I-Corps: Fourth Wall Optics

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是探索有机发光二极管(OLED)和其他LED的翻译。虚拟现实和增强现实(VR/AR)护目镜在教育、工业和娱乐领域的使用正在增长。更高效、更明亮的显示器将极大地增强这些设备的功能。高效率的显示器将使移动护目镜成为可能，而不需要连接到外部电源。更明亮、分辨率更高的OLED显示屏对于AR来说尤其重要，以便能够在户外使用。用于普通照明的LED已经是最节能、使用寿命最长的光源。这项拟议的技术将进一步提高这些灯泡的能效。更亮的光源也可以用于特殊应用，如投影灯、汽车或全息显示器。这个i-Corps项目基于改进发光二极管的技术。有机发光二极管(OLED)和其他LED的光提取受到限制，因为发光材料和设备的其他组成层具有比空气更高的折射率。这会导致产生的光的全内反射和损耗，从而降低效率并潜在地缩短工作寿命。由超材料(超光学)发展而来的光学可以控制产生的光，这种方式是传统光学无法实现的。通过引导光远离导致全内反射的模式，可以获得新的光发射效率水平。这项提议的技术提供了与现有技术相对简单的集成，以及与许多现有的OLED和LED制造方案的兼容性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to explore translation of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and other LEDs. The use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) goggles is growing in education, industrial usage, and entertainment. More efficient and brighter displays would greatly increase the functionality of these devices. High-efficiency displays would enable mobile goggles without a need to be connected to an external power source. Brighter OLED displays with higher resolution would be especially important for AR to enable outdoor usage. LEDs for general purpose lighting are already the most energy efficient and longest lasting sources. The proposed technology would further increase the energy efficiency of these bulbs even further. Brighter light sources could also be used in specialty applications, such as projector lamps, automobiles, or holographic displays.This I-Corps project is based on technology to improve a light emitting diode. Light extraction from Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and other LEDs is limited because the light-emitting material and other constituent layers of the device have higher indices of refraction than air. This leads to total internal reflection and loss of generated light, reducing the efficiency and potentially reducing the operating lifetime. Optics developed from metamaterials (meta-optics) can control generated light in a manner unachievable with conventional optics. By steering light away from the modes leading to total internal reflection, new levels of light emission efficiency can be achieved. The proposed technique offers relatively simple integration with existing technology, along with compatibility with many existing fabrication schemes for OLEDs and LEDs.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.