KR20210141092A - Surface-emtting laser device, camera module, and arrangement method of emitter array - Google Patents

Abstract

A surface-emitting laser device disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention includes an emitter array in which a plurality of emitters are arranged; and at least one pad disposed outside the emitter array and coupled to at least one of the plurality of emitters. The emitters of the emitter array may have an opening part and are spaced apart from each other. Adjacent emitters or opening parts disposed in at least one of the central portion, middle portion, and peripheral portion of the emitter array may include a non-linearly varying interval.

Description

Arrangement method of surface light emitting laser device, camera module and emitter array

An embodiment of the invention relates to a camera module having the surface emitting laser device.

The camera module captures an object and stores it as an image or video, and is installed in various applications. In particular, the camera module is manufactured in a very small size and can be applied to portable devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, and laptops, and mobile objects such as drones and vehicles.

Recently, the demand and supply of 3D content is increasing. Accordingly, various technologies that can grasp 3D content by grasping depth information using a camera are being researched and developed. For example, a technology that can determine depth information includes a technology using a stereo camera, a technology using a structured light camera, a technology using a depth from defocus (DFD) camera, and a time of flight (TOF) camera. There are technologies using modules.

First, a technology using a stereo camera generates depth information using a difference in distance, spacing, etc. that occurs in the left and right parallax of an image received through a plurality of cameras, for example, each camera disposed on the left and right sides. it's technology

In addition, the technology using a structured light camera is a technology that generates depth information using a light source arranged to form a set pattern, and the technology using a DFD (Depth from defocus) camera is a technology using the blur It is a technology for generating depth information using a plurality of images having different focal points captured in a scene.

In addition, the TOF (Time of Flight) camera is a technology for generating depth information by calculating the distance to the object by measuring the time when light emitted from a light source toward the object is reflected by the object and returns to the sensor. Such a TOF camera has recently attracted attention because it has the advantage of acquiring depth information in real time.

An embodiment of the invention provides a surface emitting laser device having a plurality of emitters for irradiating light toward an object.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a surface emitting laser device having an interval between a plurality of emitters that is non-linearly changed for each region.

An embodiment of the present invention may provide a surface emitting laser device in which a non-linear spacing between emitters arranged in a center region among a plurality of emitters is wider than a non-linear spacing between emitters arranged in a peripheral region.

An embodiment of the present invention can provide a surface emitting laser device and a camera module having the same, in which the density of emitters is lowered in the center region than in the peripheral region to cope with distortion caused by the lens.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a surface emitting laser device and a camera module having the same, so that the center of distortion can be positioned within the array of emitters by making the lens distortion of light emitted from the emitters correspond to the arrangement of the emitters can do.

An embodiment of the present invention can provide a surface emitting laser device having a plurality of emitters having a wide central interval and a narrow peripheral interval, and a distance measuring device having the same.

A surface emitting laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an emitter array in which a plurality of emitters are arranged; and at least one pad disposed outside the emitter array and coupled to at least one of the plurality of emitters, wherein the emitters of the emitter array have an opening and are spaced apart from each other, the central portion of the emitter array; Adjacent emitters or openings disposed in at least one of the middle portion and the periphery may include a non-linearly varying spacing.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, adjacent emitters or openings disposed in each of the central part, the middle part, and the peripheral part of the emitter array may include a non-linearly changing interval.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the non-linearly changing distance may decrease the average distance between adjacent emitters or openings.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the central portion and the peripheral portion may include a linearly decreasing interval.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the middle part may include a linearly decreasing distance in a region adjacent to the central part and a non-linearly decreasing distance in the center of the middle part.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the middle portion may include a linearly decreasing distance in a region adjacent to the peripheral portion.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the emitters or openings of the emitter array may be non-linearly reduced in a row or column direction from the center toward both sides.

A camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a light source unit having the surface-emitting laser device and a light emitting unit having a lens unit on the light source unit; and a light receiving unit configured to receive light scattered or reflected from an object by driving the emitters of the light source to emit light in the irradiated infrared region.

A method of arranging an emitter array of a surface emitting laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: setting coordinate positions of each emitter of an emitter array in which emitters having a predetermined interval are arranged; converting the coordinates of each emitter into radial coordinates based on the center of the emitter array; Normalizing the coordinates of all emitters by setting a diagonal end to 1 in the center of the emitter array; imparting to the normalized coordinates of each emitter a distortion in which a pitch between emitters is non-linearly reduced in a row or column direction from the center; The method may include arranging each of the emitters having the distortion by adjusting a ratio in a diagonal length.

The distortion imparting step gives a value corresponding to each of the coordinates of the normalized emitters from 0 to 1 of the center of the emitter array, and the radius coordinates are obtained as follows,

(x,y) is the coordinate of the emitter to be set, (x0,y0) is the center coordinate, and the distortion (r _distortion ) in the radius coordinate is obtained as follows,

The distortion may have a (-) sign, r _initial may be an initial coordinate, and 1 may be a diagonal length.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the emitters of the surface emitting laser device have distortion with non-uniform spacing, and it is possible to reduce a problem caused by distortion using a lens in the optical system through which the light of the emitter is projected.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the emitters of the surface emitting laser device may be disposed so that the distance at the center is wider than the distance at the periphery. Accordingly, it is possible to give the same effect as the distortion caused by the lens in the optical system to which the light of the emitter is projected.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the emitters of the surface emitting laser device may be disposed so that the density of the central portion is lower than the density of the peripheral portion. Accordingly, it is possible to replace or mix distortion caused by a lens in an optical system through which light is projected.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the emitter array is divided into at least three sections with concentric radii from the center to the edge of the edge, and in at least one of the separated sections, the distance between emitters or openings is non-linearly reduced. can be

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in a camera module having a surface-emitting laser device, a difference in luminous intensity due to a spot between the center and the periphery can be reduced.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect that the center of distortion between the array and the lens of the surface-emitting laser device can be implemented as the center of the array of emitters.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the emitters of the surface emitting laser device may be arranged so that the central portion is lower than the density of the peripheral portion. Accordingly, heat dissipation characteristics may be improved, and problems such as wavelength shift, reduction in light output, or modulation delay may be prevented.

