US 12,216,311 B2
Eyepiece for virtual, augmented, or mixed reality systems
Michael Anthony Klug, Austin, TX (US); Robert Dale Tekolste, Boulder, CO (US); William Hudson Welch, Fort Lauderdale, FL (US); Eric Browy, Meridian, ID (US); Victor Kai Liu, Mountain View, CA (US); and Samarth Bhargava, Saratoga, CA (US)
Assigned to Magic Leap, Inc., Plantation, FL (US)
Filed by Magic Leap, Inc., Plantation, FL (US)
Filed on Jul. 7, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/348,909.
Application 18/348,909 is a continuation of application No. 17/456,301, filed on Nov. 23, 2021, granted, now 11,733,456.
Application 17/456,301 is a continuation of application No. 16/570,912, filed on Sep. 13, 2019, granted, now 11,204,462, issued on Dec. 21, 2021.
Application 16/570,912 is a continuation of application No. 15/877,117, filed on Jan. 22, 2018, granted, now 10,451,799, issued on Oct. 22, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/449,524, filed on Jan. 23, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2023/0417986 A1, Dec. 28, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G02B 6/02 (2006.01); G02B 6/122 (2006.01); G02B 27/01 (2006.01); G06T 19/00 (2011.01)
CPC G02B 6/122 (2013.01) [G02B 6/02085 (2013.01); G02B 27/0172 (2013.01); G06T 19/006 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0125 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An eyepiece for a virtual reality, augmented reality, or mixed reality system, the eyepiece comprising:
a waveguide substrate that is at least partially transparent;
an input coupler grating formed on or in the waveguide substrate and configured to couple at least one input light beam that is externally incident on the input coupler grating into at least a first guided light beam that propagates inside the waveguide substrate;
a first orthogonal pupil expander (OPE) grating formed on or in the waveguide substrate and configured to divide the first guided light beam from the input coupler grating into a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart light beams;
a first spreader grating that receives the light beams from the first OPE grating and spreads their distribution, the first spreader grating comprising diffractive features oriented at approximately 90° to diffractive features of the first OPE grating; and
an exit pupil expander (EPE) grating formed on or in the waveguide substrate and configured to re-direct the light beams from the first OPE grating and the first spreader grating such that they exit the waveguide substrate,
wherein the input coupler grating comprises diffractive optical features that include a plurality of features laid out in a hexagonal lattice to divide and redirect the input beam toward the first OPE grating.