Field of view and angular-resolution enhancement in microlens array type virtual reality near-eye display using polarization grating

In this paper, we propose what we believe to be a novel method to enhance both the field of view and angular resolution of a microlens array-based thin virtual reality near-eye display using a polarization grating. The proposed system employs a polarization grating to steer the field angle according to the polarization states, simultaneously enhancing the field of view and angular resolution. Optical experiments and Zemax simulations validate the effectiveness of our approach, with the field of view in the experimental setup expanding from 58.8° to 95.17°. Additionally, the improvement in angular resolution was demonstrated experimentally by positioning two images with right-handed and left-handed circular polarization states at a half-pixel diagonal offset. The proposed method is expected to contribute to the advancement of virtual reality technology significantly by addressing the trade-off between field of view and resolution. © 2025 Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA). All rights reserved.