It is possible to improve the reliability of the surface emitting laser device and the distance measuring device having the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The surface emitting laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied as a distance measuring device to a moving object such as a vehicle, a portable terminal, a camera, various information measuring devices, robots, computers, medical devices, home appliances, or wearables.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the light emitting unit of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is an example of a lens unit in the light emitting unit of FIG. 2 .
4 is a view illustrating a modified example of the light emitting unit of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 5 is an example of a lens unit and a lens driving unit in the light emitting unit of FIG. 4 .
6 is an example of a plan view illustrating an emitter array of a light source unit in FIGS. 2 to 5 .
7A, 7B and 7C are views illustrating the first area A1, the second area A2, and the third area A3 of FIG. 6 .
8 is a diagram illustrating a distortion shape of the emitter array of the light source unit of FIG. 6 .
9 is an example of a cross-sectional side view of an emitter of the surface emitting laser device of FIG. 6 .
10 is a waveform diagram illustrating an optical signal generated by a light source unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a view for explaining a lens unit to which distortion aberration is applied according to a modified example of the present invention.
12A and 12B are diagrams illustrating examples of flood lighting and spot lighting projected from a light emitting unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
13 is a diagram illustrating an example of arrangement of emitters and a connection form thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a distortion shape of a driving and optical system according to the arrangement of the emitters of FIG. 13 .
15 is a diagram illustrating another arrangement of emitters and an example of a connection form thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention.
16 and 17 are examples of diagrams illustrating examples of driving by region of emitters according to an embodiment of the present invention.
18 is an arrangement example of an emitter array without distortion according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 19 is a graph showing a distortion pattern of the emitter array of FIG. 18 by an optical system;
20 is an example of an emitter array method having distortion in an emitter array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
21 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of an emitter array having distortion and an optical system according thereto according to an embodiment of the present invention.
22 is a view illustrating distortion by a lens unit and an optical system according thereto according to another embodiment of the present invention.
23 is an example of a portable terminal having a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The technical spirit of the present invention is not limited to some embodiments described, but may be implemented in various different forms, and within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention, one or more of the components between the embodiments are selectively combined , can be used as a substitute. In addition, terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the embodiments of the present invention may be generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains, unless specifically defined and described. It may be interpreted as a meaning, and generally used terms such as terms defined in advance may be interpreted in consideration of the contextual meaning of the related art. In addition, the terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are for describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, the singular form may also include the plural form unless otherwise specified in the phrase, and when it is described as "at least one (or more than one) of A and (and) B, C", it is combined as A, B, C It can contain one or more of all possible combinations. In addition, in describing the components of the embodiment of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the essence, order, or order of the component is not determined by the term. And, when it is described that a component is 'connected', 'coupled' or 'connected' to another component, the component is not only directly connected, coupled or connected to the other component, but also with the component It may also include a case of 'connected', 'coupled' or 'connected' due to another element between the other elements. In addition, when it is described as being formed or disposed on "above (above) or below (below)" of each component, the top (above) or bottom (below) is one as well as when two components are in direct contact with each other. Also includes a case in which another component as described above is formed or disposed between two components. In addition, when expressed as “upper (upper) or lower (lower)”, a meaning of not only an upper direction but also a lower direction based on one component may be included.

<Example>

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a camera module according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of the light emitting unit of FIG. 1 , FIG. 3 is an example of a lens unit in the light emitting unit of FIG. 2 , FIG. 4 is It is a view showing another example of the light emitting unit of FIG. 1 , FIG. 5 is an example of a lens unit and a lens driving unit in the light emitting unit of FIG. 4 , and FIG. 6 is an example of a plan view showing an emitter array of the light source unit in FIGS. 2 to 5 7(a)(b)(c) are views showing the first area A1, the second area A2, and the third area A3 of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is the light source unit of FIG. It is a view showing the distortion form of the emitter array of , and FIG. 9 is an example of a side cross-sectional view of the emitter of the surface-emitting laser device of FIG. 6 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , the camera module 10 may be a module for irradiating light for detecting 3D information, such as distance information on an object 20 located in front, and obtaining the irradiated light in real time. Here, the 3D information may include an image having 3D depth information or distance information using a Time of Filght (ToF) function. For example, the camera module 10 may be applied to a portable terminal, an unmanned vehicle, an autonomous vehicle, a robot, a drone, a medical device, and the like. The camera module 10 may include a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device, a sensing device, or an imaging module.

The camera module 10 includes a light emitting unit 100 irradiating light toward an object 20 , a light receiving unit 200 receiving light reflected from the object 20 , and the light emitting unit 100 and light receiving A control unit 300 for controlling the unit 200 may be included. The light emitting unit 100 may be a unit that generates an optical signal and then outputs the generated optical signal to the object 20 . The light emitting unit 100 may include an emitter array capable of generating light, such as an emitter, and a configuration for outputting light by performing amplitude modulation or phase modulation on an optical signal. The optical signal may be in the form of a pulse or a continuous wave such as a sinusoid wave, a square wave, or a pulse wave.

