JP2019175997A - Semiconductor laser device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a small semiconductor laser device which can secure a high heat discharge property while including a high-output semiconductor laser chip.SOLUTION: The semiconductor laser device includes: a metal hollow housing covered with an outer surface including a first surface with a first opening and a second surface with a second opening; a semiconductor laser chip contained in the housing; a lid body made of an insulating material, located on an upper surface of the first surface to close the first opening; a window part containing a translucent member, in which at least a part of the translucent member is mounted on an upper surface of the second surface to face the second opening; an electrode part made of an electric material for communication between a part of a surface of the lid body on the housing side and a part of a surface opposite to the housing of the lid body; and a power supply terminal for electrically connecting the electrode part exposed on the surface of the lid body on the housing side and the semiconductor laser chip.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser device.

  In recent years, development of small semiconductor laser devices has been promoted (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The structure of this conventional semiconductor laser device will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional semiconductor laser device 100. As shown in FIG. 9, the semiconductor laser device 100 includes a casing 110 made of insulating ceramics, a lid 120 fixedly placed on the upper surface of the casing 110, and a window for extracting light. And a translucent plate 130.

  FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing a structure in which the lid 120 and the translucent plate 130 are removed from FIG. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the semiconductor laser device 100 taken along line A1-A1 in FIG.

  The lid 120 is installed so as to contact the surface 111 of the housing 110. The translucent plate 130 is installed so as to come into contact with the surface 112 of the housing 110 and the surface 121 of the lid 120. The translucent plate 130 is fixedly adhered to the surface 112 of the housing 110 and the surface 121 of the lid 120 via adhesive layers (151 and 152), respectively.

  The semiconductor laser chip 140 is installed on the surface 114 of the housing 110, and power is supplied from electrodes (160, 160) provided on the back surface of the housing 110 via the wire 141.

JP 2017-112138 A

  In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for higher output of semiconductor laser devices. In the conventional semiconductor laser device 100 described above with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, the present inventors have the following problems when the semiconductor laser chip 140 is a laser chip capable of emitting high-luminance light. I found out.

  When the semiconductor laser chip 140 is a laser chip capable of emitting high-luminance light, the amount of heat generated during light emission increases. However, as described above, the housing 110 on which the semiconductor laser chip 140 is placed is made of insulating ceramics. Among insulating ceramics, there are materials exhibiting high thermal conductivity, but their thermal conductivity is still lower than that of metal materials. For this reason, a sufficient exhaust heat function may not be realized.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the electrode 160 for supplying power to the semiconductor laser chip 140 is formed on the back side of the housing 110 (the side opposite to the lid 120). 110 itself cannot be made of a conductive material. If the housing 110 is made of a metal material in the conventional semiconductor laser device 100 described above with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, the pair of electrodes 160 are short-circuited, and a current is supplied to the semiconductor laser device 100. It is clear that cannot be supplied.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized semiconductor laser device that can ensure high heat exhaustion while mounting a high-power semiconductor laser chip.

A semiconductor laser device according to the present invention includes:
A hollow metal housing which is covered with an outer surface including a first surface having a first opening and a second surface adjacent to the first surface and having a second opening. When,
A semiconductor laser chip housed inside the housing;
A lid made of an insulating material placed on the upper surface of the first surface so as to close the first opening;
A window part placed on the upper surface of the second surface so that at least a part of the light transmissive member is opposed to the second opening part.
A conductive material formed so as to pass through the lid and communicate between a portion of the surface of the lid on the housing side and a portion of the surface of the lid opposite to the housing. An electrode part made of a material;
The power supply terminal for electrically connecting the electrode part exposed on the case side surface of the lid and the semiconductor laser chip is provided.

  According to the above configuration, power is supplied from the lid side to the semiconductor laser chip. For this reason, it becomes possible to comprise the housing | casing in which a semiconductor laser chip is mounted with metal materials (for example, Cu etc.) with high heat conductivity. As a result, even when the semiconductor laser chip is a high-power chip, high heat exhaust performance is ensured through the housing.

