Augmented Reality Enabled by On-Chip Meta-Holography Multiplexing

Abstract

The exploit of on-chip metasurfaces with full optical controllability and multiplexing capability holds great promise for photonic integration circuits (PIC). Despite previous endeavors in metasurfaces controlling guided waves, it still faces critical challenges to realize practical display applications, for instance, augmented reality (AR). Here, a new type of AR based on multiplexed on-chip meta-holography is proposed and experimentally demonstrated by integrating judiciously engineered meta-atoms above waveguide. Through hybridizing detour and Pancharatnam–Berry phases, on-chip metasurfaces can independently manipulate both guided waves and free-space light to enable a triple-channel holography-multiplexing with independent-encoding freedom. Eventually, an RGB-coloring AR hologram free from zero-order diffraction that can project virtual images into a real-world environment is realized, showcasing its significant potential for wearable devices (glasses or contact lens) integration. This study finds a feasible route toward multifunctional PIC devices and applications in wearable AR displays, imaging multiplexing, information storage, etc.