Detailed Description
The present invention relates to a reflective optical sensor for detecting the presence or absence of an object using infrared light. In particular, a smart phone is often used as a proximity sensor for controlling on/off of a screen in order to prevent a malfunction of a touch panel during a call.
[ first embodiment ]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. In the present embodiment, the light components reflected from the glass panel and the emission surface are controlled by the structure of the emission surface of the package disposed directly above the light-emitting element.
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a reflection type photosensor according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the reflective photosensor 1 includes a substrate 10, a light-emitting element 11, a light-receiving element 12, and a package 7. The light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12 are mounted on the same substrate 10 in the same direction. The package 7 covers the light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12. The light receiving element 12 has a photodiode 13 arranged in parallel with the substrate 10.
The surface of the package 7, i.e., the package surface 71 includes: a package emission surface (emission surface) 72 located directly above (on the light-emitting side) the light-emitting element 11; and a package light-receiving surface (light-receiving surface) 73 located directly above (on the light-receiving side) the light-receiving element 12.
The package light-receiving surface 73 is disposed parallel to the substrate 10. Thus, the package light-receiving surface 73 can efficiently input light to the photodiode 13 of the light-receiving element 12.
The package emission surface 72 is provided obliquely to the package light reception surface 73. Thus, the light emitting element 11 emits light 102 which is bent outward (leftward) in the optical axis direction at the interface between the package emission surface 72 and the air, and the reflection angle of the internal scattered light 106 is also changed downward.
As described above, in the reflective photosensor 1, the component scattered on the surface of the light receiving element 12 can be suppressed. Further, although the outgoing light 102 having an optical axis curved at the package interface is reflected at the interface with the glass panel, the reflected return light 105 advances in a direction away from the light-emitting element 11 due to the reflection angle. Therefore, return light reflected by the light emitting element 11 can be prevented, and variation in light emission characteristics can be avoided.
In other words, the reflected return light 105 reflected from the glass panel toward the light-emitting element 11 is prevented, the emission waveform is stabilized, and the influence of the reflected scattered light 104 from the glass panel and the internal scattered light 106 from the package emission surface 72 is suppressed. This can suppress the optical noise component from entering the light receiving element 12, and realize the reflective optical sensor 1 that operates stably. By using such a reflective optical sensor 1, a highly accurate proximity sensor for a smartphone can be provided.
In fig. 1, the package emission surface 72 is inclined toward the light receiving element 12, but the package emission surface 72 may be inclined outward (opposite to the light receiving element 12). According to the latter configuration, the light reflected by the glass panel and returned to the light emitting element 11 in the light 102 emitted from the light emitting element 11 is prevented, and thus, variation in light emission characteristics can be avoided.
[ second embodiment ]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be explained below. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above-described embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will not be repeated.
In the present embodiment, assuming the first embodiment, in the reflective photosensor 1, the package light-emitting surface 72 is provided to be inclined toward the light-receiving element 12 side at an angle of 10 ° to 15 ° with respect to the package light-receiving surface 73.
Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the result of optical simulation of the amount of return light to the light emitting surface when the inclination angle of the package emission surface 72 is changed in the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 9, the return light can be made substantially zero at an inclination angle of 10 ° or more, but if the inclination angle is too large, the optical axis exiting from the package 7 is also largely bent, and therefore the optical gain of the entire photodetection system decreases. That is, when the inclination angle is increased, the amount of light irradiated to the detection target object is decreased, and the detection characteristic is degraded due to the decrease in the signal. Therefore, if the design is made in consideration of the influence on the detection characteristics, 15 ° becomes the upper limit value of the practical tilt angle. Therefore, the inclination angle is preferably 10 ° to 15 ° in consideration of the mounting accuracy tolerance.
As shown in fig. 2, the opening windows 201 and 202 may be provided in the package light emission surface 72 and the package light reception surface 73. The opening windows 201 and 202 are configured to have a thin resin shape on the package surface 71 directly above the light emitting element 11 and the light receiving element 12 and to have good light transmission.