The optical signal generated by the light emitting unit 100 may be output with a distorted path. The optical path of the optical signal may be projected as distorted illumination according to a preset distortion aberration.

The light emitting unit 100 may output an optical signal of various light patterns, for example, may output an optical signal of a surface illumination pattern or output an optical signal of a spot illumination pattern. The light emitting unit 100 may include a structure capable of changing an optical path of an optical signal according to a control signal of the control unit 300 .

The light output from the light emitting unit 100 may be an output light or an output signal based on the camera module 10 . The light output from the light emitting unit 100 may be incident light or an incident signal with respect to the object 20 .

The light emitting unit 100 may irradiate the optical signal to the object 20 for a predetermined exposure period (integration time). Here, the exposure period may mean one frame period. For example, when the frame rate of the camera module 10 is 30 frames per second (FPS), the period of one frame may be 1/30 second.

Here, FIG. 10 is an example of a waveform diagram for explaining an optical signal generated by the light emitting unit. As shown in (a) of FIG. 10 , the light emitting unit 100 may generate a light pulse at a constant period. The light emitting unit 100 may generate an optical pulse having a predetermined pulse width tpulse with a predetermined _{pulse repetition period t modulation.}

As shown in FIG. 10B , the light emitting unit 100 may generate one phase pulse by grouping a predetermined number of light pulses. The light emitting unit 100 may generate a phase pulse having a predetermined phase pulse period (t _phase ) and a predetermined phase pulse width (t _exposure , t _illumination , t _integration ). Here, one phase pulse period (tphase) may correspond to one subframe. A sub-frame may be referred to as a phase frame. The phase pulse period may be grouped into a predetermined number. A method of grouping four phase pulse periods (t _phase ) may be referred to as a 4-phase method. Grouping eight periods (t _phase ) may be referred to as an 8-phase scheme.

As shown in FIG. 10C , the light emitting unit 100 may generate one frame pulse by grouping a predetermined number of phase pulses. The light emitting unit 100 may generate a frame pulse having a predetermined frame pulse period (t _frame ) and a predetermined frame pulse width (tphase group (sub-frame group)). Here, one frame pulse period (t _frame ) may correspond to one frame. Accordingly, when an object is photographed at 10 FPS, a frame pulse period (t _frame ) of 10 times per second may be repeated. In the 4-pahse scheme, one frame may include four subframes. That is, one frame may be generated through four sub-frames. In the 8-phase scheme, one frame may include 8 subframes. That is, one frame may be generated through 8 sub-frames.

The light emitting unit 100 may output a plurality of optical signals having the same frequency or different frequencies. For example, the light emitting unit 100 may repeatedly output a plurality of optical signals having different frequencies according to a predetermined rule. The light emitting unit 100 may simultaneously output a plurality of optical signals having different frequencies.

The light receiving unit 200 may be disposed adjacent to the position of the light emitting unit 100 . For example, the light receiving unit 200 may be disposed side by side with the light emitting unit 100 . The light receiving unit 200 may detect the light reflected by the object 20 . In detail, the light receiving unit 200 may detect light projected from the light emitting unit 100 to the object 20 and reflected through the object 20 . The light receiving unit 200 may detect light of a wavelength band corresponding to the light emitted by the light emitting unit 100 .

The optical signal reflected from the object 20 may pass through the lens assembly of the light receiving unit 200 . The optical axis of the lens assembly may be aligned with the optical axis of the sensor. A filter may be disposed between the lens assembly and the sensor. A filter may be disposed on the optical path between the object and the sensor. The filter may filter light having a predetermined wavelength range. A filter may transmit a specific wavelength band of light. A filter can pass light of a specific wavelength. For example, the filter may pass light in the wavelength band of the optical signal output from the light emitting unit 100 . The filter may pass light in the infrared band and block light outside the infrared band. Alternatively, the filter may pass visible light and block light of a wavelength other than visible light.

The sensor of the light receiving unit 200 may sense light. The sensor may receive an optical signal. The sensor may be an image sensor that senses an optical signal. The sensor may detect the optical signal and output it as an electrical signal. The sensor may detect light having a wavelength corresponding to the wavelength of light output from the light emitting device. The sensor may detect light in the infrared band. Alternatively, the sensor may detect light in a visible ray band. The sensor includes a pixel array that converts light passing through the lens assembly into a corresponding electric signal, a driving circuit that drives a plurality of pixels included in the pixel array, and a readout circuit that reads analog pixel signals of each pixel can do. The readout circuit may generate a digital pixel signal (or an image signal) through analog-to-digital conversion by comparing the analog pixel signal with a reference signal. Here, the digital pixel signal of each pixel included in the pixel array constitutes an image signal, and as the image signal is transmitted in units of frames, it may be defined as an image frame. That is, the image sensor may output a plurality of image frames.

The control unit 300 may be connected to the light emitting unit 100 and the light receiving unit 200 to control driving. The control unit 300 may control the driving of the light emitting unit 100 according to the size, position, shape, etc. of the object 20 located in front of the camera module 10 . For example, the control unit 300 may control the intensity of the emitted light, the size of the light pattern, the shape of the light pattern, etc. according to the position of the object 20 .

The camera module 10 may be a Time of Flight (TOF) camera that emits light toward the object 20 and calculates depth information of the object based on a time or phase difference of light reflected by the object and returned. Accordingly, the control unit 300 may generate an image based on the electric signal generated by the light receiving unit 200 . The control unit 300 may generate a sub-frame image from an electrical signal generated for each phase pulse period. In addition, the control unit 300 may generate one frame image from a plurality of sub-frame images generated during the frame pulse period. Also, the control unit 300 may generate a single high-resolution image through a plurality of sub-frame images or a plurality of frame images. For example, the control unit 300 may generate a high-resolution image through a super resolution (SR) technique.

