Optical Modeling of a Holographic Single Element Head-mounted Display

This paper proposes a new method to design an optically-fabricated holographic element, where the construction optical system and the playback system can be optimized jointly. The method was driven by the use of a new holographic recording material – the photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass that can only be written at 325nm, while its playback takes place in the visible part of the spectrum. Applying the method proposed, a single holographic element head-mounted display (HMD) was modeled. Results show that a single holographic element may be constructed at 325 nm, and inserted in a playback optical system operating at 633nm, with a MTF of over 80% across a 40 degree field of view at 37cycles/mm.