first thickness and further comprising a collimating element disposed between the image projection assembly and the PPE.
3. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the at least two secondary substrates comprise two secondary substrates disposed adjacent one another and the first thickness is at least twice each of the second thicknesses.
4. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the at least two secondary substrates comprise two secondary substrates disposed adjacent one another and the second thicknesses are substantially equal to each other.
5. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the at least two secondary substrates comprise two secondary substrates disposed adjacent one another and the first thickness is a non-multiple of at least one of the second thicknesses.
6. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein two or more of the at least two secondary substrates have second thicknesses that are not substantially equal to each other.
7. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the first thickness and the second thicknesses are selected, such that spacings between centers of at least two adjacent ones of the out-coupled light beamlets are equal to or less than a width of the collimated light beam.
8. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the first thickness and the second thicknesses are selected, such that no gap resides between edges of greater than half of adjacent ones of the out-coupled light beamlets.
9. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein
the at least two semi-reflective coatings are respectively disposed between the substrates via one of physical vapor deposition (PVD), ion-assisted deposition (IAD), and ion beam sputtering (IBS).
10. The virtual image generation system of claim 9 , wherein each of the at least two semi-reflective coatings is composed of one or more of a metal (Au, Al, Ag, Ni—Cr, Cr and so on), dielectric (Oxides, Fluorides and Sulfides), and semiconductors (Si, Ge).
11. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein adjacent ones of the plurality of substrates are composed of materials having different indices of refraction.
12. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the collimated light beam defines an entrance pupil, and the out-coupled light beamlet array defines an exit pupil larger than the entrance pupil.
13. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , wherein the out-coupled light beamlet array is a two-dimensional out-coupled light beamlet array.
14. The virtual image generation system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display subsystem having an image projection assembly configured for generating the collimated light beam,
wherein the image projection assembly comprises a scanning device configured for scanning the collimated light beam.
15. A virtual image generation system comprising:
a planar optical waveguide comprising a plurality of substrates including a primary substrate having a first thickness and at least two secondary substrates having second thicknesses, and at least two semi-reflective interfaces respectively disposed between the substrates;
an in-coupling (IC) element configured for optically coupling a collimated light beam from an image projection assembly for propagation as an in-coupled light beam within the planar optical waveguide, wherein the at least two semi-reflective interfaces are each configured for splitting the in-coupled light beam into a plurality of primary light beamlets that propagate within the primary substrate; and
one or more diffractive optical elements (DOEs) associated with the planar optical waveguide for further splitting the plurality of primary light beamlets into an array of out-coupled light beamlets that exit a face of the planar optical waveguide,
wherein the at least two semi-reflective interfaces are configured for splitting the in-coupled light beam into at least two in-coupled light beamlets, wherein the one or more DOEs comprises an orthogonal pupil expansion (OPE) element configured for respectively splitting the at least two in-coupled light beamlets into at least two sets of orthogonal light beamlets, the at least two semi-reflective interfaces are further configured for splitting the at least two sets of orthogonal light beamlets into at least four sets of orthogonal light beamlets, wherein the one or more DOEs comprises an exit pupil expansion (EPE) element configured for splitting the at least four sets of orthogonal light beamlets into the set of out-coupled light beamlets,
and wherein the substrates are optically transparent materials and each of the at least two semi-reflective interfaces comprises a semi-reflective coating.
16. The virtual image generation system of claim 15 , wherein the OPE element and EPE element are disposed on a face of the optical planar waveguide.
17. The virtual image generation system of claim 15 , wherein the at least two in-coupled light beamlets propagate within the planar optical waveguide via total internal reflection (TIR) along a first optical path that intersects the OPE element, such that portions of the at least two in-coupled light beamlets are diffracted as the at least two sets of orthogonal light beamlets that propagate within the planar optical waveguide via TIR along second parallel optical paths.
18. The virtual image generation system of claim 17 , wherein the second parallel optical paths are orthogonal to the first optical path.
19. The virtual image generation system of claim 17 , wherein the at least two sets of orthogonal light beamlets intersect the EPE element, such that portions of the at least two sets of orthogonal light beamlets are diffracted as the out-coupled set of light beamlets out of the face of the planar optical waveguide.
20. The virtual image generation system of claim 15 , wherein the EPE element is configured for imparting a convex wavefront profile on the out-coupled light beamlet array exiting the planar optical waveguide, the convex wavefront profile having a center of radius at a focal point to produce an image at a given focal plane.