| CPC G02B 27/0172 (2013.01) [G02B 6/0023 (2013.01); G02B 6/005 (2013.01); G02B 6/0065 (2013.01); G02B 6/0076 (2013.01); G02B 25/001 (2013.01); G02B 27/0149 (2013.01); G02B 5/201 (2013.01); G02B 2027/012 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0123 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0154 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0178 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0185 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |

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1. A method of manufacturing a diffractive optical element, the method comprising:
providing a substrate comprising a material that is transparent to visible light;
disposing a patternable layer over a surface of the substrate;
patterning the patternable layer to form a pattern comprising a plurality of features; and
etching the surface of the substrate through the patternable layer to fabricate structures on the surface of the substrate, wherein the structures comprise optical features configured to diffract visible light, wherein the optical features are positioned on waveguides at an intersection between a major surface and a subpupil, each waveguide of the waveguides being associated with a respective depth plane, being configured to direct a respective multiplexed light stream emitted by an image projection device to a viewer to produce an image appearing to originate from the respective depth plane, and wherein a refractive lens is positioned between a first waveguide and a second waveguide of the waveguides.
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