Glasses-free three-dimensional (3D) displays are one of the game-changing technologies that will redefine the display industry in portable electronic devices. However, because of the limited resolution in state-of-the-art display panels, current 3D displays suffer from a critical trade-off among the spatial resolution, angular resolution, and viewing angle. Inspired by the so-called spatially variant resolution imaging found in vertebrate eyes, we propose 3D display with spatially variant information density. Stereoscopic experiences with smooth motion parallax are maintained at the central view, while the viewing angle is enlarged at the periphery view. It is enabled by a large-scale 2D-metagrating complex to manipulate dot/linear/rectangular hybrid shaped views. Furthermore, a video rate full-color 3D display with an unprecedented 160° horizontal viewing angle is demonstrated. With thin and light form factors, the proposed 3D system can be integrated with off-the-shelf purchased flat panels, making it promising for applications in portable electronics.
A single-layer plasmonic structure, i.e., a metal film milled with rectangular grooves and holes that are orthogonal to each other, has been proposed for polarization manipulation. With the structure, we suggest theoretically that transmissive and efficient 90° linear-polarization rotation can be achieved. Analytical results indicate that the polarization rotation stems from the waveguide resonance and the strong coupling between the grooves and holes, resulting in an obvious difference from plasmonic wave plates. To demonstrate the effect, an experiment was also carried out in the microwave frequency band.
The depth of focus (DOF) of a lens is a crucial parameter in glasses-free 3D displays that affects the viewing distance range. Here we proposed a vector light field display based on intertwined flat lens for extended viewing distance. The gray-scale diffractive lens (GDL) is designed and fabricated with extended DOF for red (658 nm), green (532 nm), and blue (450 nm) colors. By integrating the intertwined GDLs with a liquid crystal display, four views form a smooth horizontal parallax with a cross talk below 26% over a viewing distance from 24 to 90 cm. The enhancement of the DOF is
1.8
×
1
0
4
-fold. The light efficiency of the pixelated GDL reaches 82%. The proposed vector light field 3D display has the advantages of a thin form factor, high efficiency, high color fidelity, and large viewing distance. The potential applications include portable electronics, 3D TVs, and tabletop displays.
Dynamic
diffraction gratings (DDGs) are considered as one of the
most promising technologies for application in smart optical devices
because of their in situ dynamic regulation of light
propagation on demand; however, it is still a challenge to fabricate
dynamic periodic micro/nanostructures due to limited materials and
processes. Here, a facile and feasible strategy to construct a near-infrared
(NIR) radiation-driven DDG is developed based on a double-sided surface
pattern, which is fabricated by dynamic wrinkles and/or soft-imprinted
static wrinkles. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) containing carbon nanotubes
(CNTs) serves as the substrate, and wrinkles are formed on both sides.
The resulting double-sided wrinkle pattern can be used as a DDG to
generate various adjustable two-dimensional (2D) diffraction patterns
driven by NIR light. Furthermore, with various combinations of wrinkles,
we demonstrated a single-sided responsive DDG and a double-sided responsive
DDG to realize the evolution of diffraction patterns from 2D to one-dimensional
(1D) and 2D to zero-dimensional (0D), respectively. The results provide
an alternative for DDGs that will have wide applications in smart
display, sensing, and imaging systems.
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