JP2003152259A - Semiconductor laser assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor laser assembly capable of easily generating an appropriate pointer beam by guiding the pointer beam from behind the semiconductor laser assembly into the inside. SOLUTION: The semiconductor laser assembly 1 comprises semiconductor laser units 4 laminated in a plurality of stages each of which comprises a semiconductor laser array 3 in which a plurality of laser emitting points 3a are arrayed and a heatsink 2 in which a medium path 9 is provided. If a semiconductor laser assembly 1 such as this is used as a light source for micro working, etc., the beam is required to be converged on a single point, and a pointer beam is used as a guide beam to indicate a converged point of laser beam. In order to easily generate an appropriate pointer beam by guiding the pointer beam from behind the semiconductor laser assembly 1 into the inside, a pointer beam passage region S which allows the pointer beam from outside to pass is formed between the semiconductor laser units 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser assembly used as a light source for pumping a fixed laser, fine processing, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor laser array provided in a semiconductor laser assembly of this type which has been generally used conventionally has a plurality of laser emission points on its emission surface.
The upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor laser array are sandwiched by a pair of submount bases, and the semiconductor laser array is placed on the heat sink in this state. Then, on the heat sink, a semiconductor laser unit is formed by sandwiching the semiconductor laser array between submount bases, and by stacking the semiconductor laser units in multiple stages in the housing, a semiconductor laser assembly is formed. Further, when such a semiconductor laser assembly is used as a light source for a microfabrication process or the like, it is necessary to concentrate the light on one point, so that the semiconductor laser assembly described above has various condenser lenses incorporated therein. The laser generator is used by being housed inside. Further, in such a laser generator, it is necessary to indicate the point where the laser light is focused, that is, the processing point, by so-called pointer light. Therefore, in a general laser generator, high-brightness light emitted from a semiconductor laser or a light-emitting diode is guided into the housing, and this light is guided along the optical axis of the condensing lens by using a reflection mirror or a half mirror. Let By this, the so-called pointer light is produced.

[0003]

However, when the conventional semiconductor laser assembly is used in a laser generator, a reflecting mirror, a half mirror, etc. are complicated in guiding the pointer light to the optical axis of the condenser lens. Therefore, it is difficult to guide the pointer light to the optical axis of the condenser lens.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, a semiconductor in which pointer light is introduced from the rear of a semiconductor laser assembly into the inside thereof to easily generate appropriate pointer light. It is an object to provide a laser assembly.

[0005]

A semiconductor laser assembly according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor laser array in which a plurality of laser emission points are arranged along a longitudinal direction of a front surface, and a semiconductor laser array is arranged and a medium is internally provided. It is characterized in that a plurality of semiconductor laser units each having a heat sink having a passage and a semiconductor laser unit are stacked, and pointer light passage regions for passing pointer light from the outside are formed between the semiconductor laser units.

In this semiconductor laser assembly, a plurality of semiconductor laser units each including a semiconductor laser array in which a plurality of laser emission points are arranged and a heat sink having a medium passage therein are laminated. When such a semiconductor laser assembly is used as a light source for a microfabrication process or the like, it is necessary to concentrate the light on one point, and pointer light is used as a guide light indicating the converging point of the laser light. Therefore, in order to easily introduce appropriate pointer light by introducing the pointer light from the rear of the semiconductor laser assembly into the inside, a pointer light passage region is formed between the semiconductor laser units to allow the pointer light from the outside to pass therethrough. To do.

Further, it is preferable that the pointer light passage region is a linear light insertion hole penetrating a connecting plate sandwiched between the semiconductor laser units and electrically connecting the semiconductor laser units. As described above, by using the conductive connecting plate, all the adjacent semiconductor laser arrays can be electrically connected to each other, and the pointer light is emitted from the semiconductor laser array by the light insertion hole provided in the connecting plate. It can be introduced inside the assembly, and the pointer light can be appropriately emitted toward the front of the semiconductor laser assembly.

Further, it is preferable that the light insertion hole extends along the optical axis of the condenser lens arranged in front of the laser emission point. Thus, as a result of forming the light insertion hole on the extension of the optical axis of the condenser lens, highly reliable pointer light can be produced.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a semiconductor laser assembly according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a semiconductor laser assembly 1 is a semiconductor laser unit in which a flat semiconductor laser array 3 is mounted on a heat sink 2 made of a material having excellent electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. 4 is laminated in a plurality of stages (five in this case). On the front surface 5 of the semiconductor laser array 3, a large number of laser emission points 3a are arranged in a straight line along the longitudinal direction. Each semiconductor laser array 3 is composed of a compound semiconductor made of GaAs or the like, and a plurality of laser emission points 3a each having a light emitting region size of about 100 μm × 2 μm are arranged at intervals of about 300 μm, for example.

