LED illumination faceted Fresnel DOEs generating perceived virtual 3D vision

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel method for designing and fabricating faceted Fresnel diffractive optical elements that generate perceived 3D virtual images using LED illumination, verified through simulations and experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a modified iterative Fourier transform algorithm for optimizing faceted Fresnel DOEs to produce 3D virtual images and demonstrates their fabrication and practical application.

Findings

Successful generation of perceived 3D virtual images with LED illumination

Validation through numerical simulations and optical experiments

Potential applications in security and holographic displays

Abstract

An approach for the optimization and synthesis of a phase-only faceted Fresnel type diffractive optical element (FDOE) generating 3D virtual images is proposed. The FDOE is a transmissive Fresnel type DOE array, which produces the perception of a customized floating 3D virtual image behind the FDOE when illuminated with a divergent monochromatic Light Emitter Diode (LED) source. Each DOE unit of the FDOE is optimized with a modified iterative Fourier transform algorithm (M-IFTA). Each unit of the FDOE locally deflects the incident light to the same position to form a designated view of the target plane. The FDOE is fabricated using our home-built parallel write photo-lithography machine. Numerical simulations and optical experiments are performed to verify the proposed design method. Photos of the generated image are also presented. This work can find applications in optical security, anti-counterfeiting, and holographic display.