  By the way, in the conventional semiconductor laser device 100 described above with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, the translucent plate 130 is disposed so as to be in contact with both the lid 120 and the housing 110 (see particularly FIG. 11). ). In order to realize this configuration, when the lid 120 is installed on the surface 111 of the housing 110, it is necessary to improve the alignment accuracy. If the position of the lid 120 is shifted, the translucent plate 130 cannot be correctly installed, and in this case, there is a possibility that the airtightness inside the housing 110 cannot be sufficiently secured. If sufficient airtightness inside the housing 110 cannot be ensured, dust and moisture may adhere to the end face of the semiconductor laser chip 140 and the light intensity may be reduced.

  Further, in the above-described conventional semiconductor laser device 100, it is necessary to finely process and mold the case 110 made of ceramics as shown in FIG. At the time of molding the ceramic, a firing step (for example, 1000 ° C. or more) is required. However, through this firing step and then a cooling step at room temperature, the shape is distorted, and each surface (111, 112) The flatness may not be ensured. For this reason as well, there is a possibility that sufficient airtightness inside the housing 110 cannot be ensured.

  On the other hand, according to the semiconductor laser device of the present invention, the lid is placed on one surface (first surface) of the housing, and the window including the translucent member is another surface (first surface) of the housing. 2). Therefore, unlike the conventional semiconductor laser device 100, there is another effect that the airtightness inside the housing can be secured without performing alignment with high accuracy. Further, since the casing can be formed of a metal material, it can be easily molded unlike ceramics.

  The semiconductor laser device may include a submount for mounting the semiconductor laser chip on a surface, and the submount may be mounted on an inner wall surface of the casing.

  According to such a configuration, the surface of the semiconductor laser chip can be substantially placed on the surface of the metal casing by configuring the submount to be thin. Thereby, high exhaust heat property is ensured.

The semiconductor laser device includes a support substrate,
The surface of the support substrate may be bonded to any one of the surfaces of the housing except the first surface and the second surface.

  According to the above configuration, since one surface of the metal housing and one surface of the support substrate can be bonded, the support substrate is also made of a material having a high thermal conductivity like the housing, so that the semiconductor laser chip Can be efficiently exhausted to the support substrate side through the housing. In this case, the support substrate has both a function of supporting the housing and a function of exhausting heat generated by the semiconductor laser chip.

  The semiconductor laser device may be configured such that a plurality of the housings housing the semiconductor laser chips are arranged on a plane. At this time, a plurality of the casings may be arranged on the surface of the support substrate.

  According to such a configuration, since each casing is made of a metal material, heat generated from the semiconductor laser chip accommodated in each casing can be efficiently exhausted. Thereby, a small semiconductor laser device capable of emitting light having high irradiance is realized.

  The semiconductor laser device may be configured such that a single semiconductor laser chip is accommodated inside the housing.

  The semiconductor laser chip may include a light emission region that emits light in a direction orthogonal to the second surface.

  According to the present invention, a small-sized semiconductor laser device that can ensure high heat exhaustion while mounting a high-power semiconductor laser chip is realized.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an overall structure of an embodiment of a semiconductor laser device of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows typically the semiconductor laser apparatus of the state which removed the 1st translucent board from FIG. It is the typical perspective view which extracted and illustrated the semiconductor laser unit contained in the semiconductor laser apparatus of this invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view when the semiconductor laser unit shown in FIG. 3 is viewed in the −Z direction. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view when the semiconductor laser unit shown in FIG. 3 is viewed in the X direction. It is typical sectional drawing when a semiconductor laser unit is cut | disconnected by the X1-X1 line | wire in FIG. It is the perspective view which decomposed | disassembled and showed typically the component of a semiconductor laser unit. It is a perspective view which shows typically the housing | casing which is one of the components of a semiconductor laser unit. It is a perspective view which shows typically the structure of the conventional semiconductor laser apparatus. FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing a structure in a state where a lid and a light transmitting plate are removed from the semiconductor laser device shown in FIG. 9. It is typical sectional drawing when a semiconductor laser apparatus is cut | disconnected by the A1-A1 line | wire in FIG.