In addition, although not shown in the drawings, the camera module 10 may further include a coupling part (not shown) and a connection part (not shown). The coupling unit may be connected to an optical device to be described later. The coupling part may include a circuit board and a terminal disposed on the circuit board. For example, the terminal may be a connector for physical and electrical connection with the optical device. The connection part may be disposed between the substrate and the coupling part of the camera module 10, which will be described later. The connection part may connect the substrate and the coupling part. For example, the connection part may include a flexible PCB (FBCB), and may electrically connect the substrate and the circuit board of the coupling part. Here, the substrate may be at least one of a first substrate of the light emitting unit 100 and a second substrate of the light receiving unit 200 .

2 and 3 , the light emitting unit 100 may output an optical signal to various irradiation areas. The light emitting unit 100 includes a light source unit 110 having an emitter array, a lens unit 120 , and a driving unit 140 , and drives the emitter array in an entire area or an individual area to emit optical signals to various irradiation areas. can be printed out. The light emitting unit 100 may include an emitter array for changing an irradiation area according to a control signal. The light source unit 110 includes an emitter array in which a plurality of emitters are arranged, the emitters may be partially or entirely driven by the driving unit 140 , and the lens unit 120 includes at least one lens. Alternatively, a plurality of lenses may be included, and the light incident from the light source unit 110 may be refracted and focused toward the object 20 .

The light source unit 110 includes an edge emitting laser, a vertical-cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), a distributed feedback laser, and an organic light emitting diode (OLED). Emitting diode) or a laser diode (LD) may include at least one light emitting device. The light source unit 110 will be described as an example, for example, a surface-emitting laser device.

The light source unit 110 may include a plurality of emitters. For example, when the plurality of emitters are disposed, each of the plurality of emitters may include a region through which light is emitted, for example, at least one aperture for light emission. Accordingly, the light source unit 110 may emit light in a set direction.

The light source unit 110 may emit light of a set wavelength band. In detail, the light source unit 110 may emit visible light or infrared light. For example, the light source unit 110 may emit visible light in a wavelength band of about 380 nm to about 700 nm. In addition, the light source unit 110 may emit infrared light in a wavelength band of about 700 nm to about 1.1 mm.

The lens unit 120 may include a stacked structure of one or more solid lenses and/or at least one liquid lens and a housing for accommodating the lens(s). The solid lens may be made of glass or plastic. The lens unit 120 may control the path of light emitted from the light source unit 110 , and may diffuse, scatter, refract, or condense light, for example.

The lens unit 120 may include a collimator lens. Here, collimating may mean reducing a divergence angle of light, and ideally may mean making light travel in parallel without converging or diverging. That is, the collimator lens may focus the light emitted from the light source unit 110 as parallel light. The lens unit 120 converts the light emitted through the plurality of emitters into flood illumination (R50, (a) of FIG. 12) or spot illumination (R52, (b) of FIG. 12). It can focus

In addition, the lens unit 120 may prevent the light emitted from the light source unit 110 from being directly irradiated to the object. For example, the lens unit 120 may control the light emitted from the light source unit 110 to prevent the light from being directly irradiated to a light-sensitive area, such as a human eye or skin.

In addition, the lens unit 120 may improve the uniformity of the light emitted from the light source unit 110 . In addition, the lens unit 120 may prevent the formation of a hot spot where light is concentrated in a place where the emitter of the light source unit 110 is disposed, for example, in a region corresponding to the opening of the emitter. .

The driving unit 140 may control the driving of the light source unit 110 . The driving unit 140 may control region driving or overall driving of the emitters of the light source unit 110 .

4 and 5 are modified examples of the light emitting unit. The light emitting unit 100 may include a light source unit 110 , a lens unit 120 and a driving unit 140 , a lens driving unit 130 , and a movable control unit 135 . Among these configurations, the same configuration as described above will be referred to in the above description.

The lens driving unit 130 may vertically move the lens unit 120 or some lenses of the lens unit 120 . In detail, the lens driving unit 130 may move the lens in the optical axis OA direction according to a control signal of the movable control unit 135 .

The lens driving unit 130 may include at least one actuator. For example, the actuator of the lens driving unit 130 may control the position of the lens by using the electromagnetic force of a voice coil motor (VCM). The actuator may include a piezo-electric device or a shape memory alloy, and the position of the lens may be controlled by using a physical change of the element.

The lens driving unit 130 may control a distance between the light source unit 110 and the lens. For example, the lens driving unit 130 may move the lens on the light source unit 110 . The lens driver 130 may move the lens along the optical axis OA of the light source 110 . Accordingly, the distance between the lens and the light source unit 110 may increase or decrease. Also, when the lens unit 120 includes a plurality of lenses, the lens driving unit 130 may move at least one lens among the plurality of lenses. In this case, the distance between the plurality of lenses may increase or decrease. Accordingly, the light projected to the lens unit 120 through the light source unit 110 can adjust the spot size from flood illumination to spot illumination.

