Optical waveguide element and control method thereof, display device and display method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12253673-B2
Application number	US-202017263586-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2020
Priority date	May 21, 2019
Publication date	Mar 18, 2025
Grant date	Mar 18, 2025

Abstract

An optical waveguide element, a control method of the optical waveguide element, a display device and a display method of the display device are provided. The optical waveguide element includes an optical waveguide layer and a first grating, the first grating overlaps with the optical waveguide layer and includes at least one first sub-grating unit, the at least one first sub-grating unit is configured to be switchable between a diffraction state and a non-diffraction state, and the at least one first sub-grating unit in a diffraction state guides incident light in the optical waveguide layer out of the optical waveguide layer for display. The optical waveguide element is capable of adjusting the position of the light-exiting region, the utilization rate of light is high.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical waveguide element, comprising:
an optical waveguide layer;
a first grating, overlapping with the optical waveguide layer and comprising at least one first sub-grating unit;
wherein the at least one first sub-grating unit is configured to be switchable between a diffraction state and a non-diffraction state, and the at least one first sub-grating unit in a diffraction state guides incident light in the optical waveguide layer out of the optical waveguide layer for display,
a plurality of first sub-grating units are provided, each of the plurality of first sub-grating units comprises a first control electrode to control a state of the first sub-grating unit, and the first control electrodes of at least two of the plurality of first sub-grating units are independent of each other, wherein
a diffraction efficiency of the plurality of first sub-grating units are set to be gradually increased along a propagation direction of light in the optical waveguide layer.

2. The optical waveguide element according to claim 1 , wherein
the first control electrodes of the plurality of first sub-grating units are independent of each other.

3. The optical waveguide element according to claim 1 , wherein
in a direction parallel to a plane where the optical waveguide layer is located, the first grating comprises a plurality of first strip-shaped subregions which are parallel, and each of the plurality of first strip-shaped subregions corresponds to one of the plurality of first sub-grating units.

4. The optical waveguide element according to claim 3 , wherein
a width of each of the plurality of first strip-shaped subregions is less than or equal to a pupil diameter of a human eye.

5. The optical waveguide element according to claim 1 , wherein
the first grating comprises a plurality of first subregions arranged in a matrix, and each of the plurality of first subregions corresponds to one of the plurality of first sub-grating units.

6. The optical waveguide element according to claim 5 , wherein
at least one of a width and a length of each of the plurality of first subregions is less than or equal to a pupil diameter of a human eye.

7. The optical waveguide element according to claim 1 , wherein
the first control electrode comprises a first electrode and a second electrode which are opposite to each other, and each of the plurality of the first sub-grating units further comprises a first spacer layer and a first electro-optic material layer between the first electrode and the second electrode,
the first spacer layer comprises a plurality of first spacer strips, to define a plurality of first chambers with the first electrode and the second electrode, and the first electro-optical material layer fills the plurality of first chambers, and
the first electrode and the second electrode are configured to generate an electric field after being applied with a voltage, to adjust a refractive index of the first electro-optical material layer.

8. The optical waveguide element according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second grating, overlapping with the optical waveguide layer and comprising a plurality of second sub-grating units;
wherein each of the plurality of second sub-grating units is configured to be switchable between a diffraction state and a non-diffraction state, and each of the plurality of second sub-grating units is configured to guide the incident light in the optical waveguide layer from the optical waveguide layer to the first grating under a condition of being in the diffraction state.

9. The optical waveguide element according to claim 8 , wherein
in a direction parallel to a plane where the optical waveguide layer is located, each of the plurality of second sub-grating units in the diffraction state changes a propagation direction of light from a first direction to a second direction by diffraction, to emit the light towards the first grating, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

10. The optical waveguide element according to claim 9 , wherein
along the first direction, the second grating is provided with a plurality of second subregions, each of the plurality of second subregions comprises at least one of the plurality of second sub-grating units,
along the second direction, each of the plurality of second subregions corresponds to the at least one of the plurality of first sub-grating units, and each of the plurality of second subregions corresponds to the first sub-grating unit which is different with the first sub-grating unit which corresponds to other of the plurality of second subregions.

11. The optical waveguide element according to claim 9 , wherein
each of the plurality of second sub-grating units comprises a second control electrode, a second spacer layer and a second electro-optic material layer, wherein the second spacer layer comprises a plurality of second spacer strips arranged along the first direction, the second electro-optic material layer is distributed between the second spacer strips,
an included angle between the second spacer strips and the first direction, and an included angle between the second spacer strips and the second direction are equal, and along the second direction, a width of the second control electrode is equal to a width of the first sub-grating unit which corresponds to the second control electrode.

12. The optical waveguide element according to claim 10 , wherein the first grating comprises a plurality of first subregions arranged in an array, each of the plurality of first subregions corresponds to one of the plurality of first sub-grating units, the first grating is a two-dimensional grating and the second grating is a one-dimensional grating.

13. A display device, comprising the optical waveguide element according to claim 1 .

14. The display device according to claim 13 , further comprising an image providing device, wherein
the image providing device is configured to provide light to the optical waveguide for displaying an image.

15. The display device according to claim 13 , further comprising:
a tracking device, configured for detecting a position and an observation direction of a pupil;
an information processing unit, configured for determining an observation range of a pupil according to the position and the observation direction of the pupil, to determine the first sub-grating units corresponding to the observation range of the pupil.

16. The display device according to claim 15 , further comprising a control chip, wherein
the control chip is configured to be in signal connection with the information processing unit and apply a control signal to the plurality of first sub-grating units of the first grating, respectively.

17. The display device according to claim 15 , further comprising:
an electrode control module, comprising a driving circuit and configured to control voltage of electrode of the first grating and/or the second grating;
a control chip, connected with the tracking device, the image providing device, the information processing unit and the electrode control module, and receiving signal from the information processing unit and controlling the electrode control module, to control the first sub-grating unit of the first grating located in an effective light-exiting region to be in a diffraction state, and control the second sub-grating unit of the second grating corresponding to the effective light-exiting region to be in a diffraction state.

18. A display method of the display device according to

Assignees

• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ma Sen

Classifications

• G02B2027/0187

  slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye · CPC title

• G02B2027/0178

  Eyeglass type (eyeglass details G02C) · CPC title

• G02B27/44

  Grating systems; Zone plate systems (G02B27/46 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B27/4205

  having a diffractive optical element [DOE] contributing to image formation, e.g. whereby modulation transfer function MTF or optical aberrations are relevant · CPC title

• G02B27/0179

  Display position adjusting means not related to the information to be displayed · CPC title