디스플레이 및 이미징 시스템으로의 응용을 위한 3D 프린팅 기반 맞춤형 광학 요소의 개발

학위논문 (박사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 공과대학 전기·정보공학부, 2021. 2. 홍용택.일반적으로 제조 공정은 절삭 방식과 적층 방식으로 구분된다. 이 중에서 적층 방식 공정은 저비용 및 단시간으로 복잡한 형태의 구조를 만들 수 있어서 이에 대한 연구와 개발이 꾸준히 진행되어왔다. 특히 3D 프린팅은 적층 방식 공정 중에서 가장 대표적인 방법으로, 기계 부품 및 생체 기관 제조 등의 분야에서는 이미 상용화가 진행되고 있다. 하지만 전자 소자 및 광학 요소 분야에서의 3D 프린팅의 활용은 여전히 연구 개발 또는 시제품 제작 단계에 머무르고 있다. 특히 마이크로 렌즈, 컬러 필터 등이 3D 프린팅으로 응용할 수 있는 가장 가능성 있는 광학 요소로서 디스플레이 및 이미징 시스템에 널리 사용될 것으로 예상되지만 여전히 상용화를 위한 연구가 진행 중이다. 또한 3D 프린팅을 이용한 광학 요소의 제작은 소재, 길이 스케일, 형상 및 응용 방안 등에서도 제한이 많은 상황이다. 따라서 이러한 문제를 극복하기 위해서는 디스플레이 및 이미징 시스템에서의 3D 프린팅 된 광학 요소의 유용성을 확장해야 하며, 다음과 같이 세 가지 측면에서 향상된 성능을 달성해야 한다. 첫째, 다양한 방식의 3D 프린팅 방법을 통해 마이크로미터에서 센티미터까지 광범위의 길이 스케일을 가지는 구조물의 제작이 가능해야 한다. 둘째, 임의의 곡면, 계층적 구조 등 복잡한 형상의 구조물을 쉽게 제작할 수 있어야 한다. 셋째, 단단한 소재 대신 탄성체와 같은 소프트 소재를 이용하여 광학적인 기능을 용이하게 조절할 수 있어야 한다. 이와 같은 동기를 바탕으로 본 학위 논문에서는 디스플레이 및 이미징 시스템으로의 응용을 위한 3D 프린팅 기반 맞춤형 광학 요소의 개발에 대한 내용을 보고한다. 3D 프린팅 기반 광학 요소를 매크로 스케일, 마이크로 스케일 그리고 매크로 및 마이크로 스케일이 혼합된 계층적 구조 등 세 가지 유형으로 분류하고 각각에 대한 응용 분야를 제시한다. 매크로 스케일의 광학 요소로는 가장 기본적인 요소인 렌즈와 거울을 선택한다. 렌즈는 공압식 디스펜싱 방법을 이용하여 실린드리컬 쌍 형태로 제작되었으며, 심리스 모듈러 평판식 디스플레이의 구현을 위해 적용된다. 또한 용융 적층 방식의 3D 프린팅으로 만들어진 몰드를 이용하여 거울을 제작하고, 이를 이용하여 심리스 모듈러 커브드 엣지 디스플레이를 구현한다. 이와 같이 모듈러 디스플레이의 이음새 부분에 3D 프린팅으로 제작된 렌즈 또는 거울을 부착하는 방식으로 화면을 심리스로 확장하는 기술을 제시하고, 다양한 형태의 디스플레이에 적용할 수 있는 가능성을 보여준다. 마이크로 스케일의 광학 요소로는 발광 다이오드에서 색 변환과 광 추출 기능을 동시에 나타내는 색 변환 마이크로 렌즈를 선택한다. 양자 점/광 경화성 고분자 복합체의 전기수력학적 프린팅을 통해 양자 점이 내장된 다양한 형태의 색 변환 마이크로 렌즈를 제작하며, 이를 청색 마이크로 발광 다이오드 어레이의 발광부 상에 적용하여 풀 컬러 마이크로 발광 다이오드 디스플레이로의 응용 가능성을 제시한다. 마지막으로 매크로 및 마이크로 스케일이 혼합된 계층적 구조의 광학 요소로서 디스펜싱 및 건식 러빙 과정의 조합으로 제작된 겹눈 형태를 모사한 렌즈 구조를 제시한다. 반구 형태의 매크로 렌즈를 디스펜싱으로 형성하고, 매크로 렌즈의 곡면 상에 단층의 마이크로 입자의 배열을 얻기 위해 건식 러빙 공정을 진행한다. 이러한 방식으로 형성된 계층적 구조가 소프트한 소재로 복제되어서 신축성을 가지는 겹눈 형태 모사 구조가 완성된다. 마이크로 렌즈 어레이는 매크로 렌즈의 표면을 따라 형성되고 리지드 아일랜드로 역할을 하여, 전체 계층적 구조에 기계적 변형이 가해져 매크로 렌즈의 모양이 변형되어도 마이크로 렌즈는 형상과 해상도, 초점 거리 등의 광학적 특성을 유지할 수 있다. 본 학위 논문은 3D 프린팅을 이용하여 다양한 형태와 스케일의 광학 요소를 제작하고 디스플레이 및 이미징 시스템으로의 여러 응용을 보여줌으로서 앞으로의 새로운 연구 및 개발 방향성을 제시하는 것을 주요 목적으로 한다. 3D 프린팅 설비의 단가가 낮아지고 정밀도 및 해상도가 높아지는 추세에 따라, 광학 요소를 쉽게 만들고 응용할 수 있는 맞춤형 광학 또는 스스로 구현하는 광학 분야가 변형 가능하고 멀티 스케일의 광학계로 점차 확대될 것으로 예상된다. 궁극적으로는 차세대 디스플레이 및 이미징 시스템에 필요한 광학 요소를 위한 기술의 저변을 넓히고, 이를 산업 전반에 응용할 수 있는 기반을 마련하고자 한다.Generally, the manufacturing process is divided into the subtractive (top-down) type and additive type (bottom-up). Among them, the additive manufacturing process has attracted a lot of attention because it can manufacture products with complex shapes in a low-cost and short-time process. In particular, three-dimensional (3D) printing is a representative method, which has already been commercialized in the field of mechanical components and biomedical organ. However, it remains in the research and development step in the field of electronic devices and optical components. Especially, although 3D printed optical components including microlens and color filter are expected to be widely used in display and imaging systems, it is still under investigation for commercialized products, and there are limitations in terms of materials, length scale, shape, and practical applications of components. Therefore, to overcome these issues, it is required for investigating and expanding the potential usefulness for 3D printed optical components in display and imaging systems to achieve better performance, productivity, and usability in three aspects. First, it should be possible to manufacture structures with a wide range of length scales from micrometer to centimeter through various 3D printing methods. Second, complex shapes such as free-from curved surfaces and hierarchical structures should be easily fabricated. Third, it is necessary to add functionality by manufacturing structures in which tunable functions are introduced using soft materials like an elastomer. Based on the above motivations, 3D printing-based customized optical components for display and imaging system applications are introduced in this dissertation. 