Application of Surface-Relief Diffractive Optics to Helmet-Mounted Displays

摘要

Recent advances in diffractive optics technology suggest that diffractive opticsmay provide a revolutionary solution to the problem of developing lightweight optical assemblies for helmet-mounted displays. Surface-relief diffractive optics provide the optical designer with additional degrees of freedom to correct for chromatic and geometric aberrations. Fabrication techniques exist to blaze the phase profile of each zone; this provides a diffractive lens that exhibits high diffraction efficiency, that is nearly all of the incident light goes to the principal focus. The objective of the RD is to demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing diffractive optics technology to answer head-borne weight and center of gravity constraints in helmet-mounted display systems. Both monochromatic and polychromatic conditions for on-axis and off-axis systems are addressed. A significant portion of the effort is concerned with the chromatic correction of the optical assembly. The effect of diffraction efficiency on image quality is also investigated. Fabrication of the refractive and diffractive components is studied for further development in Phase II. Helmet-mounted displays, Diffractive optics, Binary optics.