JP2001284706A - Semiconductor laser light emitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor laser light emitting device capable of locking a laser beam in phase when the beams are emitted from a plurality of light emitting spots at desired intervals. SOLUTION: The laser beams LB1 to LB5 emitted from the light emitting spots P1 to P5 of a semiconductor laser array element 10 are partly reflected at an incident face 21 of an optical part 20. Each reflected beam is turned to another light emitting spot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-power semiconductor laser light emitting device which can output a high-power laser beam and is suitable for optical recording, optical communication, welding and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, semiconductor laser light emitting devices used for optical recording, optical communication, welding, and the like have been actively developed for higher output. Among them, a semiconductor laser array element having a plurality of laser light oscillating portions formed in stripes on one substrate and having an array structure is used as a light source of laser light, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-226765. There is technology.

[0003] In the technique disclosed in this publication, the laser light oscillating sections on one substrate are positioned close to each other, so that the laser lights in the laser light oscillating section are combined by so-called exudation, and the respective laser light oscillating sections are combined. The laser light emitted from the output end face of the oscillation section is phase-locked. Therefore, the laser beam emitted from the output end face of each laser beam oscillator can be easily focused on one spot by an optical lens or the like, and a high output can be obtained.

[0004]

However, in the above prior art, each laser beam in the laser beam oscillating section is coupled by exudation, and the exudation range is usually very small, within several microns. In addition, each laser light oscillation section needs to be provided in close contact with a narrow area. Therefore, the design is very difficult due to design restrictions that the width of the current block layer cannot be made large. In addition, since each laser light oscillating portion is located close to each other, heat is confined in a narrow region, and the degree of heat generation is high, especially the temperature rise in the central portion becomes remarkable, and there is a risk of melting and thermal expansion. Problems remain in the reliability of the device such as wavelength change. In order to avoid these problems, it is conceivable to increase the width of the current block layer and to increase the interval between the laser light oscillating units, ignoring phase synchronization. High output cannot be achieved.

Even if a plurality of such light sources are used in order to increase the amount of light to increase the output, the output cannot be synchronized with the laser light emitted from other semiconductor laser array elements. There is a limit to the conversion. In view of the above problems, the present invention achieves phase matching with the wavelength of laser light emitted from a laser light oscillating unit even if there is a laser light oscillating unit disposed at an interval that does not cause a problem in manufacturing (hereinafter, referred to as a laser light oscillating unit).
It is called "phase lock". It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor laser light emitting device capable of performing the above.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, in a semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the present invention, a laser light emitting component having a plurality of laser light oscillating portions, and an oscillator oscillated by at least one laser light oscillating portion. And an optical component for returning at least a part of the laser light emitted from the output end face to another laser light oscillating unit to be incident thereon.

Thus, even if the laser light oscillating units are arranged at intervals that do not cause a problem in manufacturing, laser light emitted from each output end face of one laser light oscillating unit and another laser light oscillating unit is generated. Phase locked. Here, the laser light emitting component may be a semiconductor laser array device having a configuration in which two or more laser light oscillation units are arranged in an array in one device.

Here, the laser light emitting component may have a configuration in which a plurality of semiconductor laser array elements are arranged in a stack. Further, the optical component is a translucent member that is disposed forward in the emission direction of the laser light emitted from the output end face of the laser light oscillation unit, transmits part of the laser light, and reflects or scatters the rest. And

Further, the optical component has a flat plate shape, and one main surface corresponding to a laser light incident surface forms a flat surface or a rough surface, and reflects a part of the laser light on the main surface. Alternatively, it is characterized by scattering. Further, the optical component has a flat plate shape, includes a diffraction grating on one main surface corresponding to a laser light incidence surface, and diffracts a part of the laser light at a predetermined angle in the diffraction grating. Features.

[0010] Further, the optical component is characterized in that the ± 1st-order diffracted light diffracted by the diffraction grating is turned back into the adjacent laser light oscillation section. Further, the optical component is characterized in that the reflected or scattered laser light is turned back into a laser light oscillation section belonging to another semiconductor laser array element.