  An embodiment of a semiconductor laser device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following drawings are only schematically shown, and the dimensional ratio on the drawing does not necessarily match the actual dimensional ratio.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the overall structure of an embodiment of a semiconductor laser device. The semiconductor laser device 1 includes a support substrate 2, a first light transmission plate 3 for extracting light, and a frame 4 formed so as to cover the whole from the side. A plurality of semiconductor laser chips 40 (see FIG. 7), which will be described later, are mounted inside the frame body 4, and laser light L 1 emitted from each semiconductor laser chip 40 passes through the first light transmitting plate 3. It is taken out of the device.

  Below, it demonstrates using the XYZ coordinate system illustrated in FIG. 1 as needed. The support substrate 2 and the first light transmission plate 3 are both arranged such that the main surface is parallel to the XY plane, and the laser beam L1 is in a direction (Z direction) orthogonal to the XY plane. It is assumed that it is taken out.

  The support substrate 2 has a function of exhausting heat generated from the semiconductor laser chip 40 in addition to a function of supporting the plurality of semiconductor laser chips 40 (see FIG. 7), and is a material exhibiting high thermal conductivity. Is desirable. As an example, the support substrate 2 is made of a metal material such as Cu, Cu alloy, or Al, and has a thickness of, for example, 0.3 mm or more and 2 mm or less, and preferably 0.5 mm or more and 1 mm or less.

  The first light transmissive plate 3 may be made of a material having high transparency with respect to the laser light L1, and is made of, for example, borosilicate glass. The frame 4 can be made of any material, but is made of, for example, a ceramic material or a glass epoxy resin in view of ease of handling during processing.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the semiconductor laser device 1 with the first light transmitting plate 3 removed from FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor laser device 1 includes a plurality of semiconductor laser units 10 arranged on an XY plane. Each semiconductor laser unit 10 includes a semiconductor laser chip 40 (see FIG. 7) described later. 2 shows an example in which the laser light emitted from each semiconductor laser unit 10 is guided to the first light transmitting plate 3 (see FIG. 1) via the lens member 11. In FIG. 2, illustration of some lens members 11 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the semiconductor laser unit 10 included in the semiconductor laser device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the semiconductor laser unit 10 according to the present embodiment extracted. 4 is a schematic plan view when the semiconductor laser unit 10 shown in FIG. 3 is viewed in the −Z direction. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the semiconductor laser unit 10 shown in FIG. 3 when viewed in the X direction.

  6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the semiconductor laser unit 10 taken along line X1-X1 in FIG. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing components of the semiconductor laser unit 10. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing only the housing 20 that is one component of the semiconductor laser unit 10.

  The semiconductor laser unit 10 includes a housing 20, a lid 30, and a window portion 50, and a semiconductor laser chip 40 is accommodated inside the housing 20. The semiconductor laser chip 40 is an element that can emit the laser light L1 with an output of, for example, 0.5 W or more. In the present embodiment, the wavelength of the laser light L1 emitted from the semiconductor laser chip 40 is not limited, but is visible light, for example.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the housing 20 is a first surface 21 having a first opening 21 a and a surface adjacent to the first surface 21 and having a second opening 22 a. It is a hollow member covered with an outer surface including the surface 22. Here, the first surface 21 will be described as a surface parallel to the YZ plane, and the second surface 22 will be described as a surface parallel to the XY plane.