The light source unit 110 is employed in a camera module, for example, a camera module for 3D image sensing. For example, the camera module for 3D image sensing may be a camera capable of capturing depth information of an object. On the other hand, for depth sensing of the camera module, a separate sensor is mounted, and it is divided into two types: a structured light (SL) method and a time of flight (ToF) method. In the structured light (SL) method, after irradiating a laser of a specific pattern to the subject, the depth is calculated based on the degree of pattern deformation according to the shape of the subject surface, and then combined with the image taken by the image sensor to create a three-dimensional image. You get the shooting result. In contrast, the ToF method calculates the depth by measuring the time the laser reflects off the subject and returns, and then combines it with the image taken by the image sensor to obtain a 3D shooting result. Accordingly, the SL method has the advantage of mass production in that it relies on an improved image sensor, while the SL method requires the laser to be positioned very accurately, while the ToF technology has an advantage in mass production. may be

The ToF has a direct/in-direct type, and the indirect type measures a distance using a phase difference between emitted light and received light, and modulates the light source of a surface emitting laser device (VCSEL) to turn on at a predetermined cycle. Off may be driven to be repeated. Here, the pixel of the sensor may include a pixel that is turned on/off in the same period as the light source and a pixel that is turned on/off with a phase difference of 180 degrees. In the in-direct type, the distance is measured by detecting the phase difference, and when the phase difference is 0 and 360 degrees, the same distance can be recognized. For example, the first case with an object right in front of the light source and the second case with the same distance from the light source and the time when the light returns are equal to the cycle in which the phase changes by 360 degrees can be processed and recognized as the same distance . In the first case, the light emitted by the light source can be directly detected by the sensor without a phase difference, and in the second case, the phase difference between the light source and the reflected light received by the sensor becomes 360 degrees, so that the phase difference disappears again. Accordingly, the blinking cycle of the light source and the sensor must be adjusted according to the target distance. In particular, as the distance between the object and the object increases, the blinking cycle can be set longer (the modulation frequency is small).

As shown in FIG. 6 , the light source unit 110 may include a surface-emitting laser device having an emitter array 201 . The surface light emitting laser device includes a light emitting region R1 in which an emitter array 201 having openings is arranged, and one or a plurality of pads 101 and 102 or an upper pad disposed on or around an outer part of the light emitting region R1. may include The surface-emitting laser device has a lower electrode 215 ( FIG. 9 ), and the lower electrode 215 may be used as a common electrode. The emitter array 201 may include a plurality of emitters E1 and E2 arranged in a first direction (X) and a second direction (Y). Each of the plurality of emitters E1 and E2 may have an opening and may be spaced apart from each other.

When the plurality of emitters E1 and E2 are connected to any one of the pads 101 and 102 or driven by one of the pads 101 and 102, the pads 101 and 102 may be a single piece or may be electrically connected to each other. . When the plurality of emitters E1 and E2 are individually driven by different pads 101 and 102 , two or more of the pads 101 and 102 may be disposed at different positions.

The emitters E1 and E2 emit light through openings, and may emit light having a predetermined field of view (FOV). As another example, the surface light emitting laser device may include an emitter region for irradiating light having different angles of view or irradiating light for different zoom functions.

Referring to the emitter of the emitter array as shown in FIG. 9 , the emitter array 201 includes a lower electrode 215 , a substrate 210 , a first reflective layer 220 , a light emitting layer 230 , and an oxide layer 240 . , a second reflective layer 250 , a passivation layer 270 , and a first electrode 280 . The first electrode 280 may include a contact portion 282 and a connection portion 284 . The emitter array 201 may include a substrate 210 . The substrate 210 may be a conductive substrate or a non-conductive substrate. As the conductive substrate, a metal having excellent electrical conductivity may be used. Since the substrate 210 must be able to sufficiently dissipate heat generated during the operation of the emitter array 201 , a GaAs substrate or a metal substrate having high thermal conductivity may be used, or a silicon (Si) substrate may be used. The non-conductive substrate may be an AlN substrate, a sapphire (Al ₂ O ₃ ) substrate, or a ceramic-based substrate.

The lower electrode 215 may be disposed under the substrate 210 . The lower electrode 215 may be formed of a conductive material in a single layer or in multiple layers. For example, the lower electrode 215 may be a metal, and may include at least one of aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and gold (Au). It is formed in a single-layer or multi-layer structure, so that it is possible to increase the light output by improving electrical characteristics. The lower electrode 215 may be a common electrode or a cathode terminal commonly connected to the emitters.

The first reflective layer 220 may be disposed on the substrate 210 . When the substrate 210 is omitted to reduce the thickness, the lower surface of the first reflective layer 220 may be in contact with the upper surface of the lower electrode 215 . The first reflective layer 220 may be doped with a first conductivity type dopant. For example, the first conductivity-type dopant may include an n-type dopant such as Si, Ge, Sn, Se, Te, or the like. The first reflective layer 220 may include a gallium-based compound, for example, AlGaAs, but is not limited thereto. The first reflective layer 220 may be a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). For example, the first reflective layer 220 may have a structure in which first and second layers including materials having different refractive indices are alternately stacked at least once. The thickness of the layer in the first reflective layer 220 may be determined according to each refractive index and the wavelength of light emitted from the light emitting layer 230 .

The emission layer 230 may be disposed on the first reflective layer 220 . Specifically, the emission layer 230 may be disposed between the first reflective layer 220 and the second reflective layer 250 . The light emitting layer 230 may include an active layer and at least one cavity therein, and the active layer has a single well structure, a multi well structure, a single quantum well structure, a multi quantum well (MQW) structure, and a quantum dot structure. Or it may include any one of a quantum wire structure. The active layer may have a pair of InGaAs/AlxGaAs, AlGaInP/GaInP, AlGaAs/AlGaAs, AlGaAs/GaAs, GaAs/InGaAs, etc. using a Group 3-5 or Group 2-6 compound semiconductor material and be formed in a 1 to 3 pair structure. may, but is not limited thereto. The cavity may be formed of an Al _y Ga _(1-y) As (0<y<1) material, and may _{include a plurality of layers of Al y} Ga _(1-y) As, but is not limited thereto. does not

The oxide layer 240 may include an insulating region 242 and an opening 241 . The insulating region 242 may surround the opening 241 . For example, the opening 241 may be disposed on a light emitting region (center region) of the emission layer 230 , and the insulating region 242 may be disposed on a non-emission region (edge region) of the emission layer 230 . . The non-emissive area may surround the light-emitting area. The opening 241 may be a passage region through which current flows. The insulating region 242 may be a blocking region that blocks the flow of current. The insulating region 242 may be referred to as an oxide layer or an oxide layer. The oxide layer 240 restricts the flow or density of current so that a more concentrated laser beam is emitted, and thus may be referred to as a current confinement layer.

