TWI583991B - Doe and laser diode-doe module - Google Patents

Description

Diffractive optical element and semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module

This case relates to the field of semiconductor laser-diffractive optical component modules, and more particularly to the field of integrating semiconductor laser and diffractive optical component modules.

Mobile devices such as smart phones are indispensable in modern life. In the design trend of large-sized touch panels, mobile devices can have enough space to accommodate the required components. However, in addition to the large size touchpad, the light and thin appearance is also the mainstream design of mobile devices. Therefore, when several components in a mobile device must be disposed in a mobile device in a specific manner due to factors such as functions, the thickness or size of such components and the thinness of the mobile device will be directly related, such as currently commercially available. Smart phone, the thickness of the lens module is greater than the thickness of the smart phone, so the lens module placed in the smart phone, its location usually highlights the cover of the smart phone, affecting the beauty of the smart phone.

In addition to the lens module, there are more and more indications that the integration of components of the projection function into the smart phone is one of the design trends. Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the light source design required for general projection. Referring to FIG. 1, a general semiconductor laser 12 emits a spot beam 13, a collimating mirror 14 receives a spot beam 13 and collimates the spot beam 13 into a collimated beam 15, and receives a collimated beam 15 from the diffractive optical element 16. It is diffracted to output the desired diffracted light 17. In the above-described light source architecture, the working distance between the semiconductor laser 12 and the collimating mirror 14 is specific and requires high accuracy, thus increasing assembly costs. this In addition, the light source of the above three components is required, and the overall length or thickness thereof is also observable, and it is difficult to accommodate the thin and light mobile device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a diffractive optical element and a semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module incorporating the diffractive optical element, the diffractive optical element can receive and process a non-collimated beam, and thus is applied to projection When the light source is used, the lens and assembly cost of the collimating mirror originally required can be reduced.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a diffractive optical element and a semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module incorporating the diffractive optical element, and a general collimating mirror is not required between the diffractive optical element and the semiconductor laser. Therefore, the overall length of the architecture is reduced, and it is suitable for use in mobile devices such as smart phones.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a diffractive optical element and a semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module incorporating the diffractive optical element, comprising a concave mirror structure fabricated on the diffractive optical element, having the function of expanding beam When the light beam can reach the surface of the diffractive optical element within a short distance, there is enough light beam area to hit the surface of the diffractive optical element.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a diffractive optical element and a semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module incorporating the diffractive optical element, which can generate desired light by using a diffractive optical element that does not require a collimated light source. Diffraction light output configuration.

According to the above, a semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module includes: a laser light source module that outputs a non-collimated point beam; and a diffractive optical element that receives the laser light source module from the laser light source module The non-collimated point beam and the non-collimated point beam modulated output are a light with light information.

Preferably, the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module further comprises a housing for housing the laser light source module and the diffractive optical element.

Preferably, the diffractive optical element comprises a transparent substrate and a microstructure formed on a first side of the transparent substrate, the microstructure diffracting the non-collimated point beam.

Preferably, the first surface having the microstructure is a plane or a curved surface.

Preferably, the microstructure is distributed over a portion or all of the first side.

Preferably, the microstructure is located outside the first face to be exposed to the outside of the first face or to the inside of the first face.

Preferably, the first surface faces the laser light source module or faces the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module.

Preferably, the diffractive optical element further comprises a expandable functional structure formed or disposed on a second side of the transparent substrate, and the non-collimated point beam passes through the expandable functional structure.

Preferably, the expandable functional structure comprises a concave lens processed in a semiconductor process or precisely machined into a geometrical optical surface.

Preferably, the first surface is between the laser light source module and the second surface, or the second surface is between the laser light source module and the first surface.

Preferably, the laser light source module and the diffractive optical element maintain a spacing of 0 or not 0.

According to the above, a diffractive optical element includes a light transmissive substrate and a microstructure for receiving a beam of non-collimated laser spot, wherein the microstructure is formed on the light transmissive substrate.

Preferably, the microstructure of the diffractive optical element is located on a first of the transparent substrate In one aspect, the diffractive optical element further includes a expandable functional structure on a second side of the transparent substrate.

Preferably, the microstructure of the diffractive optical element is distributed over a portion or all of the first side.

Preferably, the expandable functional structure of the diffractive optical element comprises a concave lens distributed over a portion or all of the second side.

In order to further understand the techniques, means and effects of the present invention in order to achieve the intended purpose, refer to the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. The objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention are intended to be understood by the appended claims.

