14 Frontier Science Medium to long term

Lifelike 3D Motion Images with Holographic Display

Development of high-density spatial light modulator (SLM) for wide viewing zone angle

Outline

Holographic displays*1 reproduce lifelike three-dimensional (3D) images without wearing special glasses. To widen the viewing zone angle*2 of holographic displays, STRL has been developing a high-density Magneto-Optical Spatial Light Modulators (MOSLM)*3 with submicron scale small-pixels. We have successfully demonstrated 3D holographic images with wide viewing zone angle using the MOSLM.

High-density SLM developed by STRL

High-density MOSLM with pixel pitch of 1 μm

The viewing zone angle of a holographic display depends on the pixel pitch. With a conventional low-density SLM, images could only be viewed within a narrow range. To widen the viewing zone angle of holographic displays, STRL has developed a MOSLM (10K×5K pixels) using Current Induced Domain Wall Motion (CIDWM)*4 with the world’s smallest pixel size (1 μm×4 μm).

Display of 3D images with wide viewing zone angle

The MOSLM developed by STRL can successfully display 3D images with a horizontal viewing zone angle of 30 degrees. A rewritable wide viewing zone angle holographic display has been demonstrated. As the structure of this MOSLM is suitable for higher density, it should be possible to widen the viewing angle further by reducing the pixel pitch.

[Future plans]

STRL will work on developing elemental technologies for a high-density SLM that can achieve high diffraction efficiency and display high-speed moving images by around 2025. The quality of reconstructed images will be improved and moving images will be displayed in color by around 2030.

  • Holographic display: A display that can reproduce lifelike 3D images using an interference fringe pattern to reproduce the light in a space.
  • Viewing zone angle: The range in which a 3D image can be seen.
  • Magneto-Optical Spatial Light Modulator (MOSLM): A device containing a two-dimensional array of tiny light modulators (equivalent to pixels) that can control the state (intensity, phase, etc.) of light. A MOSLM can reproduce 3D images by rotating the polarization of light using the Magneto-optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) to produce an interference fringe pattern.
  • Current Induced Domain Wall Motion (CIDWM): A technology to reverse the direction of the micro-magnets that make up a pixel (move the domain wall) by applying a pulse current instead of a magnetic field. There is no crosstalk to adjacent pixels, making it suitable for high density of 1 μm or less.
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