A DOE-based waveguide architecture of wide field of view display for augmented reality eyewear

We report on a novel state-of-the-art diffraction optical elements (DOE) based waveguide architecture for augmented reality (AR) display with increased field of view and method for analytical design of such an architecture. The effectiveness of the architecture results from the multiple usage of the same propagation directions inside the waveguide by different field of view parts. Unlike in previous solutions, where such approach would lead to crosstalk generation, the proposed architecture different field of view parts are propagated in different waveguide locations, separated by the corresponding DOEs. The architecture can be applied either for increasing the vertical field of view size or the horizontal field of view size with compensation of chromatic dispersion resulting from the diffraction. The architecture configuration, analytical derivations of the DOEs parameters, and modeling results are discussed. The architecture satisfies market demands for the form-factor, size and weight, as well as allows up to four times increase of the field of view size in comparison with the conventional solutions. For the DOEs refractive index of 1.5, the architecture provides 48x44 degrees white-light field of view within two waveguides and 56x56 degrees white-light field of view within three waveguides. For the DOEs refractive index of 1.9, the architecture provides 58x58 degrees white-light field of view within only one waveguide.