2026-10-06T17:26:13Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34028574 2026-09-30T02:04:05Z category_915 category_15 category_16 category_19 category_734 category_931 category_61 portal_63 item_type_6 month_year_09_2026

MEMS-Driven Dynamic Pupil Expansion for High-Performance Retinal Projection Near-Eye Displays Jinlong Xie (22898999) Hao Chen (5190) Jiahao Wu (6877154) Yifan Xue (6919337) Jianbin Qiu (573106) Yun Ye (232429) Sheng Xu (400895) Tailiang Guo (2562676) Chen Gao (159491) Enguo Chen (5258471) Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified Neuroscience Physiology Pharmacology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Information Systems not elsewhere classified Developmental Biology supports future development retinal projection display luminance uniformity across experimental results validate degraded image quality alleviates visual fatigue accommodation distances ranging replicate optical paths modulation transfer function system distortion maintained pupil expansion techniques enabled pupil expansion retinal projection viewpoints optical efficiency found forming images directly eye displays near optical efficiency exit pupil optical architecture angular modulation system ’ system volume box expansion work demonstrates static methods scanning mirror microelectromechanical systems inherent coupling fundamentally constrained exceeding 0 energy loss central viewpoint architecture extends approach breaks 7 lp 120 cm Near-eye displays (NEDs) have demonstrated tremendous potential across diverse fields. However, the eye-box size of a retinal projection display (RPD) is fundamentally constrained by the optical architecture and system volume. While pupil expansion techniques can replicate optical paths and viewpoints, existing static schemes often trade off optical efficiency for eye-box size, leading to energy loss and degraded image quality. To address this challenge, we propose a new pupil expansion approach for laser-driven retinal projection augmented reality (AR) displays that integrate a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scanning mirror. By forming images directly on the retina, this architecture extends the depth of field and alleviates visual fatigue during viewing. Simultaneously, angular modulation of the converging laser beam via the MEMS mirror enables effective expansion of the retinal projection viewpoints. The designed optical architecture exhibits high imaging performance, achieving a modulation transfer function (MTF) exceeding 0.3 at 66.7 lp/mm at the central viewpoint, with system distortion maintained below 3%. Notably, the MEMS scanning mirror enables lateral shifting of the exit pupil, forming a large eye-box of 10 mm × 10 mm. This approach breaks the inherent coupling between eye-box expansion and optical efficiency found in static methods, thus achieving high light efficiency without compromising image quality due to aberrations. Experimental results validate the system’s performance under accommodation distances ranging from 30 to 120 cm, confirming excellent image quality and luminance uniformity across the eye-box. This work demonstrates the feasibility of MEMS-enabled pupil expansion and supports future development of compact, high-performance retinal projection displays. 2026-09-29T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1021/acsphotonics.6c00653.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/MEMS-Driven_Dynamic_Pupil_Expansion_for_High-Performance_Retinal_Projection_Near-Eye_Displays/34028574 CC BY-NC 4.0