Augmented reality (AR) could transform how we perceive and interact with the world, but creating display systems that allow for all-day wear, a small form factor, and overlay of digital content for a large field of view is genuinely challenging, requiring new materials (natural or artificial) with enhanced angular, temporal, spectral, or dispersion control. Nanoscience is in principle an ideal candidate to engineer these properties, but with increased degrees of freedom comes an increased risk of artifacts. This research therefore aims to develop components (filters, gratings, modulators, coatings) with such advanced responses, without introducing image or see-through artifacts.

Toward Truly Invisible AR

The goal is to embed digital content into perception seamlessly — relying on display systems that are effectively imperceptible to the user, with wide fields of view, accurate focus cues, and high visual fidelity within a form factor comparable to everyday eyewear. Despite rapid progress, jointly meeting constraints on compactness, image quality, power consumption, and scalable manufacturing remains an open problem, requiring coordinated advances across materials [5], optoelectronics, and photonic system architectures [4].

Nanostructured optoelectronic elements offer a compelling route forward. By tailoring light-matter interactions at the subwavelength scale, they enable ultra-thin, lightweight optical functionalities with fine control over phase, amplitude, temporal, and angular response, opening new pathways for routing light between display and eye. These expanded degrees of freedom also introduce practical constraints: device behavior can be highly sensitive to fabrication imperfections, and bridging idealized designs with robust, manufacturable implementations remains a central challenge.

My research focuses on identifying and enabling key building blocks for next-generation AR platforms, at the interface between nanoscale physics and system-level performance. Some of my recent efforts include advanced coatings, filters, and diffractive structures with tailored angular and transparency properties for see-through systems [1,2], alongside progress in high-speed modulation and beam steering [3]. These directions span accelerating traditionally slow material responses, such as liquid crystals reaching kilohertz regimes [3], and leveraging strong light-matter interactions in platforms like lithium niobate or barium titanate [1].

Related publications, talks and proceedings: * denotes equal contribution

[1] Spaegele, C. Nanophotonic Design for Augmented Reality Displays: Opportunities and Challenges. International Conference on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics (META), Malaga, Spain, 2025, Invited Talk.

[2] Spaegele, C. Computational Nanophotonics for AR Optics: From Performance Targets to Artifact-Robust Designs. 16th International Conference on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics (META 2026), Dublin, Ireland, July 2026, Invited Talk.

[3] Spaegele, C. Engineering of Nanoscale Materials for AR Devices. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, April 2026, Invited Lecture.

[4] Spaegele, C. Breakthrough Technologies Powering Seamless Wearables. Dubai Future Forum, Dubai, UAE, November 2025, Invited Panelist.

[5] Spaegele, C. 863. WE-Heraeus-Seminar: Silicon Carbide: Device Integration for Quantum Technologies, Germany, August 2026, Invited Talk.

[6] Arose, C., Jung, H., Yang, H., Nie, Z., Shi, Z., Spaegele, C., et al. and Iyer, P.P. High speed beam steering with liquid-crystal semiconductor metasurface at visible wavelengths. Advances in Display Technologies XVI (p. PC139150G). SPIE, March 2026.