Very high index eyepiece substrate-based viewing optics assembly architectures

A method of manufacturing a diffractive optical element, the method comprising:

• providing a substrate comprising a material that is transparent to visible light;
• disposing a patternable layer over a surface of the substrate;
• patterning the patternable layer, the pattern comprising a plurality of features;
• and
• etching the surface of the substrate through the patternable layer to fabricate structures on the surface of the substrate, wherein the structures comprise diffractive features configured to diffract visible light.