Optical waveguide with aperture iris

Abstract

An optical waveguide is described herein that includes a pair of major surfaces and an aperture configured to receive an input beam. The waveguide also includes a first set of facets disposed along a first axis that are configured to reflect the input beam along a second axis. The waveguide further includes an iris matched to the aperture that is configured to block rays outside of the aperture from entering the optical waveguide. A first dimension of the aperture (and, thus, the iris) corresponds to a pitch of the first set of facets and a second dimension of the aperture (and, thus, the iris) corresponds to aspects of the waveguide corresponding to the second axis. By using the iris, overexposure of the waveguide and, thus, non-uniformity in a projected image, may be minimized.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.