They develop the world's thinnest hologram to integrate 3D into mobile phones and televisions

An Australian-Chinese team has developed a nano-hoogram that can be seen without glasses three dimensions and is a thousand times thinner than a human hair

   An Australian-Chinese team has created the thinnest hologram in the world, a milestone for integrating 3D holography into everyday electronics such as smartphones, computers and televisions.

Interactive 3D holograms are a staple of science fiction, but the challenge for scientists trying to make them a reality is the development of holograms that are thin enough to work with modern electronics.

  Now a pioneering team led by Professor Min Gu, of RMIT University, has designed a nano-hologram that is simple to do, that can be seen without 3D glasses and is a thousand times thinner than a human hair. The research has been published in 'Nature Communications'.

"Conventional computer generated holograms are too big for electronic devices, but our ultra-thin hologram overcomes those size barriers," says the professor, who adds that the nano-hologram they have developed is also manufactured using a direct laser writing system. simple and fast, which makes its design suitable for large scale uses and mass manufacturing.

"Integrating holography into everyday electronics would make the size of the screen irrelevant: a pop-up 3D hologram can display a large amount of data that does not fit perfectly in a phone or watch," he says, "from medical diagnosis to education, storage. of data, defense and cybersecurity, 3D holography has the potential to transform a number of industries and this research brings that revolution a critical step. "

On LCD screens

Conventional holograms modulate the light phase to give the illusion of three-dimensional depth. But to generate enough phase shifts, those holograms need to be in the thickness of the optical wavelengths.

The RMIT research team, which works with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), has broken this thickness limit with a 25-nanometer hologram based on a topological insulating material, a new quantum material containing the low refractive index in the surface layer, but the ultra high refractive index in the mass.

The thin film of topological insulator acts as an intrinsic optical resonant cavity, which can improve phase shifts for the formation of holographic images.

"The next stage for this research will be the development of a rigid thin film that could be placed on an LCD screen to allow 3D holographic visualization," says Dr. Zengyi Yue, co-author of the article with Gaitei Xue of BIT.

"This involves reducing the pixel size of our nano-hologram, making it at least ten times smaller, but beyond that, we're looking to create thin, flexible and elastic films that can be used across a range of surfaces, opening up the horizons of holographic applications, "he concludes.