Holographic Curved Waveguide Combiner for HUD/AR

Abstract

This thesis contains efforts toward head up display and augmented reality devices using combiners comprised of holographic optical elements on waveguides.Holographic optical elements couple image bearing light beyond total internal reflection conditions within a planar waveguide. The pupil is expanded in 2 dimensions while magnifying the image to produce a head up display with smaller form factor and large field of view over an expanded eye box [1]. Aberration in the form of image duplication is seen in pupil replicating waveguide combiners which were examined and realized to be from the conditions of the internally propagating light. The internally propagating light should be collimated, and a solution is proposed for multiple depths of field to be projected into the viewer’s field of view free from aberration [2]. A method is presented for image propagation through a curved waveguide combiner with pupil replication. The insertion holographic optical element imposes astigmatic power to mitigate propagation aberrations. An extraction holographic optical element outcouples the image over an expanded eye box [3].