Thus, the laser light emitted from each laser light oscillating section of a different semiconductor laser array element can be phase-locked. Further, the optical component may be subjected to hologram processing for condensing the transmitted laser light or converting the transmitted laser light into parallel light. Further, the semiconductor laser light emitting device is characterized in that the plurality of semiconductor laser array elements each have a substrate cut out from a semiconductor wafer, and the substrate of each semiconductor laser array element is cut out from the same semiconductor wafer. And

Further, the semiconductor laser array element is a semiconductor laser array element having a real refractive index waveguide structure.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device 1 according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the semiconductor laser light emitting device 1 has a laser beam LB1 from each of the light emitting points P1 to P5 (here, the point at which the principal ray of each laser beam is emitted at each output end face). To LB5, and an optical component 20. First, the configuration of the semiconductor laser array element 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the semiconductor laser array element 10. The principal rays of the laser beams LB1 to LB5 are indicated by solid lines, and the luminous flux widths are indicated by broken lines.

The semiconductor laser array element 10 is of an array structure in which five red laser light oscillating portions having a real refractive index waveguide structure are arranged in rows, and an n-type GaAs substrate 101 is provided with an n-type GaAs substrate.
As buffer layer 102 and n-type AlGaInP cladding layer 103
, GaInP / AlGaInP quantum well structure active layer 104, p-type
An AlGaInP cladding underlayer 105, an n-type AlInP current blocking layer 106, a p-type AlGaInP cladding buried layer 107,
A p-type GaAs cap layer 108 (heat sink) is sequentially laminated, and three layers of Cr / Pt / Au formed on the surface of the p-type GaAs cap layer 108 are planarly laminated and formed.
Type electrode 109 and Au formed on the back surface of n-type substrate 101
An n-type electrode 110 is formed by stacking three layers of Ge / Ni / Au in a plane. In the p-type AlGaInP cladding buried layer 107, a current channel 111 for narrowing a current injected from the p-type electrode 109 is formed in a stripe shape.

The semiconductor laser array element 10 has cleavage planes 120 and 12 in a direction perpendicular to the laminating direction of the respective layers.
1 are formed facing each other. While the reflectance of light on one cleavage face 121 is almost 100%, the reflectance on the other cleavage face 120 is set to several percent, and a so-called laser light resonator is formed between the cleavage faces. Constitute.

In the above structure, the current injected from the p-type electrode 109 flows constricted through each current channel 111, and laser oscillation occurs in the GaInP / AlGaInP quantum well structure active layer 104 provided thereunder. .
The refractive index of the n-type AlInP current blocking layer 106 is p-type AlGaI
Since it is smaller than the nP cladding underlayer 105, the laser light is confined in each current channel 111 by this difference in the refractive index. The trapped laser light is applied to the cleavage plane 120,
The laser beam oscillates at a wavelength determined by the size of the resonator formed between the laser beams 121 and is emitted as laser beams LB1 to LB5 from the respective light emitting points P1 to P5 of the cleavage plane 120. Each laser beam L
Each of B1 to LB5 has an elliptical cross-sectional shape whose major axis is oriented in the stacking direction of the semiconductor laser array elements 10 as indicated by broken lines, and the light flux width increases as the distance from each of the light emitting points P1 to P5 increases.

The optical component 20 is made of a transparent glass plate, and each of the laser beams LB1 to LB5 as shown in FIG.
And an emission surface 22 for emitting the laser light transmitted through the optical component 20. FIG. 3 is a top view of the semiconductor laser light emitting device 1 for illustrating a positional relationship between the optical component 20 and the semiconductor laser array element 10. The principal rays of the laser beams LB1 to LB5 are indicated by solid lines,
The reflected light is indicated by a broken line.

