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

I-Corps：用于制造增强现实和虚拟现实应用的工程光学的材料和方法

• 批准号: 2037903
• 负责人: Douglas Keszler
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Oregon State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-15 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2037903&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Materials; methods; manufacturing; engineered

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.

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响和商业潜力是基于用于制造增强和虚拟现实（AVR）设备的无机油墨的开发。 墨水是紫外线可固化的，方法包括制造明显透明，高索引工程的光学元件。与当前的有机材料集相比，无机膜具有更高的透明度和折射率。这种无机解决方案对于推动增强和虚拟现实（AVR）市场至关重要，因为最终用户不断努力降低制造成本并改善产品形式。 提议的油墨预计将通过制造高折射率工程光学元件来提高设备性能。需要这些光学元件来改善可穿戴设备的外形并发展AVR市场。该I-Corps项目是基于刻有无机油墨的发现和开发，这些墨水刻有生产高数的光栅。这种制造方法至关重要，因为AVR市场正在开发新一代的低调设备，这些设备需要高索引透明膜。 当前的技术基于有机聚合物，其透明度低且折射率较小。已证明成功创造了具有高透明度和与当前制造技术的高透明度和兼容性的高指数，可策划的精美的光学结构。该提出的技术可能会为AVR制造商提供具有成本效益的方法，以制造高折射率透明的光子设备，否则这些设备将是不可能的，或者是通过当前可用的方法对制造的不可能或成本效益的成本。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过该基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的评估来评估的支持，并被认为是值得的。