Dutch laser chip finds ways to Austrian AR light engine

Dutch laser chip firm Brilliance and Austrian photonics startup Vitrealab have announced a partnership to create more compact, efficient and high-performance light engines for the next generation of AR smart glasses and related applications. The collaboration will include joint R&D, prototype demonstrations and coordinated commercialization efforts.

Vitrealab focuses on so-called liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) technology, a type of display technology that uses a layer of liquid crystals on top of a reflective silicon surface. By controlling how the liquid crystals affect light, LCOS can create high-resolution images with good brightness and contrast. It’s often used in projectors, head-mounted displays and augmented reality systems.

Vitrealab is working on a photonic integrated circuit that controls laser light on the micro-scale, the Quantum Light Chip (QLC). Each chip contains hundreds of precisely fabricated low-loss optical waveguides interfaced with nano-imprinted micro-optics and multiple RGB laser diodes to create a uniform and collimated light source, which in turn illuminates the LCOS panel.