The optical component 20 is made of flat transparent glass, and reflects a part of the incident laser light to form another light emitting point P.
The laser light LB1 is used for folding back to 1 to P5.
LB5 are incident on the incident surface 21 at the respective incident points P6 to P1.
It is fixed by a support (not shown) so that the light is incident substantially perpendicularly to zero. Here, the distance between the optical component 20 and the semiconductor laser array element 10 is configured to be longer than at least the distance between each light emitting point. This is because if the distance between the optical component 20 and the semiconductor laser array element 10 is too short, the laser light will not be turned back to each light emitting point.

The size of the incident surface 21 of the optical component 20 is desirably large enough to reflect all the incident laser light. Since the laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser array element 10 travels while expanding the light beam width, the size of the incident surface 21 depends on the distance between the optical component 20 and the semiconductor laser array element 10 and the distance from the semiconductor laser array element. It is determined in consideration of the spread angle of the emitted laser light.

The surface of the entrance surface 21 is flat and the surface is mirror-polished, and the reflectance is about 10 to 30%.
Is set to Therefore, each of the incident laser beams LB1
Many parts of LB5 are transmitted and emitted from the emission surface 22. On the other hand, a part of the laser light is reflected on the incident surface 21 according to the spread angle, and is turned back to the other light emitting points P1 to P5. If this reflectance is too high,
The amount of the laser light transmitted through the optical component 20 is reduced, which hinders the condensing of the transmitted laser light to increase the output. On the other hand, if the reflectance is too small, the laser is turned back to each light emitting point. Since the amount of light is reduced and the later-described phase lock is less likely to occur, the above-described reflectance is preferable.

Here, each laser beam LB1 on the incident surface 21
To specifically explain the state of reflection at LB5,
A description will be given taking the laser beam LB3 emitted from the light emitting point P3 as an example. Since the reflection of the laser beams LB1 to LB5 occurs similarly, the description of the other laser beams is omitted.
As described above, the laser beam LB <b> 3 is incident on the incident surface 21 while expanding because the light beam travels while expanding the light beam width. Here, a part of the incident laser light LB3 is reflected at an angle corresponding to the spread, and reflected light LB31, LB32 which is turned back to the light emitting points P2, P4 on both sides of the light emitting point P3.
(Although not shown, it is also folded back to P1 and P5).

The reflected lights LB31 and LB32 turned back to the light-emitting points P2 and P4 partially pass through the cleavage plane 120 (FIG. 2), and then pass through the cleavage planes 12 corresponding to the respective light-emitting points.
0, 121 (FIG. 2). Therefore, while the laser light reciprocates inside each resonator, a phase and a wavelength of each of the reflected lights LB31 and LB32, that is, a laser light resonating with the phase and the wavelength of the laser light LB3 are generated by a so-called pull-in phenomenon. Become. Therefore, the wavelengths and phases of the laser beams LB2 and LB4 emitted from the light emitting points P2 and P4 are matched with the wavelengths and phases of the laser beams LB3. That is, these laser beams LB2, LB3, and LB4 are phase-locked.

Here, the laser beam LB3 emitted from the light emitting point P3 has been described.
Similarly, the laser light emitted from the other light-emitting points P1 to P5 is generated by the laser light emitted from each of the light-emitting points P1 to P5, as shown by the broken line in FIG. It is also incident on the light emitting point. Therefore,
Thus, all the laser beams LB1 to LB5 are phase-locked in a chain.

With the above arrangement, even in the case of a semiconductor laser array element in which the distance between the laser light oscillating portions is large and the phase of the laser light cannot be synchronized due to the exudation of the light, the laser light emitted by the optical component is used. Since a part of the light is folded back to another light emitting point, the laser light emitted from each light emitting point can be phase-locked.

