A plastic holographic waveguide combiner for light‐weight and highly‐transparent augmented reality glasses

Abstract

Abstract There is a high demand for light‐weight, stylishly designed augmented reality (AR) glasses with natural see‐through capabilities for the wide‐spread distribution of novel wearable device to general consumers. We have successfully developed a unique production process of a holographic waveguide combiner that enables us to laminate holographic optical elements (HOEs) onto a plastic substrate with optical grade quality. The plastic substrate waveguide combiner has a number of advantages over conventional glass substrate combiners; the plastic substrate makes AR glasses lighter in weight and unbreakable. With the lamination process of HOEs, we can apply them to a various designs to satisfy general customers' wide range of preferences for the style. We also potentially made it possible for the holographic waveguide combiner to be produced in larger volumes at lower costs by using our novel roll‐to‐roll hologram recording and laminating process. In this paper, we present our approach of the plastic substrate HOE production process for AR glasses.