Holographic Optical Elements and their Applications in Waveguide Display Technologies

Abstract

The work documented in this dissertation presents a number of research efforts that utilize holographic techniques to bring next-generation technologies closer to present-day implementation. A head-up display system that diffracts incident light from a source beyond the critical angle of a waveguide through the use of holographic optical elements is presented. The waveguide design presented can achieve both pupil expansion and image magnification with an increased field of view. An approach to achieving two-dimensional pupil expansion and field of view increase is then presented. It uses a surface relief grating to achieve in-line vertical field of view expansion while utilizing the waveguide propagation techniques described in Chapter 2 for horizontal field of view and pupil expansion. Finally, a system is presented for increasing the directed angle of light from non-mechanical beam-steering devices. Two successive holograms are paired together to diffract light from a small range of incident angles (1 degree) to cover a theoretical maximum of 4pi sr. A time of flight experiment demonstrates the feasibility of using the system in remote sensing applications.