The amount of current supplied from the first electrode 280 to the emission layer 230, ie, a current density, may be determined by the size of the opening 241 . The size of the opening 241 may be determined by the insulating region 242 . As the size of the insulating region 242 increases, the size of the opening 241 decreases, and accordingly, the current density supplied to the light emitting layer 230 may increase. In addition, the opening 241 may be a passage through which the beam generated by the light emitting layer 230 travels in the upper direction, that is, in the direction of the second reflective layer 250 . That is, the divergence angle of the beam of the emission layer 230 may vary according to the size of the opening 241 .

The insulating region 242 may be formed of an insulating layer, for example, aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ). For example, when the oxide layer 240 includes aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs), the AlGaAs of the oxide layer 240 _{reacts with H 2} O to change the edge to aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) to form the insulating region 242 . ), and the _{central region that does not react with H 2} O may be an opening 241 including AlGaAs.

Light emitted from the light emitting layer 230 may be emitted to the upper region through the opening 241 , and the light transmittance of the opening 241 may be higher than that of the insulating region 242 . The insulating region 242 may include a plurality of layers, for example, at least one layer may include a group III-V or group II-VI compound semiconductor material.

/4n이고,

는 활성층에서 방출되는 광의 파장일 수 있고, n은 상술한 파장의 광에 대한 각 층의 굴절률일 수 있다. The second reflective layer 250 may be disposed on the oxide layer 240 . The second reflective layer 250 may include a gallium-based compound, for example, AlGaAs. The second reflective layer 250 may be doped with a second conductivity type dopant. The second conductivity-type dopant may be a p-type dopant such as Mg, Zn, Ca, Sr, or Ba. As another example, the first reflective layer 220 may be doped with a p-type dopant, and the second reflective layer 250 may be doped with an n-type dopant. The second reflective layer 250 may be a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). For example, the second reflective layer 250 may have a structure in which a plurality of layers including materials having different refractive indices are alternately stacked at least once or more. Each layer of the second reflective layer 250 may include AlGaAs, and specifically _{, a semiconductor material having a composition formula of Al x} Ga _(1-x) As (0<x<1) having a different composition of x. can be done Here, when Al increases, the refractive index of each layer may decrease, and when Ga increases, the refractive index of each layer may increase. The thickness of each layer of the second reflective layer 250 is

/4n,

may be a wavelength of light emitted from the active layer, and n may be a refractive index of each layer with respect to light of the above-described wavelength.

The second reflective layer 250 may be formed by alternately stacking layers, and the number of pairs of layers in the first reflective layer 220 is greater than the number of pairs of layers in the second reflective layer 250 . can be many Here, the reflectance of the first reflective layer 220 may be greater than that of the second reflective layer 250 .

Here, the layers from the first reflective layer 220 to the second reflective layer 250 may be defined as light emitting structures. The upper portion of the light emitting structure may be provided as an inclined side surface. An upper portion of the light emitting structure may be exposed to an inclined side surface by a mesa etching process.

The passivation layer 270 may be disposed around the upper portion of the light emitting structure. An upper portion of the light emitting structure may include, for example, a light emitting layer 230 , an oxide layer 240 , and a second reflective layer 250 . The passivation layer 270 may be disposed on the upper surface of the first reflective layer 220 . The passivation layer 270 may be disposed on an edge region of the second reflective layer 250 . When the light emitting structure is partially mesa-etched, a portion of the upper surface of the first reflective layer 220 may be exposed, and a portion of the light emitting structure may be disposed in a protruding form. The passivation layer 270 may be disposed on the periphery of a partial region of the light emitting structure and on the exposed upper surface of the first reflective layer 220 .

The passivation layer 270 may protect the light emitting structure from the outside and may block an electrical short between the first reflective layer 220 and the second reflective layer 250 . The passivation layer 270 may be formed of an insulating material or a dielectric material, for example, may be _{formed of an inorganic material such as SiO 2} , but is not limited thereto.

The first electrode 280 may include a contact portion 282 and a connection portion 284 connected to the contact portion 282 . The contact portion 282 may be in contact with a portion of the upper surface of the second reflective layer 250 . The contact portion 282 may be in ohmic contact with the second reflective layer 250 . The connection part 284 may connect the contact part 282 and the first pad ( 101 and/or 102 of FIG. 6 ), and may connect the adjacent emitter arrays 201 .

The contact portion 282 and the connection portion 284 may be formed of a conductive material. For example, the contact portion 282 and the connection portion 284 may include at least one of aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and gold (Au). It may be formed in a single-layer or multi-layer structure. The contact portion 282 and the connection portion 284 may be formed of the same metal or non-metal material, or may be formed of different materials.

The contact portion 282 may be in contact with the second reflective layer 250 at an outer periphery of the passivation layer 270 overlapping the opening 241 in a vertical direction. The contact portion 282 may be in contact with the second reflective layer 250 through the passivation layer 270 , and may be disposed in a loop shape or a closed loop shape around an upper portion of the second reflective layer 250 .