The surface of the incident surface 21 may have an irregular shape. For example, if the surface of the incident surface 21 has an irregular shape such as frosted glass, irregular reflection occurs when a laser beam is incident, and light emission occurs when compared to a flat shape in which only a part of the laser beam is turned back to a light emitting point. The amount of light turned back to the point increases, and the phase lock can be more reliably caused.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the incident surface 21 of the optical component 20 has a flat shape, but a diffraction grating may be provided on the incident surface. FIG.
Is a semiconductor laser light emitting device 2 according to the second embodiment.
It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of. 1 is different from FIG. 1 only in that the optical component 30 is different, and the components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.
Further, the size of the diffraction grating is considerably large for easy understanding.

The optical component 30 is made of transparent glass, and extends along the direction in which the semiconductor laser array elements 10 are stacked.
The incident surface 31 is provided with a diffraction grating having stripe-shaped grooves formed by alternately arranging the concave portions 310 and the convex portions 311. This optical component 30 is an optical component for turning the laser light back to another light emitting point, similarly to the optical component 20 of the first embodiment, and the difference is that the laser light is diffracted in a predetermined direction by the diffraction grating. Is efficiently folded back to each light emitting point.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the semiconductor laser light emitting device. The principal rays of the laser beams LB1 to LB5 are indicated by solid lines, and the diffracted light is indicated by broken lines. Further, the size of the diffraction grating is considerably large for easy understanding.
The optical component 30 is supported by a support (not shown) so that the principal rays of the laser beams LB1 to LB5 emitted from the semiconductor laser array element 10 are vertically incident on the incident surface 31 thereof. The distance between the optical component 30 and the semiconductor laser array element is determined so as to be a predetermined distance based on diffraction conditions described below.

Here, the diffraction phenomenon will be described using the laser beam LB3 as an example. The laser beam LB3 is emitted from the light emitting point P3 of the semiconductor laser array element 10, and
1 and is partially reflected and diffracted into the -1st-order diffracted light LB33 and the + 1st-order diffracted light LB.
34, and are turned back to the adjacent light emitting points P2 and P4.

FIG. 6 shows a laser beam L viewed from the top of the semiconductor laser light emitting device 2 for explaining the above diffraction conditions.
It is an optical path diagram of B3. It should be noted that the size of the diffraction grating and the like are considerably large for easy understanding. The diffraction grating is configured such that concave portions 310 and convex portions 311 are alternately arranged at a period D to form a stripe-shaped groove.
A part of the laser beam LB3 incident on the incident point P13 is diffracted to generate ± 1st-order diffracted laser beams LB34 and LB35. The ± first-order diffracted lights LB34 and LB35 are diffracted at a predetermined diffraction angle θ.

Here, the diffraction angle θ is the laser beam LB3
Is given by Equation 1 where λ is the wavelength of Dsin θ = λ (Equation 1) Further, assuming that the distance between the light emitting points P3 and P4 (P2) is X and the distance from the light emitting point P3 to the incident surface 312 is L, the ± 1st-order diffracted lights LB34 and LB35 become the light emitting points P2 and The diffraction angle θ folded back to P4 satisfies the relationship of Expression 2.

X = Ltanθ (Equation 2) From Equations 1 and 2, the relationship between the distance X between the light emitting points and the distance L is given by Equation 3. L = [(D / λ) 2-1] ^0.5 · X (Equation 3) In other words, if Expression 3 is satisfied, the laser beam LB3 emitted from the light emitting point P3 is efficiently located on both sides at a predetermined diffraction angle. At the light emitting points P2 and P4. That is,
As long as the wavelength λ and the period D between the concave portion and the convex portion of the diffraction grating are determined, the optical component 3 is located at a distance L satisfying this condition.
0 may be set. For example, if λ = 0.65 μm (red laser), D = 2 μm, and X = 200 μm, L =
582 μm. The ratio of the width of the convex portion 311 to the period D, that is, the duty of the diffraction grating may be any value greater than 0 and less than 1, but it is 0.5 when the convex portion 311 and the concave portion 310 have the same width. The highest diffraction grating is desirable.

