Waveguide

A waveguide is a piece of transparent material that you can shine light into one part and it will come out of another part at a different angle. It is useful in making glasses with optical see through displays.

A waveguide often serves as a combiner.

Waveguides are often based on diffraction gratings. A diffractive waveguide is a piece of glass or plastic with diffraction gratings on it.

Manufacturing

Waveguides can be built in layers.

Waveguides can be made using lithography.

Companies

• Dispelix
• Digilens
• Lumus
• Vuzix
• Holographix

Materials

• Glass

Types

• Diffractive waveguide

A diffractive waveguide has an incoupling and an outcoupling. It uses total internal reflection to get the light from the incoupling to the outcoupling. The incoupling takes in a display source like an LCOS display. The outcoupling is seen by a person's eye.

• Reflective waveguide, advertised by Lumus

• Pupil expansion waveguide - A waveguide that enlarges the image.

• Pupil replication waveguide