Advances in Liquid Crystal Holographic Devices: Recent Research Progress

ABSTRACT With the rise of the “metaverse” concept, 3D display technologies that deliver strong presence and immersion, are attracting increasing attention. Among them, holographic 3D displays are regarded as one of the most promising solutions, because they directly reconstruct the complete wavefront of a 3D light field and provide all depth cues to the human eye, including vergence‐accommodation. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in liquid crystal (LC)‐based holographic 3D displays from the perspectives of materials systems and device architectures. It concentrates on LC devices that leverage the intrinsic optical anisotropy, programmable alignment and their field‐tunable properties, covering chiral structured LC devices, LC polarization elements, LC metasurfaces, and other representative LC optical components. Their roles in holographic wavefront modulation and ultra‐thin holographic optical elements (HOEs) are highlighted. This review also discusses the opportunities and challenges of cascaded multilayer LC devices for multidimensional, programmable wavefront control and high‐capacity holographic displays. Overall, this review provides a systematic reference for the design, optimization, and integration of LC‐related materials and devices, and offers insights into next‐generation holographic 3D display systems with immersive and visually comfortable performance.