See-through characteristics of a holographic contact lens display and design consideration for a spatial light modulator

The holographic contact lens display offers an ultra-thin and compact form factor as a visual interface device for augmented reality. It uses a transmission-type spatial light modulator (SLM) and a polarizer to overlay three-dimensional images onto real scenes, affecting the display’s see-through capability. This study explores theoretical and experimental aspects of light efficiency, higher-order diffraction light generation, and see-through image resolution. Increasing the SLM’s fill factor improved the light efficiency and reduced the higher-order diffraction light generation, without impacting the image resolution. Additionally, we investigated removing the polarizer to further enhance light efficiency and demonstrated its effects.