Energy harvesting component for an optical device having an illumination source emitting unused light

An apparatus, comprising:

• a light source to generate and transmit display light, the display light comprising at least one beam of light;
• a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) to receive the at least one beam of light, wherein the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprises at least one waveguide, and wherein the at least one waveguide each comprise at least one diffraction grating to diffract the at least one beam of light in a first direction and an opposing direction;
• an interconnect layer coupled to the photonic integrated circuit (PIC), wherein the interconnect layer is to pass through the at least one beam of light diffracted in the opposing direction;
• an energy harvesting component coupled to the interconnect layer, wherein the energy harvesting component is to receive and absorb the at least one beam of light diffracted in the opposing direction and to convert the at least one beam of light diffracted in the opposing direction into electrical energy;
• a liquid crystal (LC) layer to modulate the at least one beam of light diffracted in a first direction;
• at least one optical filter layer to filter the at least one beam of light diffracted in a first direction to provide a characteristic visual appearance for a display image;
• and
• at least one polarization filter layer to polarize the at least one beam of light diffracted in a first direction and pass the at least one beam of light 20 diffracted in a first direction towards a glass substrate.