12‧‧‧Semiconductor laser

13‧‧‧ spot beam

14‧‧‧ Collimation mirror

15‧‧‧ Collimated beam

16‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

17‧‧‧Diffraction light

2‧‧‧Semiconductor laser-diffractive optical component module

22‧‧‧Laser light source module

24‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

23‧‧‧ housing

25‧‧‧ Non-collimated point beam

221‧‧‧ window

27‧‧‧Light with light information

L‧‧‧ spacing

T‧‧‧ total length

U‧‧‧thickness

34, 44, 54‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

28‧‧‧Transparent substrate

First side of 341, 441, 541‧‧

343, 443, 543‧‧‧ second side

64‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

641‧‧‧ first side

643‧‧‧ second side

642‧‧‧ expandable structure or shape

36, 46, 56, 66‧‧‧ microstructure

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the light source design required for general projection.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a design embodiment of a laser light source module of the present invention.

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of a different embodiment of the diffractive optical element of the present invention.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of a different embodiment of the diffractive optical element of the present invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of a different embodiment of the diffractive optical element of the present invention.

Figure 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of a different embodiment of the diffractive optical element of the present invention.

The diffractive optical element of the present invention and the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module incorporating the diffractive optical element are suitable for use as a laser light source on a mobile device such as a smart phone. At present, with the laser of TO-CAN package, the size of the semiconductor laser module suitable for smart phones is 6x6x7 mm (length x width x thickness), and in the future it will evolve to 4x6x4 mm. Therefore, the integration of this case The thickness of the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of the diffractive optical element can be compressed to less than 4 mm. If you further use a surface mount device (SMD) packaged laser, the laser module thickness can be reduced to 2 mm, enough for handheld devices, and the laser module can also be printed directly on the printed circuit board (Printed Circuit Board, PCB) board, produced by traditional parts.

Secondly, the laser beam emitted by the general laser source is a non-collimated point beam. It is conventional to use a collimating mirror to collimate the non-collimated point beam into parallel light before entering other optical components. . The non-collimated light described below in this case refers to a laser beam emitted by a general laser source, which has not undergone any collimation before being incident on the diffractive optical element of the present invention, and generally has a beam divergence not equal to 0 degrees. Beam divergence. A laser source that emits a non-collimated point beam, such as, but not limited to, a common semiconductor edge-emitting laser, vertical cavity laser (VCSEL), or other types of applications. Laser source.

2 is a side view showing a design embodiment of a semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module 2 includes a laser light source module 22 and a diffractive optical element 24 , and the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module 2 can further include a receiving laser. The light source module 22 and a housing 23 of the diffractive optical element 24. In this embodiment, the non-collimated point beam 25 of the laser source module 22 is emitted from a window 221 of the laser source module 22, wherein the window 221 can be an opening of the laser source module 22, or The opening has other components that are not collimated (not shown), such as a transparent protective sheet or glue for dustproofing. It can be understood that the laser source module 22 can also provide a surface, or an array of light sources such as a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), to emit a plurality of non-collimated point beams 25.

Secondly, the diffractive optical element 24 is disposed on the laser light source module 22 to make the non-collimation The spot beam 25 is incident on the diffractive optical element 24, wherein the laser source module 22 itself or the diffractive optical element 24 does not have any optical elements or structures that have a collimating function. Moreover, the diffraction optical element 24 and the laser light source module 22 may have a spacing L, wherein the spacing L may be 0 or not 0, that is, the diffractive optical element 24 may be completely attached to the laser light source module. 22, or a distance from the laser source module 22. Therefore, the diffractive optical element 24 of the present invention can be completely attached to the laser light source module 22, so that the total length T of the diffractive optical element 24 and the laser source module 22 (parallel non-collimated point beam 25 direction) The length of the upper portion can be shortened to a small extent, so that the thickness U of the casing 23 can also be shortened to reach the above-mentioned 4 mm or less.

Furthermore, the non-collimated point beam 25 is incident and subjected to diffraction processing by the diffractive optical element 24 to become optical information 27 having two or more dimensions, and the light 27 with optical information is emitted from the semiconductor laser. - The diffractive optical element module 2 can be projected onto any suitable illuminating surface or space. It can be understood that since the light 27 with optical information is modulated by the diffractive optical element 24, the brightness of the light information can be uniform or gradual according to design requirements, and there is no sudden highlight outside the design conditions. In addition to light information with greater brightness, the light 27 with light information can also have a background light with a weaker brightness, and even the brightness of the background light is uniform or slow.

