Meta is paving the way with its cutting-edge Orion AR glasses, but the journey isn’t cheap. With each pair costing around $10,000 to produce, the glasses’ standout feature, custom silicon carbide waveguide lenses, stands out as the most costly element. Yet, Meta believes it can slash these expenses significantly down the line.
Silicon carbide isn’t new; it’s carved a niche in high-power chips due to its efficiency and heat management. But, unlike silicon, manufacturing silicon carbide is no easy feat, presenting challenges in material properties and complexity during fabrication.
Electric vehicles are driving down costs, inching silicon carbide towards affordability, albeit still not quite on par with its silicon counterparts. Quantum computing is another potential arena for this material, though it brings its own set of hurdles, distinct from Meta’s vision for the material’s use in AR glasses.
Meta is interested in silicon carbide not for its power efficiency but for its high refractive index. This quality makes it perfect for crafting waveguides that offer a clear, broad field-of-view (FOV), much like the impressive 70-degree FOV in Orion. Those who have experienced both conventional multi-layered glass waveguides and Orion’s silicon carbide waveguides report a staggering difference.
Optical Scientist Pasqual Rivera paints a vivid picture, comparing the glass-based waveguide experience to stepping into a chaotic disco, while the silicon carbide waveguides provide a serene, focused symphony-like experience. It’s a transformative shift that makes AR content genuinely engaging.
The automotive industry’s adoption of silicon carbide is gradually bringing costs down. Reality Lab’s AR Waveguides Tech Lead, Giuseppe Calafiore, points out that overcapacity in production has lowered the price of this substrate. Still, repurposing EV-intended silicon carbide, which is optimized for electrical use rather than optical clarity, is not feasible.
Barry Silverstein, Director of Research Science at Reality Labs, is optimistic about a new path. Suppliers are keen to explore optical-grade silicon carbide manufacturing, as it represents a significant opportunity. Larger wafers could lead to lower costs, but the production process becomes more complex. Even so, there is progress, with manufacturers moving from four-inch to eight-inch wafers, and some are now exploring even larger sizes.
Silverstein believes the potential upside is substantial. The industry is recognizing silicon carbide’s versatility across electronics and photonics, and its future implications for quantum computing are promising. He sees a trend towards reducing costs, though there’s still plenty of work to be done.
Historically, XR headsets have benefited from advancements in more mainstream tech sectors. For example, the consumer VR headset surge in the 2010s was driven by affordable small displays developed for smartphones, like the Galaxy Note 3 screen found in the Oculus Rift DK2.
This cross-industry synergy doesn’t stop there. Smartphone technology like inertial measurement units, camera sensors, and battery advancements have all trickled down, aiding VR and AR development. However, utilizing the gains from the EV sector’s silicon carbide advancements for AR glasses presents its unique challenges.
Photonic-grade silicon carbide remains a niche within the broader niche, hindering Meta’s ability to bring Orion to the consumer market today. Yet, Meta uses Orion internally as a development platform, aiming to launch consumer AR glasses by 2030. These are expected to be priced more like conventional electronics, possibly aligning with smartphones or laptops, as Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth hinted.
With so much potential consumer interest, there’s a strong drive to piece these components together. Industry giants like Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm all aim to dominate this next wave of mobile tech, which aspires to be the successor to smartphones.
