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Ding YQ, Huang XJ, Ma YZY et al. High-efficiency RGB achromatic liquid crystal diffractive optical elements. Opto-Electron Adv 8, 240181 (2025). doi: 10.29026/oea.2025.240181
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High-efficiency RGB achromatic liquid crystal diffractive optical elements
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Abstract
Liquid crystal Pacharatnam-Berry phase optical elements (PBOEs) have found promising applications in augmented reality and virtual reality because of their slim formfactor, lightweight, and high optical efficiency. However, chromatic aberration remains a serious longstanding problem for diffractive optics, hindering their broader adoption. To overcome the chromatic aberrations for red, green and blue (RGB) light sources, in this paper, we propose a counterintuitive multi-twist structure to achieve narrowband PBOEs without crosstalk, which plays a vital role to eliminate the chromatic aberration. The performance of our designed and fabricated narrowband Pacharatnam-Berry lenses (PBLs) aligns well with our simulation results. Furthermore, in a feasibility demonstration experiment using a laser projector, our proposed PBL system indeed exhibits a diminished chromatic aberration as compared to a broadband PBL. Additionally, polarization raytracing is implemented to demonstrate the versatility of the multi-twist structure for designing any RGB wavelengths with high contrast ratios. This analysis explores the feasibility of using RGB laser lines and quantum dot light-emitting diodes. Overall, our approach enables high optical efficiency, low fabrication complexity, and high degree of design freedom to accommodate any liquid crystal material and RGB light sources, holding immense potential for widespread applications of achromatic PBOEs. -
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References
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Ding YQ, Huang XJ, Ma YZY et al. High-efficiency RGB achromatic liquid crystal diffractive optical elements. Opto-Electron Adv 8, 240181 (2025). doi: 10.29026/oea.2025.240181
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Figure 1.
Working principles of PBOEs. (a) Planar LC structure of a general PBOE. (b) Chromatic aberration in a broadband PBL.
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Figure 2.
Working principles of the proposed achromatic PBL systems. Optical response of the incident RGB lights to (a) a red PBL, (b) a green PBL, (c) a blue PBL, and (d) a stacked RGB achromatic PBL. (e) LC structure for a multi-twist PBOE.
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Figure 3.
Spectral response of designed narrowband PBLs. Simulation and experimental spectrum of (a) red PBL, (b) green PBL, and (c) blue PBL.
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Figure 4.
Experimental methods of PBOEs. (a) MZI for recording the phase profile. (b) Fabrication process of PBOEs. (c) Fabricated narrowband RGB PBLs samples. The diameter of each RGB sample is about 21.5 mm. (d) RGB PBLs on a common substrate with buffer layers. (e) Setup for characterizing the spectral response of PBOEs. (f) Measured spectral response of the first-layer LC in the red PBL, which consists of 5 layers in total.
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Figure 5.
Achromatic imaging experiments with a laser projector. (a) Optical setup for the imaging process with a laser projector. Image on the projection screen with (b) a broadband PBL, (c) a red PBL, (d) a green PBL, (e) a blue PBL, and (f) the stacked achromatic PBLs.
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Figure 6.
Spectral response of the designed narrowband PBLs with high contrast ratio. Spectra of (a) the red PBL, (b) the green PBL, and (c) the blue PBL with RCWA simulations. Simulated angular response of (d) the red PBL, (e) the green PBL, and (f) the blue PBL. The employed RGB wavelengths are R=633 nm, G=527 nm, and B=464.5 nm.
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Figure 7.
Polarization raytracing of an achromatic PBD using three narrowband PBDs with high contrast ratios. (a) Spectrum of an RGB laser projector. (b) Image in an achromatic PBD system with the laser projector. (c) Image with a broadband PBD system using a laser projector. (d) Spectrum of the RGB LED light source. (e) Image with a nearly achromatic PBD system using the LED light source. (f) Image with a broadband PBD system using the LED light source. (g) Spectrum of the RGB QD LEDs. (h) Image with a nearly achromatic PBD system using the RGB QD LEDs. (i) Image with a broadband PBD system using the RGB QD LEDs.
