Metasurface eyepiece for augmented reality

TLDR

Metasurfaces made of subwavelength structures can manipulate light with unprecedented functionality. The study demonstrates a compact near‑eye augmented‑reality display that achieves a wide field of view. The system uses a see‑through metalens with anisotropic response, high numerical aperture, large aperture, and broadband performance. The metalens delivers full‑color, wide‑field imaging, overcomes the narrow field‑of‑view and bulkiness bottlenecks, and shows mass‑production feasibility, indicating strong potential for future consumer electronics and computer vision.

Abstract

Abstract Recently, metasurfaces composed of artificially fabricated subwavelength structures have shown remarkable potential for the manipulation of light with unprecedented functionality. Here, we first demonstrate a metasurface application to realize a compact near-eye display system for augmented reality with a wide field of view. A key component is a see-through metalens with an anisotropic response, a high numerical aperture with a large aperture, and broadband characteristics. By virtue of these high-performance features, the metalens can overcome the existing bottleneck imposed by the narrow field of view and bulkiness of current systems, which hinders their usability and further development. Experimental demonstrations with a nanoimprinted large-area see-through metalens are reported, showing full-color imaging with a wide field of view and feasibility of mass production. This work on novel metasurface applications shows great potential for the development of optical display systems for future consumer electronics and computer vision applications.