Augmented reality (AR), as an emerging technology bridging the virtual and real worlds, has demonstrated significant potential and adaptability in various fields such as education, industry, healthcare, and security. In contrast, AR places more emphasis on blending virtual and real environments. With advancements in image recognition and mobile computing, AR has expanded from specialized industrial applications into the consumer electronics domain. Modern AR devices have progressed beyond basic information overlay, now supporting spatial awareness, real-time artificial intelligence (AI) interaction, and three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction. With the pursuit of high-quality fusion experiences in AR technology, near-eye 3D display systems face numerous challenges, including lightweight design, high resolution, and wide field of view.

Limited by volume, chromatic aberration, and wavefront modulation capability, traditional geometric optical components fail to on-demand needs. As a representative of optical and photonic elements, metasurfaces offer a novel approach for AR display systems due to their subwavelength modulation capability and high integration. With the ability to manipulate light’s phase, polarization, and amplitude at subwavelength scales, metasurfaces offer multi-degree-of-freedom control within a single layer. In recent years, they have shown great promise in AR display applications, particularly in 3D light field generation, offering significant advantages in high resolution, full-color imaging, and wide field of view. These features position metasurfaces as a compelling solution for next-generation AR display technologies.

Recent advances in AR 3D light field displays based on metasurfaces are summarized. First, two main technical routes—metasurface-integrated integral imaging and holographic display—are introduced. In the metasurface-integrated integral imaging pathway, a compact full-color 3D display system is first demonstrated using a visible broadband achromatic metalens array, which achieves accurate depth cues and consistent color reproduction. Subsequently, the system is further developed by integrating commercial microdisplays with nanoimprinted metalens arrays, resulting in a lightweight AR module with 400×400 effective resolution and real-time elemental image rendering at 67 frame/s through a precomputed lookup table (LUT) method. In the holographic display route, high-quality computer-generated holography (CGH) is realized using analytical diffraction algorithms based on triangular mesh modeling. This is combined with tiled and time-division spatial light modulator (SLM) configurations to expand the field of view and provide accurate monocular depth cues. More recently, a full-color holographic AR system is demonstrated using inverse-designed full colour metasurface gratings and waveguide-based dispersion compensation. This system achieves high diffraction efficiency, color uniformity, and over 78% see-through capability, while incorporating neural-network-based CGH optimization to enhance image fidelity and enable near real-time hologram generation. Finally, current limitations and future directions are discussed, including challenges in large-area fabrication, chromatic aberration correction, resolution enhancement, and the integration of high frame rate 3D content for immersive AR applications.

Metasurfaces are emerging as a promising solution for next-generation AR 3D light field display systems. In summary, although significant progress has been made in integrating metasurfaces into microdisplays and optical combiners, challenges remain in balancing system compactness with high performance. Further efforts are required in multi-scale simulation, large-area fabrication, and dispersion management to fully unlock the potential of metasurfaces in achieving wide field of view, high resolution, and true 3D imaging. With advances in materials science, intelligent manufacturing, and cross-disciplinary integration, metasurface-enabled AR 3D display technology is expected to play a vital role in future immersive visual experiences across various application scenarios.