Recently, ZJZG Optical Technology Co., Ltd. has built China's first AR diffractive optical waveguide product production line, with a mass production capacity of 10,000 pieces per month, filling the gap in China in this field.
The Hay Think team is in the ZJZG production area. Looking through the glass from the visitor channel, in the 100-class clean workshop, the staff in clean clothes are busy on the production line in an orderly manner. The head of the company, Dr. Meng Xiangfeng, took out two transparent glass sheets and said: “This is the AR diffractive optical waveguide product. Don’t look at it, it is similar to ordinary glasses. It is a special lens used on AR glasses and is also the main technical bottleneck of AR glasses. one."
Optical waveguide is a kind of optical display technology, which simply means to let light propagate in a designed path. The AR diffractive optical waveguide uses the diffraction characteristics of light to "carve" a series of "fences" (that is, gratings) on the optical plane, allowing light to propagate according to the designed path. In recent years, the AR glasses market has developed rapidly. AR diffractive optical waveguide products have become the preferred optical solution for consumer-grade AR glasses due to their light and thin appearance, high penetration characteristics, and the ability to meet individual customization needs in industrial design.
ZJZG was incubated by the grating and measurement laboratory of the Precision Instrument Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The R&D team has been focusing on the development and mass production of AR optical display modules and diffraction gratings. The AR diffractive optical waveguide products independently developed and produced by the company have reached the industry's first-class performance. "This piece weighs less than 10 grams, has a thickness of 2.1 mm, and a field of view of 40°, which is equivalent to watching a 120-inch large color TV standing at a distance of 4 meters. The energy utilization rate is also in line with the highest international level. It can reach 200 nits/lumens. The eye movement range directly related to immersion is currently more than 20 mm in both horizontal and vertical directions, which is the best in the industry." Meng Xiangfeng said that most companies in China can do grating design, but To make design concepts into physical molds and mass-produce them, it is still necessary to rely on foreign companies.
ZJZG successfully broke this technical bottleneck with its three core technologies of independently developed grating design, grating mastering and nanoimprint production. According to reports, R&D personnel account for more than 80% of the company's employees. The core team comes from the Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, and has an industrial background. "We have targeted mass production from the beginning. All production materials and process parameters are developed according to the actual conditions of the production line." The technology, equipment, and production line have developed in an all-round way. At present, ZJZG has completed the development and realization of diffractive optical waveguide products. Mass production, and product parameter iteration only takes 1 to 2 weeks.
ZJZG has begun to build a grating master processing center to further improve the production capacity and quality of grating masters. "In the third quarter of this year, the second generation of products will be released soon. The performance will be further improved, and the field of view will reach 52°. In the future, the overall product yield is expected to increase to more than 95%."