3M™ Image Quality Polarizer (IQP) is a multilayer optical film with an optically clear adhesive for use in folded optics for virtual reality head mounted displays (VR HMD). It is a directly laminated reflective polarizer film that improves polarization efficiency by transmitting one polarization state and reflecting the other, recycling light back into the system, which increases brightness over a wide viewing angle. This increase in efficiency can be used to offset battery consumption and more. By directly laminating the film and increasing reflections within the system, you can design a thinner VR HMD.
We combine functional layers to create one powerful solution.
*Cross section representation not to scale
A quarter-wave retarder converts the incident circular polarization to linear polarization, then the reflective polarizer reflects the linearly polarized light back through the quarter-wave retarder. The 50:50 mirror reflects half of the now circularly polarized light back through the quarter-wave retarder. The light is again converted to linear polarization which is now transmitted through the reflective polarizer and forms a virtual image for the eye.