Professor Hwi Kim from the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering at Korea University Sejong Campus (Vice President Young Kim) and Professor Hong Seok Lee from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Pukyong National University have announced research achievements that could enable highly efficient three-dimensional holographic displays.

 

This study introduces a novel method that significantly improves signal efficiency and innovatively solves the noise issues in complex holographic displays using a "Single-Panel Complex Optical Modulation Macro Pixel Design Technique.“

△ (From left to right) Doctoral student Jonghyun Lee from the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering at Korea University Sejong Campus (first author of the paper, IPDS Laboratory), Professor Hwi Kim from the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering, and Professor Hong Seok Lee from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Pukyong National University.

Holographic displays are a technology that creates three-dimensional images in space using a spatial light modulator (SLM) to control light waves. However, existing technologies can only modulate either amplitude or phase, causing significant DC and conjugate noise problems.

 

To address these issues, the research team proposed a structure using the Three-Phase Covalent Macro Pixel (3PCMP) technology, which improves signal efficiency by three times compared to conventional holographic displays and reduces optical noise by tens of times.

 

After implementing and testing a single-panel SLM using 3PCMP technology, the display demonstrated high optical efficiency and low noise, significantly outperforming existing technologies.

 

This technology is expected to be applied in various fields such as LiDAR, medicine, optical communication, and quantum information processing. For instance, it can enable high-precision 3D image generation in LiDAR systems and more accurate image-based diagnoses in the medical field. In optical communication and quantum information processing, the high signal efficiency and low noise will be advantageous.

 

The research team plans to accelerate the commercialization of 3PCMP technology through follow-up studies, such as introducing automated alignment systems and using high-resolution panels. They also intend to expand the field of view using multi-vision tiling technology, providing more realistic 3D images. This study has opened new possibilities for next-generation holographic display technology and is expected to be utilized in various industries in the future.

 

Professor Hwi Kim stated, “Our future research will focus on improving resolution, minimizing alignment errors, and optimizing color performance. We aim to commercialize holographic displays based on 3PCMP technology.”

 

This research was supported by the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) under the "Industrial Technology Alchemist Project" and was published in Laser & Photonics Reviews (IF 11.0), a prestigious journal in the field of optics and photonics.