In one aspect, an optical device comprises a plurality of waveguides formed over one another and having formed thereon respective diffraction gratings, wherein the respective diffraction gratings are configured to diffract visible light incident thereon into respective waveguides, such that visible light diffracted into the respective waveguides propagates therewithin. The respective diffraction gratings are configured to diffract the visible light into the respective waveguides within respective field of views (FOVs) with respect to layer normal directions of the respective waveguides. The respective FOVs are such that the plurality of waveguides are configured to diffract the visible light within a combined FOV that is continuous and greater than each of the respective FOVs.

Provided is a small-sized light irradiating device having a simple configuration that projects an optical pattern. The light irradiating device includes a light source and a liquid crystal hologram element, in which the liquid crystal hologram element diffracts transmitted light in a plurality of different directions, the liquid crystal hologram element includes a liquid crystal hologram layer, the liquid crystal hologram layer is a layer that consists of a computer generated hologram and is formed of a composition including a liquid crystal compound, and the liquid crystal hologram layer further includes a plurality of regions in which directions of optical axes derived from the liquid crystal compound are different from each other.

A display assembly, a display device, and a control method thereof are disclosed. The display assembly includes: a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer; a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer for providing an electric field for the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer; and a birefringent lens grating that is closer to a display side of the display assembly than the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer. The birefringent lens grating is configured to transmit collimated light of a first polarization direction emitted from the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer along an original optical path of the collimated light, and to refract collimated light of a second polarization direction emitted from the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer to left and right eyes of an user, respectively. The first polarization direction is perpendicular to the second polarization direction.

An optical element 1 includes a first layer (A1) and a second layer (A2) that faces the first layer (A1). The first layer (A1) includes a plurality of first structural bodies (B1) that each have optical anisotropy. In reflection of light entering from the first layer (A1), the second layer (A2) reflects the light while maintaining a polarization state of the light at incidence and at the reflection. The first layer (A1) changes, according to directions of orientation of the first structural bodies (B1), a phase of the light from a phase at incidence to the first layer (A1) from outside of the first layer (A1) to a phase at output from the first layer (A1) toward the second layer (A2). The first layer (A1) changes the phase of the light from a phase at incidence to the first layer (A1) from the second layer (A2) to a phase at output from the first layer (A1) toward the outside of the first layer (A1) according to the directions of orientation of the first structural bodies (B1).

An optical device and an eye-tracking system to suppress a rainbow effect are provided. The optical device includes a grating. The grating includes at least one substrate and a grating structure coupled to the at least one substrate. The grating structure is configured to diffract an infrared light beam and transmit a visible light beam with a diffraction efficiency less than a predetermined threshold.

The present disclosure relates to display systems and, more particularly, to augmented reality display systems. A diffraction grating includes a plurality of different diffracting zones having a periodically repeating lateral dimension corresponding to a grating period adapted for light diffraction. The diffraction grating additionally includes a plurality of different liquid crystal layers corresponding to the different diffracting zones. The different liquid crystal layers have liquid crystal molecules that are aligned differently, such that the different diffracting zones have different optical properties associated with light diffraction.

To provide a volume-type optical element in which a self-cloning photonic crystal is used. An optical element is provided with half-wave plates of photonic crystals formed on the xy plane and laminated in the z-axis direction in a three-dimensional space x, y, z. The groove direction of the photonic crystals is a curved line, and the angle in relation to the y-axis direction changes continuously in the range of 0°-180°. Light entering the optical element in the axial direction is emitted from the optical element upon being divided and converted into clockwise circularly polarized light in the direction facing the x-axis by a given angle from the z-axis and anticlockwise circularly polarized light in the direction facing the −x-axis by a given angle from the z-axis. Laminating or placing a quarter-wave plate comprising a photonic crystal on one or both surfaces makes it possible to divide light entering from the z-axis direction of the optical element into two orthogonal linearly polarized lights.

The invention relates to a waveguide and a polarisation splitter based on said waveguide, in which a rotation of an angle greater than zero is applied to a plurality of sections of a core material and a plurality of sections of a covering material, thereby achieving an independent control of the refractive indices of a zero-order transverse electric mode and a zero-order transverse magnetic mode. This document also describes a manufacturing method of said waveguide which allows the birefringence of the light that passes through the waveguide.

Methods of manufacturing a liquid crystal device including depositing a layer of liquid crystal material on a substrate and imprinting a pattern on the layer of liquid crystal material using an imprint template are disclosed. The liquid crystal material can be jet deposited. The imprint template can include surface relief features, Pancharatnam-Berry Phase Effect (PBPE) structures or diffractive structures. The liquid crystal device manufactured by the methods described herein can be used to manipulate light, such as for beam steering, wavefront shaping, separating wavelengths and/or polarizations, and combining different wavelengths and/or polarizations.

An optical device includes a liquid crystal layer having a first plurality of liquid crystal molecules arranged in a first pattern and a second plurality of liquid crystal molecules arranged in a second pattern. The first and the second pattern are separated from each other by a distance of about 20 nm and about 100 nm along a longitudinal or a transverse axis of the liquid crystal layer. The first and the second plurality of liquid crystal molecules are configured as first and second grating structures that can redirect light of visible or infrared wavelengths.