Transparent projection screen

Abstract

According to some embodiments, a transparent screen includes a first transparent substrate having a first transparent substrate index of refraction and including a surface relief pattern, a partially reflective coating formed on the surface relief pattern, and a second transparent substrate bonded over the partially reflective coating with an optical adhesive having the first transparent substrate index of refraction.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A transparent screen comprising:
 a first transparent substrate having a first transparent substrate index of refraction and including a surface relief pattern;   a partially reflective coating formed on the surface relief pattern; and   a second transparent substrate bonded over the partially reflective coating with an optical adhesive having the first transparent substrate index of refraction.   
     
     
         2 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the surface relief pattern is substantially continuous and smoothly varying. 
     
     
         3 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the surface relief pattern further includes one or more random sub-pixel variations. 
     
     
         4 . The transparent screen of  claim 3 , wherein the random sub-pixel variations are sub-micron variations. 
     
     
         5 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the partially reflective coating in combination with the surface relief pattern has refractive scattering properties, the optical adhesive to substantially null the refractive scattering properties. 
     
     
         6 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the partially reflective coating is a wire-grid polarizer. 
     
     
         7 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the first transparent substrate is formed from a first material and the second transparent substrate is formed from the first material. 
     
     
         8 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the surface relief pattern has a scattering profile and the scattering profile is substantially circular. 
     
     
         9 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the surface relief pattern has a scattering profile and the scattering profile is substantially elliptical. 
     
     
         10 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the surface relief pattern has a scattering profile and the scattering profile is substantially angled off-axis. 
     
     
         11 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , wherein the surface relief pattern has a scattering profile and the scattering profile is substantially space-variant with converging scattering directions. 
     
     
         12 . The transparent screen of  claim 1 , further comprising a polarizer bonded to the second transparent substrate. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus comprising:
 an augmented reality optical system; and   a transparent screen included in the augmented reality optical system, the transparent screen including a first transparent substrate having a first transparent substrate index of refraction and including a surface relief pattern, a partially reflective coating formed on the surface relief pattern, and a second transparent substrate bonded over the partially reflective coating with an optical adhesive having the first transparent substrate index of refraction.   
     
     
         14 . A method comprising:
 applying a partially reflective coating to a surface relief pattern of a first transparent substrate having a first transparent substrate index of refraction, to generate a desired scattering profile; and   bonding a second transparent substrate to the partially reflective coating with an optical adhesive having a cured index of refraction substantially equal to the first transparent substrate index of refraction.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising bonding a polarizer to the second transparent substrate.