Metrology System for Waveguide Display, Hologram and Grating Using Polarization Imaging

The invention is a method and design of a metrology system that is used to characterize polarization volume hologram (PVH), surface relief grating (SRG), and volume Bragg grating (VBG). Polarization of optical components such as the ones mentioned above can be used as waveguides, optical filters, lenses, reflectors, refractor, beam splitters, beam combiners, beam couplers, and compensators used in displays for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) systems.

Background: 
The fabrication of and manufacturing of polarization components AR, VR, and MR systems are often difficult to manufacture due to the high uniformity and exact optical requirements that are needed for an efficient, high resolution, and high contrast displays. Deviations of AR/VR/MR display properties such as thickness, grating angle, grating pitch, uniformity, and spatial distribution of the optical components can lead to large reduction of display quality. 

Applications: 

• AR metrology system to manufacture optical polarization components
• VR metrology system to manufacture optical polarization components
• MR metrology system to manufacture optical polarization components

Advantages: 

• The system can measure deviations in real time
• Defects and non-uniformity can be detected before assembly
• Quantitative parameters can be measured for process monitoring and development