As described above, the laser light is efficiently turned back to the adjacent light-emitting points P2 and P4, so that the laser light LB2, LB3 and LB4 emitted from the light-emitting points P2, P3 and P4, as in the first embodiment. Will be phase locked. This phase lock is performed by the laser beams LB2 and LB
3, not occurring only in LB4,
As shown in the figure, the laser beams LB1 to LB5 emitted from the respective light emitting points P1 to P5 are efficiently turned back to the adjacent light emitting points, so that the laser beams LB1 to LB are chained.
5 will be phase locked.

According to the above configuration, since the diffraction grating is formed on the incident surface 31 of the optical component 30, the laser light incident on the incident surface is efficiently turned back to the light emitting point as compared with the first embodiment. Therefore, the laser light can be phase-locked more reliably without increasing the reflectance of the incident surface. (Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment,
Although one semiconductor laser array element has been used, a plurality of semiconductor laser array elements may be stacked and used.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment. Figure 1
The difference from the semiconductor laser array elements 10a and 10
The only difference is that b and 10c are stacked and used, and the components with the same numbers are the same components, and the description is omitted. The same type of semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, 10c are used, and semiconductor lasers, laser beams, light emitting points, etc. are distinguished by adding suffixes a, b, c.

As shown in the figure, the stacked semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b and 10c are arranged such that the light emitting points of the semiconductor laser array elements are arranged in a line in the stacking direction with the same pitch. P1a, P1
b, P1c). Since the individual semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, and 10c have the same configuration as in the first embodiment, the same semiconductor laser array element 1
Each of the five laser beams emitted from Oa, 10b, and 10c is phase-locked.

FIG. 8 is an optical path diagram of laser light when the semiconductor laser light emitting device 3 is viewed from the side. Each laser beam LB1a ~
The principal ray of LB1c is indicated by a solid line, and the reflected light is indicated by a broken line.
Laser beams LB1a to LB1a emitted from the respective light emitting points P1a to P1c of the semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, and 10c.
The LB1c is incident on each of the incident points P6a to P6c on the incident surface 21 of the optical component 20. Each of these laser beams L
Part of B1a to LB1c is reflected on the incident surface 21.

Here, since the reflection of each laser beam occurs similarly, the laser beam LB1b emitted from the light emitting point P1b
An example of the reflection will be described with reference to FIG. Laser light LB
1b travels while the light beam width is widened as described above, so that a part of the laser light is incident on the incident surface 21 at a predetermined incident angle. A part of the laser light incident on the incident surface 21 at a predetermined incident angle is reflected, and the light emitting point P1
The reflected lights LB11b and LB12b are turned back to the light emitting points P1a and P1c adjacent to each other in the stacking direction b.

Therefore, the light emitting points P1a to P1c belonging to different semiconductor laser array elements and arranged in the stack direction
The laser beams LB1a to LB1c emitted from are also phase-locked by resonance. This phase lock in the stack direction similarly occurs at other light emitting points, and as described above, the phase lock is also performed at the light emitting points within the same semiconductor laser array element. As a result, the semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, and 10c are obtained. All of the laser light emitted from the laser is phase-locked.

With the above configuration, even when a plurality of semiconductor laser array elements are stacked and used, the emitted laser light is folded back to adjacent light emitting points belonging to the same and different semiconductor laser array elements. The laser light emitted from the light emitting point is phase locked. Therefore, it is possible to perform phase locking between different semiconductor laser array elements, which was impossible in the related art, and to increase the number of phase-locked laser beams, thereby achieving higher output.

When a plurality of semiconductor laser array elements are stacked and used as described above, the n-type GaAs substrate 101 (FIG. 2) of each semiconductor laser array element must be cut out from the same semiconductor wafer. Is preferred.
Since the wavelength of the emitted laser light is determined by the characteristics of this semiconductor wafer, the characteristics of the semiconductor wafer may differ slightly depending on the manufacturing conditions when cut out from different semiconductor wafers, and the wavelength of each laser light may be slightly different. There is. On the other hand, if a laser beam cut out from the same semiconductor wafer is used for each semiconductor laser array element, the wavelengths of the emitted laser beams are approximately the same, so that phase locking can be performed with a small amount of laser light only for adjusting the phase. Become.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the third embodiment, the incident surface of the optical component 20 is a flat surface. However, a diffraction grating as in the second embodiment (however, Diffraction directions are different). FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device 4 according to the fourth embodiment. 7 is different from FIG. 7 only in the optical component 40, and the other configuration is the same, so that the description is omitted.