3, 4, and 5 are enlarged side views of different embodiments of the diffractive optical element of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the diffractive optical elements 34, 44, and 54 of the present invention may be made of a light transmissive substrate 28 with a suitable light transmissive material, and a diffraction pattern may be formed or formed on at least any surface of the transparent substrate 28. The microstructure of the pattern. As shown in FIG. 3, the first surface 341 of the transparent substrate 28 faces the laser light source module, and the light with optical information is emitted by the second surface 343 of the transparent substrate 28, and has a light beam for receiving the non-collimated point beam. The microstructures 36 of the ridge pattern or pattern are formed on the first side 341 of the transparent substrate 28, and the second side 343 may be microstructure-free, wherein the microstructure 36 may be a UV-curable adhesive layer that is exposed on the first side 341 or etched to the outside of the first side 341. 4 is opposite to FIG. 3, the first surface 441 facing the laser light source module has no diffraction function, and the second surface 443 includes a microstructure 46 that can receive the diffraction pattern or pattern of the non-collimated point beam and produces a winding Shoot the image. The first side 541 and the second side 543 of FIG. 5 each include a microstructure 56 that receives a diffraction pattern or pattern of non-collimated point beams. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the first or second faces of the diffractive optical elements 34, 44, 54 may each be planar or have a curved or curved face. In addition, the diffraction pattern or pattern microstructure of the non-collimated point beam may be distributed or formed on a portion or all of the surface of the light transmissive substrate.

In addition to making the microstructure of the diffraction pattern or pattern, the diffractive optical element of the present invention can still include functional surfaces of other functions. Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view showing another embodiment of the diffractive optical element of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6 , the diffractive optical element 64 also has a light transmissive material as the transparent substrate 28 , which has or includes a expandable structure or shape 642 toward the first surface 641 of the laser light source module, for example, in a semiconductor process. A concave lens structure of a geometrical optical surface produced by DOE or precision machined, light with optical information is emitted by a second side 643 of a microstructure 66 including a diffraction pattern or pattern, which acts to enlarge the incident non-collimated point beam. The size allows the beam passing through the microstructure 66 to have a large illumination area to receive more wavefront modulation information, thereby projecting a finer pattern. It will be appreciated that such a expandable structure or shape may also be distributed over a portion or the entire surface of the light transmissive substrate.

According to the above, for the entire semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module, a collimating optical element between the conventional diffractive optical element and the laser light source module is omitted, and even the diffractive optical element is attached to On the laser light source module, the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of the present invention can shorten the length of the entire module on the parallel optical axis, and reduce the material and group of the entire module. The cost of loading is suitable for use in thinned motion or wearable devices.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims of the present invention. Therefore, other equivalent changes or modifications which are not departing from the spirit of the present invention should be included in the present invention. Within the scope of the invention.

2‧‧‧Semiconductor laser-diffractive optical component module

22‧‧‧Laser light source module

24‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

23‧‧‧ housing

25‧‧‧ Non-collimated point beam

221‧‧‧ window

27‧‧‧Light with light information

L‧‧‧ spacing

T‧‧‧ total length

U‧‧‧thickness

Claims (10)

A semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module includes: a laser light source module that outputs a non-collimated point beam; and a diffractive optical element including a light transmissive substrate and a transparent substrate formed thereon a first surface and including a microstructure having a diffraction pattern or pattern that diffracts the non-collimated point beam from the laser source module received by the diffractive optical element and the non-collimated The point beam modulated output becomes a light having at least two dimensions and with optical information. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 1, further comprising a housing for housing the laser light source module and the diffractive optical element. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 1, wherein the first surface having the microstructure is a plane or a curved surface. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 3, wherein the microstructure is distributed over a portion or all of the first side. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 3, wherein the microstructure is located on the first side of the transparent substrate, and the first surface is interposed between the laser light source module and the transparent surface Between the second side of one of the light substrates, or the second side of the light-transmitting substrate is between the laser light source module and the first surface of the light-transmitting substrate. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 1, wherein the first surface faces the laser light source module or faces the semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 1, wherein the diffractive optical element further comprises a expandable functional structure formed or disposed on a second side of the transparent substrate, and the non- The collimated point beam passes through the expandable functional structure. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 7, wherein the expandable functional structure comprises a concave lens processed in a semiconductor process or precisely machined into a geometrical optical surface. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 6, wherein the first surface of the transparent substrate is between the laser light source module and a second side of the transparent substrate, Or a second surface of the transparent substrate is interposed between the laser light source module and the first surface of the transparent substrate. The semiconductor laser-diffractive optical element module of claim 1, wherein the laser light source module and the diffractive optical element maintain a pitch of 0 or not.