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制造增强和虚拟现实（AVR）设备的无机墨水的开发。 该油墨是UV可固化的，并且方法包括制造可见透明的高折射率工程光学器件。与目前的有机材料组相比，无机膜提供更高的透明度和折射率。这种无机解决方案对于推进增强和虚拟现实（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外形。 所提出的油墨预计通过使高折射率工程光学器件的制造成为可能来改善器件性能。这些光学器件是提高可穿戴设备的外形尺寸和发展AVR市场所必需的。I-Corps的这一项目是基于发现和开发可压印以生产高折射率光栅的无机油墨。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轮廓器件。 目前的技术基于有机聚合物，其具有低透明度和小折射率。已成功地证明了创建高折射率，紫外线固化工程光学结构，具有高透明度和与当前制造技术的兼容性。该技术可以为AVR制造商提供成本效益高的方法来制造高折射率透明光子器件，否则不可能或成本过高，目前可用的方法制造。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.