In the optical component 40, the incident surface 41 on which the laser beam enters has a diffraction grating. This diffraction grating is formed by arranging stripe-shaped grooves formed by alternately arranging concave portions 410 and convex portions 411 along a direction orthogonal to the laminating direction of the respective semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, and 10c. Laser light is diffracted in the stacking direction. On the other hand, the laser beam does not diffract in the direction orthogonal to the lamination direction, but only reflects. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, five laser beams emitted from each of the same semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, and 10c are turned back to other light emitting points by surface reflection of the optical component 40, respectively. The phase is locked in the same semiconductor laser array element.

FIG. 10 is an optical path diagram of laser light viewed from the side of the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the fourth embodiment. The principal rays of the laser beams LB1a to LB1c are indicated by solid lines, and the ± 1st-order diffracted lights are indicated by broken lines. Since the emitted laser beams proceed in the same manner, the laser beam L emitted from each of the light emitting points P1a, P1b, P1c is an example.
B1a, LB1b, and LB1c will be described.

Laser light LB1a, LB1b, LB1c
Is incident on the incident surface 41 of the optical component 40. Most of the incident laser beams LB1a, LB1b, and LB1c are transmitted through and exit from the exit surface 42, but a part of each of the laser beams is incident on an incident point P2 on an entrance surface 41 on which a diffraction grating is formed.
The light is reflected at 0a, 20b, and 20c and diffracted in the stacking direction of the semiconductor laser array element.

Here, the laser beam LB1b emitted from the light emitting point P1b of the semiconductor laser array element 10b will be described as an example. Part of the diffracted laser light becomes a laser light LB13b that is a -1st-order diffracted light and a laser light LB14b that is a + 1st-order diffracted light. FIG. 11 is an optical path diagram showing a state of reflection of the laser beam LB1b when the semiconductor laser light emitting device 4 according to the fourth embodiment is viewed from the side. Note that the size of the diffraction grating and the like are shown large for easy understanding.

As shown in the figure, the laser beam LB1 emitted from the light emitting point P1b of the semiconductor laser array element 10b
When b enters the incident point P20b of the concave portion 410 of the diffraction grating provided on the incident surface 41, a part thereof becomes laser beams LB13b and LB14b diffracted at a predetermined diffraction angle θ in the stack direction of the semiconductor laser array element. , Each light emitting point P
1a and P1c. Note that the diffraction condition such as the distance L shown in the figure satisfies the expression (3) described in the second embodiment, so that the laser light LB13
b, the LB 14b has a predetermined diffraction angle at each light emitting point P1.
a, P1c is efficiently folded. Such folding of the laser beam occurs mutually at all light emitting points adjacent in all stack directions.

Therefore, similarly to the third embodiment,
All of the laser beams emitted from the semiconductor laser array elements 10a, 10b, and 10c can be phase-locked by resonance, and the provision of the diffraction grating efficiently folds the laser light in the stack direction between different semiconductor laser array elements. Therefore, the phase lock can be performed more reliably.

The above description has been made on the assumption that there is no diffraction grating in the direction perpendicular to the laminating direction. However, the grooves of the diffraction grating are also formed in the laminating direction, and the diffraction grating is diffracted in both the laminating direction and the direction perpendicular thereto. By doing so, the laser light can be efficiently turned back in both directions. Further, hologram processing may be performed on the emission surface 42 of the optical component 40. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, if hologram processing is performed on the emission surface 42 of the optical component 40 of the semiconductor laser light emitting device, the laser beam transmitted through the optical component 40 can be directly used as the spot SP.
Can be collected. Further, by performing a hologram process for converting the light into parallel light, the light can be converted into parallel light.
With such a configuration, the number of optical components for condensing and converting parallel light can be reduced, so that a compact and condensable semiconductor laser light emitting device can be realized.