  The housing | casing 20 consists of a metal material which shows high heat conductivity. Examples of such a metal material include Cu, Cu alloy, and Al, and Cu is particularly preferable. The dimensions of the housing 20 are, for example, 2 mm or more and 5 mm or less in the X direction, 2 mm or more and 5 mm or less in the Y direction, and 1.5 mm or more and 5 mm or less in the Z direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3-7, the cover body 30 is installed on the 1st surface 21 of the housing | casing 20 so that the 1st opening part 21a may be obstruct | occluded. The lid 30 is made of an insulating material, and for example, a ceramic material such as Al ₂ O ₃ or AlN is used. More specifically, the lid 30 and the housing 20 are fixedly bonded to each other through a solder material (not shown) formed on the first surface 21 of the housing 20. The thickness (X direction) of the lid body 30 is, for example, 0.3 mm or more and 1 mm or less.

  Electrode portions (31, 31) made of a conductive material are formed on a partial upper surface of the lid 30. The electrode portions (31, 31) are formed so as to penetrate the lid body 30 in the thickness direction (X direction), and are exposed on the opposite surface (surface on the housing 20 side). The electrode parts (31, 31) exposed on the surface on the housing 20 side are connected to the power supply terminals (32, 32). The electrode portions (31, 31) are made of, for example, Au plating.

  The semiconductor laser chip 40 is fixedly bonded onto the submount 45 via a solder layer 46 made of, for example, Au—Sn. Conductive layers (47, 47) are formed on the surface of the submount 45 so as to be electrically separated from each other. These conductive layers (47, 47) are in contact with the power supply terminals (32, 32). One conductive layer 47 is connected to a wire 41 connected to the semiconductor laser chip 40. Thus, when a voltage is applied to the electrode portions (31, 31), a current is supplied to the semiconductor laser chip 40. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the submount 45 is placed on the inner wall surface 23 of the housing 20.

  In this embodiment, the inner wall surface 23 of the housing | casing 20 is comprised by the surface parallel to a YZ plane. The semiconductor laser chip 40 is, for example, 50 μm or more and 500 μm or less in the Y direction (short direction), 1 mm or more and 2 mm or less in the Z direction (longitudinal direction), and 50 μm in the X direction (thickness direction). As mentioned above, it is 200 micrometers or less. The submount 45 is 0.2 mm or more and 3 mm or less in the Y direction, 1 mm or more and 3 mm or less in the Z direction, and 100 μm or more and 500 μm or less in the X direction (thickness direction).

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the semiconductor laser unit 10 of the present embodiment, the window portion 50 is configured by only a light transmissive member 51. For the translucent member 51, for example, a glass material such as borosilicate glass, silicate glass, or quartz glass is preferably used. And the translucent member 51 which comprises the window part 50 is installed so that a part may oppose the 2nd opening part 22a.

  In addition, the window part 50 may be provided with structural members (for example, spacer etc.) other than the translucent member 51 separately from the example shown in FIG. In this case, for example, the second surface 22 of the housing 20 is in contact with a spacer, and the light-transmissive member 51 can be installed on the surface of the spacer.

  In such a configuration, when a voltage is applied to the electrode portions (31, 31), a current is supplied to the semiconductor laser chip 40, and when a current amount exceeding the threshold current is supplied, the end face of the semiconductor laser chip 40 ( Laser light L1 is emitted in the Z direction from the light emission region (emitter). The laser light L1 is extracted to the outside of the semiconductor laser unit 10 through the second opening 22a and the translucent member 51. As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser light L <b> 1 emitted from each semiconductor laser unit 10 passes through the lens member 11 and the first light-transmitting plate 3 to the outside of the semiconductor laser device 1. To be taken out.

  According to the semiconductor laser device 1 described above, power is supplied to each semiconductor laser unit 10 from the lid 30 side. Therefore, the semiconductor laser unit 10 (and the submount 45) can be placed on the surface 23 made of a conductive material. That is, as described above with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the surface 23 is used as the inner wall of the metal housing 20, so that heat generated from the semiconductor laser chip 40 can be transferred through the housing 20 to the support substrate 2. Heat can be efficiently exhausted to the side. In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, by joining one surface of the housing 20 to the surface of the support substrate 2, the heat generated from the semiconductor laser chip 40 can be more efficiently exhausted to the outside. .

