Waveguide display
An apparatus (e.g. a display) including a display substrate and a waveguide. The waveguide may guide ultraviolet light from the light source onto the display substrate. The display substrate may include light emitting material configured to emit visible light in response to absorption of the ultraviolet light.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a light source configured to project an excitation light having a wavelength of less than about 500 nanometers;
a display substrate comprising light emitting particles configured to emit visible light in response to absorption of the excitation light; and
a waveguide configured to guide the excitation light onto the display substrate,
wherein the display substrate is substantially homogeneous with the light emitting particles integrated therein, and each of the light emitting particles has a diameter of less than about 500 nanometers.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the light source is configured to project the excitation light having a wavelength of less than about 450 nanometers.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of light emitting particles has a diameter less than about 400 nanometers.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of light emitting particles has a diameter less than about 100 nanometers.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light source is one of a micro-mirror array (MMA) projector, a digital light processing (DLP) protector, a liquid crystal display (LCD) projector, and a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) projector.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a light modulator configured to modulate the excitation light.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the light modulator is a micro-mirror light modulator.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light source is a laser or an LED.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the display substrate is substantially transparent to the excitation light.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide comprises at least two reflectors.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide comprises a reflector with a curved shape.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide comprises at least one waveguide substrate configured to internally reflect the excitation light onto the display substrate.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the light source is configured to project the excitation light in a plurality of wavelength ranges, and excitation light falling within each range of the plurality of wavelength ranges excites a different set of light emitting particles within the display substrate to emit a specific color of the visible light.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said at least one waveguide substrate comprises a first waveguide substrate and a second waveguide substrate, wherein the first waveguide substrate and the second waveguide substrate have different refractive indexes.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light source is an analog projector.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein:
the light source is configured to project the excitation light into the first waveguide substrate;
the excitation light is transmitted from the first waveguide substrate to the second waveguide substrate;
the excitation light is bent at an angle at the interface of the first waveguide substrate and the second waveguide substrate; and
the excitation light is internally reflected in the second waveguide substrate onto the display substrate.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the first waveguide substrate has a refractive index greater than the second waveguide substrate.
18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light emitting particles are formed from a fluorescent material.
19. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light emitting particles comprise:
a first material configured to emit a first visible color in response to absorption of a first bandwidth of the excitation light; and
a second material configured to emit a second visible color in response to absorption of a second bandwidth of the excitation light, wherein the second visible color is different from the first visible color.
20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide comprises both a reflector and a waveguide substrate.