When viewed from a top view, each emitter may have the opening 241 disposed at the center thereof, and the insulating region 242 and the contact portion 282 may be disposed around the opening 241 .

Referring to FIG. 6 , in the surface emitting laser device, a horizontal length H1 may be greater than a vertical length V1 of the emission region R1 . The horizontal length H1 and the vertical length V1 may be provided as a light emitting area for a zoom area of 1x (1x) based on a field of view (FOV) of a predetermined angle. That is, the angle of view or the reference angle of view by the light irradiated by the light emitting region R1 may be, for example, 70 degrees or more, for example, 80 degrees to 90 degrees. The horizontal length H1 may be in the range of 1 mm or more, for example, 1.2 mm to 1.5 mm. The vertical length V1 may be in the range of 0.7 mm or more, for example, 0.7 mm to 1.2 mm. The ratio of the horizontal length H1 and the vertical length V1 may be 4:3 or a ratio of a:b, wherein a>b may be greater than one time than b. The emitters E1 and E2 may emit light in a range of 700 nm or more, for example, in a range of 700 nm to 1100 nm or in a range of 750 nm to 950 nm. The emitters E1 and E2 may emit the same peak wavelength. Here, a side having a long length with respect to the outside of the light emitting region R1 may be a long side, and a side having a short length may be a short side.

An embodiment of the invention is the batwing of the flood illumination in the optical system for switching the spot illumination (R52, Fig. 12 (b)) and the flood illumination (R50, Fig. 12 (a)) projected from the light emitting unit 100 (batwing) ), a method for imparting distortion by changing the spacing between emitters of the emitter array and/or distortion by the lens unit may be imparted. That is, the batwing may be caused by an optical arrangement in which the periphery of the emitter array is projected with a lower luminous intensity than the central portion. The distortion caused by the batwing may be imparted to the distortion by changing the coordinate positions of the emitters in the surface-emitting laser device, or the distortion may be given to the lens unit.

The emitter array 201 of the surface emitting laser device according to the embodiment of the present invention may be arranged in N rows and M columns of emitters E1 and E2, wherein N and M may be 10 or more, and N>M. can have a relationship. The emitters E1 and E2 may be non-uniformly arranged according to positions or regions. In the emitters E1 and E2 , an interval between the central portion Ra may be wider than that of the peripheral portion Rb. The central portion Ra is the center or optical axis position of the emission region R1 and the region of emitters adjacent thereto, and the peripheral portion Rb is an edge-side image disposed along the outer edge or outer side of the emission region R1. It may be a site and an area around it.

In the central portion Ra, a plurality of emitters may be arranged in a row and/or column direction. In the peripheral portion Rb, a plurality of emitters may be arranged in a row and/or column direction. The row direction may be a horizontal direction, the column direction may be a vertical direction, and a row or column direction may be a straight line in the central portion Ra, and a row or column direction may be a straight line or/and a curve in the peripheral portion Rb. may include

In the emitter array 201 , the middle portion Rc is disposed between the central portion Ra and the peripheral portion Rb, and a plurality of emitters may be arranged in a row and/or column direction. A row or column direction in the middle portion Rc may include a straight line and/or a curved line.

As a first example, the emitters E1 and E2 may be arranged at gradually wide and narrow intervals in the first direction X with respect to the center point Pc. The emitters E1 and E2 are arranged at wide intervals from the first short side Sv toward the center Ra, and gradually narrow from the center Ra toward the second short side opposite to the first short side. can be arranged.

The emitters E1 and E2 may be arranged at wide and narrow intervals in the second direction Y with respect to the center point Pc. The emitters E1 and E2 are arranged at wide intervals from the first long side Sh toward the center Ra, and gradually narrow at intervals from the center Ra toward the second long side opposite to the first long side. can be arranged.

The emitters E1 and E2 arranged in the third direction Z between the first direction X and the second direction Y have an edge portion Rb or each side Sv, Sh at the center Ra. ), the closer it is, the narrower it can be.

The emitters E1 and E2 are a first area A1 arranged to the diagonal end with respect to the center Ra, a second area A2 extending from the center Ra to the center of the short side Sv, and A third area A3 extending from the center Ra to the center of the long side Sh may be included.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 ( a ), emitters E1 and E2 are disposed around or around the center Ra in the first area A1 and are spaced apart from each other in the first or second direction. Alternatively, the pitch D1 of the openings may be greater than the pitch D2 of the emitters E1 and E2 or the openings adjacent to the peripheral portion Rb or the edge portion. In addition, the pitch D11 of the emitters E1 and E2 or the openings of the central portion Ra arranged in different rows or columns may be greater than the pitch D12 of the emitters E1 and D2 or the openings of the peripheral or edge portions. have. In addition, the pitch D11 of the emitters E1 and E2 or the openings disposed in the central portion Ra in the third direction is the pitch D12 of the emitters E1 and E2 or the openings disposed in the peripheral portion Rb. may be equal to or greater than The pitch is the distance between the centers of the openings of two adjacent emitters.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (b) , emitters E1 and E2 are disposed around or around the center Ra in the second area A2 and spaced apart in the first direction X. Alternatively, the pitch D1 of the openings may be greater than the pitch D13 of the emitters E1 and E2 or the openings adjacent to the peripheral portion Rb or the edge portion. The distance D4 between the opening and the opening of the two emitters E1 and E2 adjacent in the first direction X is smaller than the pitch D1 of the central portion Ra, and smaller than the pitch D13 of the peripheral portion Rb. can be large

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (c), emitters E1 and E2 are disposed around or around the center Ra in the third area A3 and spaced apart in the second direction Y. Alternatively, the pitch D1 between the openings may be greater than the pitch D14 between the emitters E1 and E2 adjacent to the peripheral portion Rb or the edge portion or the openings.

