Diffractive optics for virtual reality displays

Near-to-eye (NTE) displays are generally systems where the imaging optics of a microdisplay is brought close to the eye, like a magnifying glass. In portable NTE terminals, the challenges are in achieving low power consumption as well as low weight and small size. Part of the problem is related to the microdisplay, but the optics also plays a major role. A study on how diffractive optical elements (DOEs) on planar waveguides can be used to miniaturize the optics of NTE displays is presented and the performance of the system is analyzed.