  Furthermore, since the housing | casing 20 can be comprised with a metal material, it can be easily shape | molded, for example in the shape as shown in FIG. Since the surface (first surface 21) of the housing 20 on which the lid 30 is placed and the surface (second surface 22) of the housing 20 on which the window portion 50 is placed are different, the housing 20 In order to ensure the airtightness of the interior of the slab, it is only necessary to perform independent positioning on each surface, and the positioning accuracy is not required as compared with the prior art.

[Another embodiment]
Hereinafter, another embodiment of the semiconductor laser device according to the present invention will be described.

  <1> In the above embodiment, the case where one semiconductor laser chip 40 is mounted in each housing 20 has been described as an example. However, a plurality (for example, 2 to 5) of semiconductor laser chips 40 may be mounted in each housing 20.

  In the above embodiment, the case where a plurality of semiconductor laser units 10 are arranged in a plane has been described with reference to FIG. However, the present invention does not exclude the case where the semiconductor laser device 1 includes only a single semiconductor laser unit 10.

  <2> The structure of the semiconductor laser device 1 described above with reference to the drawings is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated structure. For example, the following modifications are possible.

  The semiconductor laser device 1 may be configured without the first light transmitting plate 3 or may be configured without the lens member 11. In addition, the semiconductor laser device 1 may include a reflecting member such as a mirror as appropriate so that the light extraction direction may be a direction other than the Z direction.

  <3> In the above embodiment, the case where the outer shape of the housing 20 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape has been described. However, the shape is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped as long as it is a polyhedron having four or more planes.

1: Semiconductor laser device of the present invention 2: Support substrate 3: First light-transmitting plate 4: Frame 10: Semiconductor laser unit 11: Lens member 20: Housing 21: First surface 21a of housing: First opening 22: Second surface of the housing 22a: Second opening 23: Inner wall surface of the housing 30: Lid 31: Electrode portion 32: Feed terminal 40: Semiconductor laser chip 41: Wire 45: Submount 46: Solder layer 47 : Conductive layer 50: Window 51: Translucent member 100: Conventional semiconductor laser device 110: Housing 111, 112, 114: Housing surface 120: Lid 121: Lid surface 130: Translucent plate 140: Semiconductor laser chip 141: Wire 151, 152: Adhesive layer 160: Electrode L1: Laser light

Claims (6)

A hollow metal housing which is covered with an outer surface including a first surface having a first opening and a second surface adjacent to the first surface and having a second opening. When,
A semiconductor laser chip housed inside the housing;
A lid made of an insulating material placed on the upper surface of the first surface so as to close the first opening;
A window part placed on the upper surface of the second surface so that at least a part of the light transmissive member is opposed to the second opening part.
A conductive material formed so as to pass through the lid and communicate between a portion of the surface of the lid on the housing side and a portion of the surface of the lid opposite to the housing. An electrode part made of a material;
A semiconductor laser device comprising: a power supply terminal for electrically connecting the electrode portion exposed on the housing side surface of the lid and the semiconductor laser chip. A submount for mounting the semiconductor laser chip on a surface;
The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein the submount is placed on an inner wall surface of the housing. With a support substrate,
The surface of the said support substrate and any one surface except the said 1st surface and the said 2nd surface of the surfaces of the said housing | casing are joined, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Semiconductor laser device.   The semiconductor laser device according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of the housings housing the semiconductor laser chips are arranged on a plane on the surface of the support substrate.   5. The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein a single semiconductor laser chip is accommodated inside the housing. 6.   The semiconductor laser device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor laser chip includes a light emission region that emits light in a direction orthogonal to the second surface.

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