I-Corps: Materials and methods for manufacturing engineered optics for augmented and virtual reality applications

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响和商业潜力是基于用于增强和虚拟现实（AVR）设备制造的无机油墨的开发。油墨是紫外光固化的，方法包括制造透明的、高折射率的工程光学元件。与现有的有机材料相比，无机薄膜具有更高的透明度和折射率。这种无机解决方案对于推进增强现实和虚拟现实（AVR）市场至关重要，因为最终用户正在不断努力降低制造成本并改善产品形状因素。所提出的油墨有望通过制造高折射率工程光学器件来提高器件性能。这些光学元件需要改善可穿戴设备的外形因素，并扩大AVR市场。这个I-Corps项目是基于无机油墨的发现和发展，这些无机油墨可以用来生产高折射率的光学光栅。这种制造方法至关重要，因为AVR市场正在开发需要高折射率透明薄膜的新一代低调设备。目前的技术是基于低透明度和小折射率的有机聚合物。成功地创造了具有高透明度和与当前制造技术兼容的高折射率、紫外光固化工程光学结构。提出的技术可以为AVR制造商提供具有成本效益的方法来制造高折射率透明光子器件，否则用现有方法制造是不可能的或成本过高的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact and commercial potential of this I-Corps project are based on the development of inorganic inks for fabrication of augmented and virtual reality (AVR) devices. The inks are UV curable and methods include manufacturing visibly transparent, high-index engineered optics. Inorganic films offer higher transparency and refractive indexes compared with current organic materials sets. Such an inorganic solution is crucial to advance augmented and virtual reality (AVR) markets, as end users are continually striving to lower manufacturing costs and improve product form factors. The proposed inks are projected to improve device performance by enabling fabrication of high refractive index engineered optics. These optics are required to improve the form factor of wearable devices and to grow the AVR market.This I-Corps project is based on the discovery and development of inorganic inks that are imprinted to produce high-index optical gratings. Such a fabrication method is crucial, as the AVR market is developing a new generation of low-profile devices that require high-index transparent films. Current technologies are based on organic polymers that suffer from low transparency and small refractive indexes. Success has been demonstrated creating high-index, UV-curable engineered optical structures with high transparency and compatibility with current manufacturing technologies. The proposed technology may provide AVR manufacturers with cost effective methods to fabricate high refractive index transparent photonic devices that would otherwise be impossible or cost prohibitive to manufacture by methods currently available.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.