Design of achromatic surface microstructure for near-eye display with diffractive waveguide

Abstract

Dispersion problem has always constrained the development of see-through near-eye displays with diffractive waveguide. Here, we propose a design method and optical systems for achromatic surface microstructure composed with a triple-carved-sub-grating. The triple-carved-sub-grating with specified period is designed based on rigorous coupled wave theory, corresponding to Red, Green and Blue (RGB) wavelengths, respectively, with diffraction efficiencies of 1st(-1st) orders reach 47.5% under TE polarization. The surface microstructure with period of 18.9um is realized by integrating the three sub-gratings together, and it is verified numerically that the diffractive angle of RGB wavelengths is 35{\deg} and the crosstalk is less than 4.5% under the normal incidence of TE polarization, which imply the surface microstructure diffracts the certain RGB wavelengths achromatically. Via proper duplication it could be utilized as the combining optics of diffractive-waveguide near-eye display and head-up display because of its light and compact features.