(Modifications) Although the description has been given based on the embodiments of the present invention, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and that the present invention can be implemented in the following embodiments. Can be. In the above embodiment, the case where the semiconductor laser array element having the real refractive index waveguide structure is used has been described, but the present invention is not limited to these.
The present invention can be applied to any semiconductor laser having a resonator. For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where a plurality of single-stripe semiconductor lasers or a plurality of surface emitting semiconductor lasers are used.

In the above embodiment, one of the cleavage planes of the semiconductor laser array element (the back side on the laser light emission side) is configured to hardly transmit the laser light. And an optical component that folds the light may be installed on the cleaved surface side. In that case, all the laser light is reflected by the optical component, and the optical component on the laser light emission side is removed, thereby further improving the phase locking efficiency. A high output can be obtained because the amount of light emitted from the device can be collected without loss.

(Application Example) An application example considered to be particularly useful when a semiconductor laser array element of the above-described semiconductor laser light emitting device that outputs laser light of each of the following colors will be described. It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the following uses. (1) Red laser of AlGaInP material (wavelength 655 nm to 6
First, the above-mentioned semiconductor laser light emitting device can be incorporated into a torch of a laser welding device and used for welding metal. According to this, in addition to high output, the laser beam has a color, so that it is excellent in visibility and is considered to contribute to improvement in workability of welding work. Further, the present invention can also be used for a drilling apparatus for drilling a printed circuit board or the like. Furthermore, it can be used for a surface alteration processing device that performs surface alteration processing (so-called quenching).

Further, it is effective in producing so-called dot-shaped two-dimensional matrix data. Conventionally, Y
Generally, an AG laser is used, but since the YAG laser has poor response, there is a problem in forming uniform dots at high speed. For example, it is not suitable for forming a matrix pattern in which irradiation is performed in a fine pulse after a non-irradiation time continues. On the other hand, the semiconductor laser array element has excellent responsiveness, and is therefore effective for forming such a matrix pattern.

Further, the above-mentioned semiconductor laser light emitting device comprises:
A laser scalpel for incision and hemostasis of a living body, and irradiation of a living body into which a photophyllin drug has been injected can be used for medical devices such as treatment of malignant tumors such as cancer and hair growth treatment. (2) InGaN material blue laser (wavelength 550 nm; In
_0.5 Ga _0.5 N) Irradiates the retina and is suitable for treatment of retinal detachment.

(3) Green laser of InGaN material (wavelength 38
0 nm; In _0.5 Ga _0.95 N) Irradiates the cornea and can be used for treatment of myopia. (4) InGaAs material infrared laser (wavelength 1060 nm; I
n _0.2 Ga _0.9 As) In addition to the laser scalpel for welding, drilling, marking, incising a living body, and stopping bleeding, treatment of the above-mentioned retinal detachment by irradiating the retina via an SHG element (element that halves the wavelength) It can be used as well.

[0057]

As described above, the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the present invention has a laser light emitting component having a plurality of laser light oscillating portions, and oscillates by at least one laser light oscillating portion, and has an output end face. And an optical component for returning at least a part of the laser light emitted from the laser light into another laser light oscillating unit, so that the laser light resonates with the returned laser light even if the light emitting point interval is arbitrary. By doing so, the laser light emitted from each light emitting point can be phase locked.

Further, the optical component can reflect and scatter reflected laser light into a laser light oscillating portion belonging to another semiconductor laser array element so that the reflected laser light is reflected by another semiconductor element. The laser light emitted from the light emitting point belonging to the laser can be phase-locked.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a light source unit of the semiconductor laser light emitting device.

