Liquid crystal waveguide film and its application to smart glasses

AbstractLiquid crystal waveguide film that we can control through wide visible wavelength has been proposed. Recently, small optical system is needed for various industrial application. Among the application, liquid crystal is the material for controlling optical ray. The application includes optical switch and display by controlling birefringence. These applications include AR/VR display, for manufacturing, inspection, and so on. In this study, we have investigated liquid crystal (LC) waveguide film that light is emitted from the waveguide film on glasses toward the eye when the power is turned on. The cut-off of waveguide film is based on liquid crystal switch using refractive index anisotropy. We select smart glasses as one of the applications for AR/VR display. The potential of LC waveguide films is demonstrated by simulating the propagation characteristics of waveguides film, LC reorientations, and diffraction gratings in the field of RGB wavelength range. By using the waveguide structure, the film thickness can be configured to be less than 1 mm. We can expect the liquid crystal waveguide has much application to optical integrated circuit as other application except for smart glasses.