3D printed optical components are classified into three types and their applications are showed to verify the scalability of 3D printing: macro-scale, microscale, and hierarchical macro/micro-scale. As macro-scale printed optical components, lens and mirror which are the most basic optical components are selected. The lens is fabricated by a pneumatic-type dispensing method with the form of a cylindrical pair and adopted for demonstration of seamless modular flat panel display. Besides, a seamless modular curved-edge display is also demonstrated with a mirror, which is fabricated from fused deposition modeling (FDM)-type 3D printed mold. By simply attaching a printed lens or mirror onto the seam of the modular display, it is possible to secure seamless screen expansion technology with the various form factor of the display panel. In the case of micro-scale printed optical components, the color-convertible microlens is chosen, which act as a color converter and light extractor simultaneously in a light-emitting diode (LED). By electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing of quantum dot (QD)/photocurable polymer composite, QD-embedded hemispherical lens shape structures with various sizes are fabricated by adjusting printing conditions. Furthermore, it is applied to a blue micro-LED array for full-color micro-LED display applications. Finally, a tunable bio-inspired compound (BIC) eyes structure with a combination of dispensing and a dry-phase rubbing process is suggested as a hierarchical macro/micro-scale printed optical components. A hemispherical macrolens is formed by the dispensing method, followed by a dry-phase rubbing process for arranging micro particles in monolayer onto the curved surface of the macrolens. This hierarchical structure is replicated in soft materials, which have intrinsic stretchability. Microlens array is formed on the surface of the macrolens and acts as a rigid island, thereby maintaining lens shape, resolution, and focal length even though the mechanical strain is applied to overall hierarchical structures and the shape of the macrolens is changed. The primary purposes of this dissertation are to introduce new concepts of the enabling technologies for 3D printed optical components and to shed new light on them. Optical components can be easily made as 3D printing equipment becomes cheaper and more precise, so the field of Consumer optics or Do it yourself (DIY) optics will be gradually expanded on deformable and multi-scale optics. It is expected that this dissertation can contribute to providing a guideline for utilizing and customizing 3D printed optical components in next-generation display and imaging system applications.Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Manufacturing Process 1 1.2. Additive Manufacturing 4 1.3. Printed Optical Components 8 1.4. Motivation and Organization of Dissertation 11 Chapter 2. Macro-scale Printed Optical Components 15 2.1. Introduction 15 2.2. Seamless Modular Flat Display with Printed Lens 20 2.2.1. Main Concept 20 2.2.2. Experimental Section 23 2.2.3. Results and Discussion 26 2.3. Seamless Modular Curved-edge Display with Printed Mirror 32 2.3.1. Main Concept 32 2.3.2. Experimental Section 33 2.3.3. Results and Discussion 36 2.4. Conclusion 46 Chapter 3. Micro-scale Printed Optical Components 47 3.1. Introduction 47 3.2. Full-color Micro-LED Array with Printed Color-convertible Microlens 52 3.2.1. Main Concept 52 3.2.2. Experimental Section 54 3.2.3. Results and Discussion 57 3.3. Conclusion 65 Chapter 4. Hierarchical Macro/Micro-scale Printed Optical Components 66 4.1. Introduction 66 4.2. Tunable Bio-inspired Compound Eye with Printing and Dry-phase Rubbing Process 69 4.2.1. Main Concept 69 4.2.2. Experimental Section 71 4.2.3. Results and Discussion 73 4.3. Conclusion 79 Chapter 5. Conclusion 80 5.1. Summary 80 5.2. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Researches 83 References 88 Abstract in Korean (국문 초록) 107Docto

