To provide an illumination device and a projection type image display device that illuminate an area to be illuminated (image formation area) under conditions where speckle noise is less noticeable. An illumination device according to the present invention includes: a light source 11 that emits coherent light; an optical scanning section 15 that scans the coherent light emitted from the light source 11; and an optical path conversion system 21 configured to allow the coherent light scanned by the optical scanning section 15 to illuminate an area to be illuminated sequentially in an overlapping manner. An incident angle of the coherent light that enters respective points of the area to be illuminated changes with time.

A near-eye display system includes a display panel, a beam steering assembly facing the display panel, a display controller, and a beam steering controller. The beam steering assembly imparts one of a plurality of net deflection angles to incident light. The display controller drives the display panel to display a sequence of images, and the beam steering controller controls the beam steering assembly to impart a different net deflection angle for each displayed image of the sequence. The sequence of images, when displayed within the visual perception interval, may be perceived as a single image having a resolution greater than the resolution of the display panel or having larger apparent pixel sizes that conceal the black space between pixels of the display, or the sequence of images may represent a lightfield with the angular information represented in the net deflection angles imparted into the images as they are projected.

A laser mast for attachment to a ground vehicle includes a mast, a rotary stage, a platform, a first laser, and a second laser. The rotary stage is connected to and rotates the mast. The platform is connected to the rotary stage. The first laser is within the mast. The second laser is within the rotary stage or the platform.

A depth camera assembly for determining depth information for objects in a local area comprises a light generator, a camera and a controller. The light generator illuminates the local area with structured light in accordance with emission instructions from the controller. The light generator includes an illumination source, an acousto-optic deflector (AOD), and a liquid crystal device (LCD) with liquid crystal gratings (LCGs). The AOD functions as a dynamic diffraction grating that diffracts optical beams emitted from the illumination source to form diffracted scanning beams, based on emission instructions from the controller. Each LCG in the LCD is configured to further diffract light from the AOD to generate the structured light projected into the local area. The camera captures images of portions of the structured light reflected from objects in the local area. The controller determines depth information for the objects based on the captured images.

A LIDAR system for detecting objects within an observation area. The LIDAR system includes an illumination unit for illuminating the observation area using multiple light radiations, each having a different wavelength, multiple separate spatial areas of the observation area, which are presently detected by a detection area of the LIDAR system, being temporally consecutively illuminated in each case with another of the light radiations; and a detection unit for detecting the light radiations reflected by objects, including at least one detection array, which is individually assigned to the particular detection area and is made of up of a detector for detecting the light radiations from the spatial areas presently detected by the detection area, and a holographic imaging optics for focusing the respective light radiations onto the detector.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a transmitter, an optical sensing system, and an optical sensing method. An exemplary optical sensing system includes an optical source configured to emit optical signals. The optical sensing system further includes a scanner configured to steer the optical signals towards an environment surrounding the optical sensing system at a plurality of scanning angles. A surface curvature of the scanner is adaptively adjusted to change a divergence of the optical signals at the respective scanning angles. The optical sensing system additionally includes a receiver configured to receive the optical signals returning from the environment.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a collimating scanner for an optical sensing system, a method for fabricating the collimating scanner, and a transmitter that includes the collimating scanner. An exemplary collimating scanner may include a scanning mirror configured to steer a light beam towards an object. The collimating scanner may also include a Fresnel zone plate profile patterned on the scanning mirror configured to collimate the light beam. The disclosed collimating scanner eliminates the use a separate collimating lens and thus improves the form factor of the optical sensing system.

A display system employs multiple micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) mirrors in series to receive collimated light and direct the light to provide light having input angles corresponding to a desired field of view at a point or line at an incoupler (IC) of a waveguide without an optical relay. An initial one or more MEMS mirrors accepts collimated light and generates the scan angles. A last MEMS mirror in the series scans at a range of angles proportional to the scan angles generated by the initial MEMS mirror(s) and directs the scanned light back to a spot or a line at the IC.

A system including two dimensional, microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based spatial light modulators and anamorphic optics for improved contrast is provided. Generally, the system comprises an array of modulators having a plurality of pixels along a longitudinal axis, each pixel comprising a plurality of modulators along a transverse axis of the array. An illumination source including a laser and anamorphic optics for focuses light from the laser onto the array, and imaging optics focus modulated light from the array onto an image plane. The anamorphic optics are configured to provide a transverse numerical aperture (NA) along the transverse axis of the array that is smaller than a diffraction angle of the modulated light reflected from the array along a transverse axis of the image plane, and a longitudinal NA along the longitudinal axis of the array that is greater than the transverse NA. Other embodiments are also provided.

An optical beam steering device may include a tunable laser diode configured to emit laser beams and an antenna that includes a grating structure and is configured to convert the laser beams to a linear light source based on the grating structure. The tunable laser diode may emit a first laser beam having a first wavelength, and emit a second laser beam having a second wavelength, the second wavelength different from the first wavelength. The antenna may receive the first laser beam and, in response, output a first linear light source having a first emission angle with a surface of the antenna. The antenna may further receive the second laser beam and, in response, output a second linear light source having a second emission angle with the surface of the antenna, the second emission angle different from the first angle.