This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
fact-checked
peer-reviewed publication
trusted source
proofread
Researchers have developed a new type of hologram, known as "metaholograms," capable of projecting multiple high-fidelity images free of crosstalk. This breakthrough paves the way for next-generation technologies including virtual/augmented reality (AR/VR) displays, information storage, and image encryption.
The work is published in the journal eLight.
Metaholograms offer several advantages over traditional holograms, including broader operational bandwidth, higher imaging resolution, wider viewing angle, and more compact size. However, a major challenge for metaholograms has been their limited information capacity that only allows to project a few independent images.
Existing methods typically can provide a small number of display channels and often suffer from inter-channel crosstalk during image projections.
To overcome this limitation, the new research introduces an innovative approach based on the k-space translation design strategy, enabling multiple target images to seamlessly switch between "displayed" and "hidden" states. The proposed metahologram employs the geometric phase encoding method and consists of millions of subwavelength-scale poly-silicon nanopillars, each measuring approximately 100 nm, all identical in size but with spatially varying rotation angles.
The device further incorporates a planar glass waveguide to convey incident light and leverages properties such as polarization and angle to switch the projection of up to six unique high-fidelity images without crosstalk. Additionally, the researchers have created a two-channel full-color metahologram and even an eighteen-channel metahologram using a combination of different multiplexing techniques.
This innovation has the potential to significantly improve AR/VR displays by enabling the projection of more complex and realistic scenes. It also holds promise for applications in image encryption, where the information is encoded into multiple holographic channels for enhanced security.
The research is a significant step forward in developing high-performance metaholograms with a vastly increased information capacity. This study paves the way for exciting new possibilities in various fields, from advanced displays to information encryption and information storage.
More information: Zeyang Liu et al, Broadband spin and angle co-multiplexed waveguide-based metasurface for six-channel crosstalk-free holographic projection, eLight (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s43593-024-00063-9
Journal information: eLight
Provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences
Explore further
Researchers from the Complexity Science Hub and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have dissected the complex interactions involved in zoonoses, which annually affect over two billion people worldwide. They introduce ...
Ecology
2 hours ago
0
63
A study published in Genome Biology opens new possibilities to improve production efficiency in the cattle industry and potentially animal agriculture more broadly. A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Cornell ...
Molecular & Computational biology
11 hours ago
0
47
The latest dinosaur being mounted at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles is not only a member of a new species—it's also the only one found on the planet whose bones are green, according to museum officials.
Paleontology & Fossils
21 hours ago
0
44
Researchers from the Institute for Molecules and Materials at Radboud University, Netherlands, have demonstrated that a complex self-organizing chemical reaction network can perform various computational tasks, such as nonlinear ...
Analytical Chemistry
Jul 13, 2024
1
220
This week: Physicists conducted a biological study, engineers built a waste-recycling suit for astronauts (and worm riders), and astronomers identified the first known intermediate-mass black hole, and it's right here in ...
Other
Jul 13, 2024
0
233
A SpaceX rocket has failed for the first time in nearly a decade, leaving the company's internet satellites in an orbit so low that they're doomed to fall through the atmosphere and burn up.
Space Exploration
Jul 13, 2024
1
361
Lakes, with their rich biodiversity and important ecological services, face a concerning trend: rapidly increasing temperatures. A recent study published in Nature Geoscience by an international team of limnologists and climate ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 12, 2024
4
101
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have created a computer program that "paints" the structure of molecules in the style of famous Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, whose beautiful artworks will be instantly recognizable to ...
Analytical Chemistry
Jul 12, 2024
0
95
The Belle II experiment is a large research effort aimed at precisely measuring weak-interaction parameters, studying exotic hadrons (i.e., a class of subatomic particles) and searching for new physical phenomena. This effort ...
General Physics
Jul 12, 2024
0
181
One of the most important controversies about human evolution and expansion is when and by what route the first hominids arrived in Europe from the African continent. Now, geological dating techniques at the Orce sites (Baza ...
Evolution
Jul 12, 2024
0
1813
Scientists have used state of the art 3D imaging technology to piece together the life—and probable death—of a 2.2 meter-long crocodile mummified by the ancient Egyptians.
Archaeology
Jul 12, 2024
0
53
Nanoparticles have a wide variety of applications, from drug delivery to electronics to air purification. Their small size and tunable properties make them particularly valuable for technological advancements and scientific ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 12, 2024
1
158
Neutrinos have a quantum mechanical property called "flavor." This flavor can transform as neutrinos move through space. A major challenge is to keep track of both the physical movement of the neutrinos and their change of ...
General Physics
Jul 12, 2024
0
349
Archaeologists have uncovered one of the earliest Christian buildings in the Arabian Gulf—the first physical evidence of a long-lost community.
Archaeology
Jul 12, 2024
0
129
A new study finds a significant impact of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on coral bleaching events in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR).
Earth Sciences
Jul 12, 2024
0
227
An international team of researchers led by the University of Bristol has shed light on Earth's earliest ecosystem, showing that within a few hundred million years of planetary formation, life on Earth was already flourishing.
Evolution
Jul 12, 2024
0
188
