Lightguide optical element for polarization scrambling

A lightguide optical element (LOE) configured for polarization scrambling comprising:

• a transparent substrate having a first refractive index, the substrate comprising a pair of parallel external surfaces configured to propagate light within said LOE through total internal reflection (TIR), and a plurality of mutually parallel partially reflective internal surfaces, said plurality of mutually parallel partially reflective internal surfaces being non-parallel to the pair of parallel external surfaces and configured to couple out said light to a viewer;
• a first coating having a thickness between 100 nm and 10 microns on at least one external surface of the substrate, the first coating comprising a coating material having a second refractive index higher than said first refractive index;
• and
• an antireflective (AR) coating on at least one external surface of the substrate over said first coating,
• wherein the first coating is configured to increase a phase shift between s-polarized and p-polarized components of light incident at angles of above TIR having a wavelength between 400 nm and 1300 nm.