The dream of having holograms on your phone, tablet, or even in everyday communication may be closer than ever.
A team of researchers from the University of St Andrews has developed a new way to create holograms that could transform how we use technology in entertainment, gaming, and beyond.
Their study, published in Light: Science & Applications, shows how combining two powerful technologies—OLEDs and holographic metasurfaces—can open the door to compact, practical, and affordable holographic displays.
For decades, holograms have mostly relied on lasers, which are bulky, expensive, and not suited for everyday gadgets. But OLEDs, or organic light-emitting diodes, are already widely used in smartphones and TVs to make bright, colorful displays.
They are thin, flexible, and easy to integrate into different devices.
Holographic metasurfaces, meanwhile, are incredibly small arrays of structures—each one about a thousand times thinner than a human hair—that can bend and control light in extraordinary ways. Together, they form the perfect pair for generating holograms in a compact format.
This is the first time researchers have combined OLEDs and metasurfaces to build the foundation of a holographic display.
The process works by shaping each tiny unit of the metasurface, known as a meta-atom, so that it can change the properties of light passing through it. Each meta-atom behaves like a single pixel of the hologram.
When light waves from the OLED hit the metasurface, the carefully designed pattern bends and interferes in just the right way to create a visible image on the other side.
Professor Ifor Samuel from the School of Physics and Astronomy explained, “We are excited to demonstrate this new direction for OLEDs.
By combining OLEDs with metasurfaces, we open a new way of generating holograms and shaping light.” His colleague, Professor Andrea Di Falco, emphasized that holographic metasurfaces are one of the most versatile platforms for controlling light.
“With this work, we have removed one of the barriers that have stopped metamaterials from being used in everyday applications.
This breakthrough could change how holographic displays are designed, especially for virtual and augmented reality.”
One of the most striking aspects of this technology is efficiency. Traditional OLED displays need thousands of pixels to form even a simple image.
With this new approach, a single OLED pixel working with a metasurface can project a complete holographic image. This leap makes it possible to create miniaturized displays that are both powerful and practical.
Until now, OLEDs could only create very basic light shapes, which limited their usefulness in advanced applications. But the success of this research shows a clear path toward smaller, more integrated holographic systems.
It means that in the future, holograms might not just belong to science fiction—they could be part of our smartphones, our communication tools, and our everyday digital experiences.
