Large‐Depth‐of‐Focus and High‐Quality Layer‐Based Holographic 3D Display System Based on Liquid Crystal Axicon

ABSTRACT As a promising 3D display technology, holographic display can reconstruct full light field information of 3D scenes, including depth cues. While depth‐dependent defocus naturally provides these depth cues, the limited depth of focus (DOF) restricts the axial range of image clarity, posing a significant challenge for layer‐based holographic displays. In this work, we innovatively propose a large‐DOF and high‐quality layer‐based holographic 3D display system based on a liquid crystal axicon. The core components of the proposed system include a spatial light modulator (SLM) loaded with high‐quality holograms and a specially designed liquid crystal axicon. As for the hardware, a liquid crystal axicon is designed based on the principle of non‐diffracting Bessel beam generation to break the DOF limitations. As for the software, a multi‐plane hologram optimization method is proposed to suppress boundary crosstalk, which cooperates with the liquid crystal axicon to realize large‐DOF and high‐quality layer‐based holographic 3D reconstruction. The proposed system achieves reconstruction within a continuous focal segment of 2 cm, representing over a two‐times increase compared to reported large‐DOF systems. This work effectively promotes the applications of holographic displays in diverse fields such as industry, education, and entertainment.