Scientists at the University of St Andrews have made a major leap toward real holographic displays, a technology long imagined in science fiction but limited in practicality. The research team combined Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) with holographic metasurfaces (HMs), creating a compact and cost-effective way to project holograms.
Traditionally, holograms rely on lasers, which makes the technology bulky and expensive. By integrating OLEDs and HMs, researchers introduced a simpler method that could revolutionize displays in smartphones, gaming, entertainment, and even virtual and augmented reality.
OLEDs are already widely used in mobile phones and TVs for their bright, thin-film displays. Beyond screens, OLEDs are valued in fields like biophotonics, sensing, and optical communications. Meanwhile, holographic metasurfaces—flat arrays of nanoscale structures called meta-atoms—can precisely manipulate light. Together, these two technologies form the essential foundation of a true holographic display.
The breakthrough works by shaping each meta-atom so it alters the light passing through it, turning every point into a holographic pixel. This controlled interference creates complex images on the other side.
Professor Ifor Samuel highlighted the innovation: “By combining OLEDs with metasurfaces, we also open a new way of generating holograms and shaping light.”
Professor Andrea Di Falco added: “This breakthrough will enable a step change in the architecture of holographic displays for emerging applications, for example, in virtual and augmented reality.”
Perhaps most striking, Professor Graham Turnbull explained: “OLED displays normally need thousands of pixels to create a simple picture. This new approach allows a complete image to be projected from a single OLED pixel!”
With this achievement, scientists have overcome long-standing barriers and opened the door to lightweight, miniaturized, and highly integrated holographic technology that could one day be standard in everyday devices.
Breakthrough Pixel Could Bring True Holograms to Smartphones