Further, the upper submount base (also known as "cover plate") 6 and the lower submount base 7 are sandwiched from above and below by the upper surface 3b and the lower surface 3c of one semiconductor laser array 3, respectively. Are joined to each. The upper and lower submount bases 6 and 7 are made of a material such as copper, copper tungsten, molybdenum, etc., which is excellent in electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. Further, the semiconductor laser array 3 is mounted on the heat sink 2 by soldering the lower submount base 7 to the upper surface 2 a of the heat sink 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the heat sink 2 is divided into three parts, and three metal plates 11, 12, 13 are formed.
It is composed by pasting together. With such a laminated structure, an arbitrary medium passage 9 is formed inside. For example, the first end plate 11 is provided with an inlet side opening 11a and an outlet side opening 11b arranged in parallel, and a passage 9a communicating with the inlet side opening 11a is formed on the surface. Further, the second end plate 12 is provided with an inlet side opening 12a and an outlet side opening 12b in parallel with each other, and a passage 9b communicating with the outlet side opening 12b on the surface so as to bypass the inlet side opening 12a. It is built in.

A connecting plate 13 sandwiched between the first end plate 11 and the second end plate 12.
Is provided with an inlet-side communication opening 13a that communicates the inlet-side opening 11a and the inlet-side opening 12a, and an outlet-side communication opening 13b that communicates the outlet-side opening 11b and the outlet-side opening 12b. . Further, the connecting plate 13 connects the passage 9a on one side and the passage 9b on the other side 4
Individual communication passages 9c are provided.

Therefore, the medium flowing into the passage 9a from the inlet side opening 11a flows through the communication passage 9c to the passage 9b on the other side. Then, it is discharged from the outlet side opening 12b while flowing in the passage 9b. As described above, by continuously flowing the cooling medium in the passages 9a and 9b, the semiconductor laser array 3 can be continuously cooled via the heat sink 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the semiconductor laser unit 1 is formed by laminating such semiconductor laser units 4 in a plurality of stages (in this case, five stages) via electrically insulating spacers 14. . The spacer 14 is made of polyimide or the like. Inside the spacer 14, silicon rubber,
An electrically insulating cushion material (not shown) made of urethane rubber or the like is loaded. The cushion material is provided with an inlet side opening (not shown) that connects the inlet side opening 11a and the inlet side opening 12a that are adjacent to each other, and an outlet side that communicates with the adjacent outlet side opening 11b and the outlet side opening 12b. An opening (not shown) is provided. The cushion material is in close contact with the heat sink 2 in order to prevent leakage of the medium flowing between the heat sinks 2.

As a result of disposing the electrically insulating spacers 14 between the adjacent heat sinks 2 as described above, direct electrical conduction between the heat sinks 2 is avoided, whereby an electric current applied from the outside is applied to the semiconductor. The laser array 3 is designed to efficiently flow along the stacking direction. When assembling the semiconductor laser assembly 1, it is preferable to fix the semiconductor laser assembly 1 as a whole by clamping it from both sides with a clamp member (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 4, the semiconductor laser assembly 1 assembled in this manner is connected to the refrigerant tube 17 and the drive current supply electrode 18 for use as a light source for fine processing. Then, it is incorporated in the semiconductor laser generator 20. This semiconductor laser generator 20
In front of the semiconductor laser assembly 1 in the casing 19, microlenses 21 corresponding to a large number of laser emission points 3a are fixed. Further, in front of the microlens 21, three condenser lenses 22, 23, 24 are aligned in a straight line along the optical axis P. The semiconductor laser generator 20 having such a configuration can concentrate the laser light at one point and can obtain a high laser output.