When the opening window 201 for emitting light is provided, the surface of the mold resin from which light is emitted is the bottom surface of the opening window 201, and therefore the bottom surface of the opening window 201 becomes the package emission surface 72.
[ third embodiment ]
A third embodiment of the present invention will be explained below. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above-described embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will not be repeated.
In the present embodiment, in the reflection type photosensor 1, the opening window 201 of the package emission surface 72 and the opening window 202 of the package light receiving surface 73 are integrally formed by transfer molding. The package light emission surface 72 and the package light reception surface 73 are polished. The package surface 71 other than the package light emission surface 72 and the package light reception surface 73 is processed to attenuate light scattering.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the reflection type photosensor 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 2, an opening window 201 for emitting light is provided on the package light emission surface 72 of fig. 1, and an opening window 202 for receiving light is provided on the package light reception surface 73 of fig. 1 by transfer molding, and resin sealing molding is performed. Next, the light-emitting aperture window 201 and the light-receiving aperture window 202 are polished to suppress scattering loss of the emitted light and the reflected signal light. The other package surface 71 is processed to be in a state of attenuating light scattering.
A part of the light emitted from the light emitting element 11 is reflected by the glass panel and returned to the package 7 as reflected scattered light 204. By scattering and attenuating the reflected and scattered light on the surface of the package, the influence of the reflected and scattered light on the internal light receiving element can be suppressed.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a state after the package molding of the present embodiment. After molding with the same molding resin, the open windows 201, 202 are ground. This can suppress light scattering loss as compared with the state of the package surface 71 around the opening windows 201 and 202.
[ fourth embodiment ]
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be explained below. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above-described embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will not be repeated.
Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the reflection type photosensor 1 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the reflection type photosensor 1 further includes a step slit 301 between the package light emission surface 72 and the package light reception surface 73 on the package surface 71, as compared with fig. 2. The step slit 301 is formed by a mold metal die.
The reflected and scattered light 302 is reflected and scattered on the package surface 71, but a part thereof is transmitted into the mold, and becomes a noise light component toward the photodiode 13 of the light receiving element 12. By forming the step slit 301 on the optical path, an interface between the molding resin and the air, at which the noise light component is reflected and scattered, is increased.
The step slit 301 can prevent the return of the reflected scattered light 302 from the glass panel and the internal scattered light 303 from the light emitting element 11 inside the package 7 to the photodiode 13 of the light receiving element 12. The position and depth of the stepped slit 301 are designed by simulating the incident angle of the reflected scattered light 302 and the optical path of the internally scattered light 303. In this case, the stepped slit 301 can be formed with high accuracy by using a mold die.
[ fifth embodiment ]
A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be explained below. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above-described embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will not be repeated.
In the present embodiment, with respect to fig. 4, the light blocking member 404 is applied to the entire surface of the stepped slit 401. Further, the light blocking member 404 may be embedded in a recess of the stepped slit 401.
Fig. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the reflection type photosensor 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, a light shielding member 404 is added to the stepped slit 401. Thus, in fig. 5, the optical noise component that has passed through the air surface of the stepped slit 301 and has been directed toward the photodiode 13 of the light receiving element 12 is blocked without being transmitted, and can be further prevented from being wrapped around the photodiode 13 of the light receiving element 12. An additional method of the light-shielding member 404 can be formed by applying a light-shielding resin to the stepped slit 401 and curing the resin. Further, by performing double transfer molding using a light-shielding resin, uniform molding can be performed with high accuracy.
[ sixth embodiment ]
The sixth embodiment of the present invention will be explained below. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above-described embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will not be repeated.
In the present embodiment, the light Emitting element 11 is formed of a Surface Emitting laser vcsel (vertical Cavity Surface Emitting laser), and the current narrowing layer 905 of the light Emitting element 11 is formed by an implantation method.
Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of the VCSEL light-emitting element according to the present embodiment. The VCSEL oscillates laser light in the vertical direction, and emits the laser light from the surface. Light emitted at the active layer 903 is amplified in the upper and lower reflective mirrors P-DBR904 and N-DBR 902. The bias current is applied from the upper electrode to the lower electrode, and current narrowing layers 905 and 906 are provided to concentrate the current on the light emitting region of the active layer.
As methods for forming the current constriction layers 905 and 906, there are two methods, an implantation method by proton implantation from above and an oxide film method by oxidation by water vapor from the lateral direction. The inventors confirmed the following through experiments: in the case of using the implanted VCSEL, as return light tolerance characteristics in returning light to the VCSEL light emitting portion, it is easier to ensure stable operation with respect to reflected return light than in the oxide film method.
This is because the H is implanted+In the implantation method in which ions restrict a current path, in multi-mode competition which is a factor of return light noise of the VCSEL, optical loss is large in the transverse multi-mode which acts at a higher order.
The proximity sensor uses the reflective optical sensor 1 according to any one of the first to sixth embodiments of the present invention. This can suppress the influence of the reflected return light and the reflected scattered light from the glass panel, and hence can stabilize the detection characteristics with respect to the glass panel mounting conditions of the user.
[ conclusion ]
A reflection type photosensor according to embodiment 1 of the present invention includes: a light emitting element and a light receiving element mounted on the same substrate in the same direction; and a package covering the light emitting element and the light receiving element, a surface of the package including: an emission surface located on a light emission side of the light emitting element; and a light receiving surface located on a light receiving side of the light receiving element, the light receiving surface being parallel to the substrate, the light emitting surface being provided obliquely to the light receiving surface.
According to the above configuration, the component scattered on the surface of the light receiving element can be suppressed. Further, by preventing return light returning to the light emitting element, variation in light emission characteristics can be avoided. Therefore, in the reflective photosensor, noise caused by light emitted from the light-emitting element can be suppressed.
In the reflective photosensor according to mode 2 of the present invention, in mode 1, the light emitting surface may be inclined toward the light receiving element at an angle of 10 ° to 15 ° with respect to the light receiving surface.
According to the above configuration, the return light can be made substantially zero by setting the inclination angle to 10 ° or more. Further, by setting the inclination angle to 15 ° or less, the bending of the axis of the emitted light can be suppressed.
In the reflective photosensor according to mode 3 of the present invention, in mode 1 or mode 2, the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface may be integrally formed by transfer molding, the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface may be polished, and the surface of the package other than the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface may be processed to attenuate scattering of light.
According to the above configuration, the polishing process of the emission surface and the light receiving surface can suppress scattering loss as compared with the surface around the emission surface and the light receiving surface. Further, by processing the surface of the package other than the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface to attenuate light scattering, the influence of the reflected and scattered light on the internal light receiving element can be suppressed.
In the reflective photosensor according to mode 4 of the present invention, in mode 3, a step slit may be further provided between the emission surface and the light receiving surface.
According to the above configuration, the reflected scattered light and the internal scattered light can be prevented from bypassing the light receiving element.
In the reflective photosensor according to mode 5 of the present invention, in mode 4, a light blocking member may be applied to a surface of the stepped slit.
According to the above configuration, the reflected scattered light and the internal scattered light can be further suppressed from entering the light receiving element.
In the reflective optical sensor according to aspect 6 of the present invention, in any one of aspects 1 to 5, the light Emitting element may be a member including a Surface Emitting laser vcsel (vertical Cavity Surface Emitting laser), and the current constriction layer of the light Emitting element may be formed by an implantation method.
With the above configuration, the light emitting element can be operated stably with respect to the reflected return light.
The proximity sensor of embodiment 7 of the present invention uses the reflection type optical sensor of any one of embodiments 1 to 6.
According to the above configuration, the detection characteristic can be stabilized with respect to the glass panel mounting condition of the user.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Further, by combining the technical means disclosed in the respective embodiments, new technical features can be formed.