Simulations of birefringent gratings as polarizing color separator in backlight for flat-panel displays

A color and polarization separating backlight can be obtained by using a surface-relief grating made of birefringent material as an out-coupling structure on top of the lightguide. A rigorous finite element diffraction model was applied to study the polarization effect of such a grating. The diffraction of plane waves by the anisotropic grating was studied for general conical incidence.