High performance backlight device using photonic integrated circuits

A display assembly comprising:

• a display panel;
• and
• a backlight device coupled to the display panel, the backlight device comprising:
• a light source assembly comprising:
• a plurality of light sources configured to generate light in accordance with emission instructions and in a plurality of color channels, and
• a de-speckling mechanism configured to condition the generated light to mitigate speckle,
• a multi-mode slab waveguide configured to in-couple the conditioned light and expand the in-coupled conditioned light in two dimensions to form a homogenous area of conditioned light within a region of the multimode slab waveguide, and
• an out-coupling assembly configured to out-couple the conditioned light from the region in a direction normal to the two dimensions, wherein the display panel forms an image from the out-coupled conditioned light.

A backlight device comprising:

• a light source assembly comprising:
• one or more light sources configured to generate light in accordance with emission instructions, and
• a plurality of ports, wherein a single light source of the one or more light sources is configured to feed with the generated light the plurality of ports, and each port of the plurality of ports comprises a phase modulator configured to condition the generated light to mitigate speckle;
• a multi-mode slab waveguide configured to in-couple the conditioned light from the plurality of ports, wherein each respective phase modulator of each port of the plurality of ports is coupled to the multi-mode slab waveguide, and to expand the in-coupled conditioned light in two dimensions to form a homogenous area of conditioned light within a region of the multi-mode slab waveguide;
• and
• an out-coupling assembly configured to out-couple the conditioned light from the region in a direction normal to the two dimensions, wherein a light modulation layer forms an image from the out-coupled conditioned light.