Patterned Liquid Crystal Devices for Near-eye Displays

As a promising next-generation display, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have shown attractive features and attracted broad interests from both academia and industry. Currently, these near-eye displays (NEDs) have enabled numerous applications, ranging from education, medical, entertainment, to engineering, with the help of compact and functional patterned liquid crystal (LC) devices. The interplay between LC patterns and NEDs stimulates the development of novel LC devices with unique surface alignments and volume structures, which in turn feedback to achieve more compact and versatile NEDs. This dissertation will focus on the patterned LC with applications in NEDs. Firstly, we propose and explain the working principles and generation of novel patterned LC devices, including LC configurations, surface alignment mechanism, polarization field generation, and fabrication process. Secondly, we theoretically analyze the optical properties of patterned LC devices, providing the optical efficiency, devices thickness, polarization selectivity, wavelength, and angular bandwidth. Based on the dimensions of the surface pattern, the LC devices can be divided into reflector, grating, and lens, respectively. Finally, we focus on the applications of these novel patterned LC devices to address some challenges in current NEDs. More specifically, achieving a high-resolution density in NEDs, especially for VR systems is an urgent issue. To enhance the resolution without introducing any extra burden to the system, we propose an elegant method with the combination of foveated view and polarization multiplexing, based on LC reflector. For LC grating, it shows a nearly 100% efficiency with a large diffraction angle, which is a perfect candidate for the waveguide-based AR systems. We propose and demonstrate the LC grating-based waveguide AR with benchtop demo and further performance optimization. For LC lens, it can achieve controllable power and large off-axis angle while maintaining high efficiency. These unique and attractive features give LC lenses the ability to achieve a glasses-like AR architecture while maintaining high optical efficiency. Based on this LC lens, we demonstrate a novel AR system design using polarization and time multiplexing methods to simultaneously obtain a double field of view and a glasses-like form factor. The proposed patterned LC devices for NED applications are validated by both optical simulation and experiment. Multiple tabletop demos are constructed to illustrate how these patterned LC devices can significantly improve the visual experiences of these next-generation NEDs

VOLUMETRIC AND VARIFOCAL-OCCLUSION AUGMENTED REALITY DISPLAYS

Augmented Reality displays are a next-generation computing platform that offer unprecedented user experience by seamlessly combining physical and digital content, and could revolutionize the way we communicate, visualize, and interact with digital information. However, providing a seamless and perceptually realistic experience requires displays capable of presenting photorealistic imagery, and especially, perceptually realistic depth cues, resulting in virtual imagery being presented at any depth and of any opacity. Today's commercial augmented reality displays are far from perceptually realistic because they do not support important depth cues such as mutual occlusion and accommodation, resulting in a transparent image overlaid onto the real-world at a fixed depth. Previous research prototypes fall short by presenting occlusion only for a fixed depth, and by presenting accommodation and defocus-blur only for a narrow depth-range, or with poor depth or spatial resolution. To address these challenges, this thesis explores a computational display approach, where the display’s optics, electronics, and algorithms are co-designed to improve performance or enable new capabilities. In one design, a Volumetric Near-eye Augmented Reality Display was developed to simultaneously present many virtual objects at different depths across a large depth range (15 - 400 cm) without sacrificing spatial resolution, frame rate, or bitdepth. This was accomplished by (1) synchronizing a high-speed Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) projector and a focus-tunable lens to periodically sweep out a volume composed of 280 single-color binary images in front of the user's eye, (2) a new voxel-oriented decomposition algorithm, and (3) per-depth-plane illumination control. In a separate design, for the first time, we demonstrate depth-correct occlusion in optical see-through augmented reality displays. This was accomplished by an optical system composed of two fixed-focus lenses and two focus-tunable lenses to dynamically move the occlusion and virtual image planes in depth, and designing the optics to ensure unit magnification of the see-through real world irrespective of the occlusion or virtual image plane distance. Contributions of this thesis include new optical designs, new rendering algorithms, and prototype displays that demonstrate accommodation, defocus blur, and occlusion depth cues over an extended depth-range.Doctor of Philosoph