LED illumination faceted Fresnel DOEs generating perceived virtual 3D vision

An approach for the optimization and synthesis of a phase-only faceted Fresnel type diffractive optical element (FDOE) generating 3D virtual images is proposed. The FDOE is a transmissive Fresnel type DOE array, which produces the perception of a customized floating 3D virtual image behind the FDOE when illuminated with a divergent monochromatic Light Emitter Diode (LED) source. Each DOE unit of the FDOE is optimized with a modified iterative Fourier transform algorithm (M-IFTA). Each unit of the FDOE locally deflects the incident light to the same position to form a designated view of the target plane. The FDOE is fabricated using our home-built parallel write photo-lithography machine. Numerical simulations and optical experiments are performed to verify the proposed design method. Photos of the generated image are also presented. This work can find applications in optical security, anti-counterfeiting, and holographic display.