FIG. 3 is an optical path diagram of the semiconductor laser light emitting device as viewed from above.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an optical path diagram of the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the second embodiment as viewed from above.

FIG. 6 is an optical path diagram viewed from above for explaining laser light diffraction of the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an optical path diagram of the semiconductor laser light emitting device as viewed from the side.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an optical path diagram of the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the fourth embodiment as viewed from the side.

FIG. 11 is an optical path diagram viewed from a side for explaining laser light diffraction of the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a semiconductor laser light emitting device according to a modification of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, 4 Semiconductor laser light emitting device 10, 10a, 10b, 10c Semiconductor laser array element 20, 30, 40, 40 Optical component 21, 31, 41 Incident surface 120, 121 Cleaved surface 310, 410 Recess 311, 411 Convex parts P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 Light emitting point LB1, LB2, LB3, LB4, LB5 Laser light

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kunio Ito 1-1, Sachimachi, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electronics Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaru Satsumura 1-1, Sachimachi, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electronics Industrial Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 4C026 AA01 AA10 BB08 FF22 HH02 5F073 AA13 AA63 AA67 AA74 AB05 AB25 BA09 CA14 EA24 FA30

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A laser light emitting component having a plurality of laser light oscillating units, and oscillating by at least one laser light oscillating unit;
An optical component for returning at least a part of the laser light emitted from the output end face to another laser light oscillating unit and causing the laser light to enter the laser light oscillation unit. 2. The laser light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the laser light emitting component is a semiconductor laser array device in which two or more laser light oscillating units are arranged in an array in one device.
13. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1. 3. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein said laser light emitting component has a configuration in which a plurality of semiconductor laser array elements are arranged in a stack. 4. The optical component is a translucent member disposed in front of the output direction of the laser beam emitted from the output end face of the laser beam oscillator, transmitting a part of the laser beam and reflecting or scattering the rest. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The optical component has a flat plate shape,
5. The semiconductor laser light emission according to claim 4, wherein one main surface corresponding to the laser light incident surface forms a flat surface or a rough surface, and reflects or scatters a part of the laser light on the main surface. apparatus. 6. The optical component has a flat plate shape,
5. The semiconductor laser according to claim 4, wherein a diffraction grating is provided on one main surface corresponding to the laser light incident surface, and the diffraction grating reflects and diffracts a part of the laser light at a predetermined angle. Light emitting device. 7. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 6, wherein the optical component returns the ± 1st-order diffracted light diffracted by the diffraction grating to be incident on an adjacent laser light oscillating unit. 8. The optical component according to claim 3, wherein the optical component returns the reflected or scattered laser light into a laser light oscillation unit belonging to another semiconductor laser array element. 13. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1. 9. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the optical component has been subjected to hologram processing for condensing or parallelizing the transmitted laser light. 10. The semiconductor laser array device, wherein each of the plurality of semiconductor laser array elements has a base layer cut out from a semiconductor wafer, and the base layer of each semiconductor laser array element is cut out from the same semiconductor wafer. Item 10. A semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of Items 3 to 9. 11. The semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein said semiconductor laser array element is a semiconductor laser array element having a real refractive index waveguide structure. 12. A laser welding apparatus characterized in that welding is performed by using a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. 13. A two-dimensional matrix, wherein two-dimensional matrix data is produced on a surface to be irradiated by irradiating a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. Data production equipment. 14. A semiconductor laser knife device for irradiating a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 to cut or stop a living body. 15. A method for treating a malignant tumor by irradiating a laser light emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 onto a living body injected with a photophyllin drug. Tumor treatment device. 16. A hair-growth treatment device for irradiating a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light-emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 to a head to perform hair-growth treatment. 17. An apparatus for treating retinal detachment by irradiating the retina with laser light emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. 18. A myopia treatment apparatus for irradiating a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to claim 1 to a cornea to treat myopia. 19. A drilling device, wherein a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is radiated to an object to be drilled. 20. A surface alteration processing apparatus which irradiates a laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 onto an object to perform surface alteration processing.