In such a semiconductor laser generator 20, it is necessary to indicate the point where the laser light is focused, that is, the processing point, by so-called pointer light. Therefore, with the semiconductor laser units 4 stacked in a plurality of stages (five in this case), the connecting plate 30 is arranged at substantially the center of the semiconductor laser assembly 1 (see FIG. 1). The connecting plate 30 is made of a conductive metal and has a light insertion hole 31 for emitting pointer light. The light insertion hole 31 extends along the optical axis P, and behind the semiconductor laser assembly 1, a semiconductor laser or a light emitting diode which is an example of a pointer light source 37 for making light enter the light insertion hole 31. (See FIG. 4). In this way, the light insertion hole 31 is formed in the semiconductor laser assembly 1 as the light passage region S through which the high-brightness point light 33 passes.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the connecting plate 30 is divided into two and is constituted by laminating two metal plates 34 and 35. With such a laminating structure, an arbitrary optical insertion can be made inside. The hole 31 can be easily formed. In addition, a highly reliable pointer light 33
In order to create the
It is formed on the extension of the optical axis P of 3,24. Further, by using the conductive connecting plate 30, all the adjacent semiconductor laser arrays 3 can be electrically connected to each other,
Moreover, the pointer light 33 can be introduced into the inside from the rear of the semiconductor laser assembly 1 by the light insertion hole 31 provided in the connecting plate 30, and at the same time, the pointer light 3 can be introduced.
3 can be appropriately emitted toward the front of the semiconductor laser assembly 1 while aligning 3 with the optical axis P.

As another conductive connecting plate 40,
As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, it is divided into two and is constituted by laminating two metal plates 44, 45. With such a laminating structure, an arbitrary optical insertion hole 41 can be easily formed inside. it can. Further, in order to generate the highly reliable pointer light 33, the light insertion hole 41 is formed on the extension of the optical axis P of the condenser lenses 22, 23 and 24. Further, the connecting plate 40 is provided with an inlet-side communication passage 42 that connects the inlet-side opening 11a and the inlet-side opening 12a that are adjacent to each other, and the adjacent outlet-side opening 11b.
And the outlet side communication passage 43 for communicating with the outlet side opening 12b
(Not shown). As a result, the connecting plate 40 does not block the refrigerant passage.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, in the center of the semiconductor laser assembly 1A, adjacent semiconductor laser units 4 may be separated from each other, and this gap may be formed as a pointer light passage region S. By providing the pointer light passage area S on the extension of the optical axis P, highly reliable pointer light 33 can be created.

[0022]

Since the semiconductor laser assembly according to the present invention is constructed as described above, the following effects can be obtained. That is, a semiconductor laser array in which a plurality of laser emission points are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the front surface, and a plurality of semiconductor laser units each having a semiconductor laser array and a heat sink having a medium passage inside are stacked to form a semiconductor laser array. By forming the pointer light passage region for passing the pointer light from the outside between the laser units, the pointer light can be introduced into the inside from the rear of the semiconductor laser assembly to easily generate appropriate pointer light. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a semiconductor laser assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a semiconductor laser unit applied to the semiconductor laser assembly of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a heat sink applied to the semiconductor laser assembly of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a semiconductor laser generating device in which the semiconductor laser assembly of FIG. 1 is incorporated.

5 is an exploded perspective view showing a connecting plate applied to the semiconductor laser assembly of FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a perspective view showing a state after the assembly of the connecting plate shown in FIG. 5 is completed.

7 is an exploded perspective view showing another connecting plate applied to the semiconductor laser assembly of FIG. 1. FIG.

8 is a perspective view showing a state after the assembly of the connecting plate shown in FIG. 7 is completed.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the semiconductor laser assembly according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1A ... Semiconductor laser assembly, 2 ... Heat sink, 3
... Semiconductor laser array, 3a ... Laser emission point, 4 ... Semiconductor laser unit, 9 ... Medium passage, 22,23,24 ... Condensing lens, 30,40 ... Coupling plate, 31,41 ... Optical insertion hole,
33 ... Pointer light, P ... Optical axis, S ... Pointer light passing region.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of semiconductor laser units having a semiconductor laser array in which a plurality of laser emission points are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the front surface, and a heat sink having a medium passage therein and in which the semiconductor laser array is arranged. A semiconductor laser assembly characterized in that a pointer light passage region for passing pointer light from the outside is formed between the semiconductor laser units. 2. The pointer light passage region is a linear light insertion hole penetrating a connection plate sandwiched between the semiconductor laser units and electrically connecting the semiconductor laser units. The semiconductor laser assembly according to claim 1. 3. The semiconductor laser assembly according to claim 2, wherein the light insertion hole extends along an optical axis of a condenser lens arranged in front of the laser emission point.