6 and 7(b)(c) , a pitch D1 between emitters or openings in the first and second directions (X,Y) in the central portion Ra may be the same as each other. A pitch D13 between emitters in the first direction (X) in the peripheral portion Rb may be smaller than a pitch (D14<D13) between emitters or openings in the second direction (Y).

For example, the central portion (Ra) is in the range of 20% or less than 30% of the center with respect to the radius from the center to the edge of the edge, and the middle portion (Rc) is in the range of 20% to 70% of the center. or 30% to 80%, and the peripheral portion Rb may be in a range of 70% to 100% or 80% to 100% based on the center.

As a second example, at least one of the central portion Ra, the middle portion Rc, and the peripheral portion Rb may include adjacent emitters or adjacent emitters in which the spacing between the openings is non-linearly reduced. The non-linearly decreasing interval may be continuously changed from the center toward each side or both sides.

A first interval (average interval a) between emitters or openings adjacent to the center of the central portion Ra may be linearly or non-linearly decreased. A second interval (average interval b) between emitters or openings adjacent to the middle portion Rc among the emitters in the central portion Ra may be non-linearly reduced. In the relationship of the average spacing a > the average spacing b, the distance between adjacent emitters may be non-linearly changed.

A third interval between adjacent emitters or openings in the entire region of the intermediate portion Rc may be non-linearly reduced. Specifically, the emitters or openings in the middle portion Rc are linearly or non-linearly reduced in spacing (average spacing c) in the region adjacent to the central portion Ra, and already at the center of the middle portion Rc. The spacing between emitters or openings (average spacing d) is reduced non-linearly, and the spacing between emitters or openings (average spacing e) in the region adjacent to the periphery Rc may be linearly or non-linearly decreased. . Here, looking at the third interval, it has a relationship of average interval c > average interval d> average interval e, and the difference between the average interval c and the average interval d is equal to or equal to the difference between the average interval d and the average interval e can be small

A fourth interval between the emitters or openings arranged in the peripheral portion Rb may be linearly and/or non-linearly reduced. The distance between the emitters or openings adjacent to the middle part Rc among the emitters in the peripheral part Rb (average spacing f) may be linearly or non-linearly reduced. Among the emitters in the periphery Rb, the distance between the emitters adjacent to the edge or the openings (average spacing g) may be linearly or non-linearly reduced. With the relationship of the average spacing f > the average spacing g, the distance between adjacent emitters may be non-linearly changed.

As shown in FIG. 8 , in the emitter array 201 , first and second emitters Pe1 and Pe4 disposed at both corners along the long side, and first and third emitters disposed at both corners along the short side ( In the case of Pe1 and Pe5), the first straight line Lx1 passing through the first emitter and the second emitter may be disposed inside the emitters Pe2 disposed between both corners of the long side Sh side. have. That is, the emitters Pe2 disposed at the outermost along the long side Sh may be disposed outside the first straight line Lx1. A second straight line Ly1 passing through the first emitter and the third emitter may be disposed inside the emitters Pe3 disposed between both corners of the short side Sv side. That is, the emitters Pe3 disposed at the outermost side along the short side Sv may be disposed outside the second straight line Ly1.

Line segments connecting the outermost emitters along the long side Sh may be provided in an outwardly convex curve. An imaginary line connecting the outermost emitters along the short side Sv may intersect the straight line and may be provided as a convex curve in an outward direction. This may be provided in the form of adjusting the distortion in each emitter coordinate with values converted into radial coordinates based on the center of the emitter array, but adjusting the ratio by the diagonal length of the emitter array.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the density of the center of the emitters may be lower than the density of the periphery based on the same area or size in the emitter array of the surface emitting laser device. Accordingly, it is possible to replace the distortion caused by the lens in the optical system to which the light is projected or to give the same effect.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 19 , when normalizing from the center Pc to the edge of the emitter array to 1, the central portion Ra may be the first section B1, and the middle portion Rc may be a second section B2, and the peripheral portion Rb may be a third section B3. The distortion curve may include a nonlinear function having a plurality of inflection points P1 and P2 from the center point P0 to the edge point P3. The inflection points P1 and P2 may be points at which an interval between emitters or openings disposed between adjacent sections B1, B2, and B3 is linearly or non-linearly changed. Here, the first section B1 has a nonlinear function curve between the points P0 and P1, and the second section B2 has a nonlinear function curve between the points P1 and P2, and the second section B2 has a nonlinear function curve between the points P1 and P2. The third section B3 may have a curve of a linear function and/or a non-linear function between the points P2 and P3.

The imaginary straight line C1 passing from the center point P0 to the corner point P3 may be greater than the slope of each of the straight lines P0-P1, P1-P2, and P2-P3 connecting the respective points. Also, the straight line C1 may be greater than the slope of the straight lines C2 and C3 connecting two different points P0-P2 and P1-P2. Based on these sections B1, B2, and B3, a change in the spacing between adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the second section B2 or the middle portion Rc is determined in the first section B1 or the central portion Ra. ) may be greater than the change in spacing between adjacent emitters or openings disposed in . A change in the spacing between adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the third section B3 or the peripheral portion Rb is a change in the spacing between adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the first section B1 or the central portion Ra. can be larger Here, the change in the interval may be a non-linear decreasing rate of change of the average distance.

In this way, the distance between the emitters of the emitter array 201 may be arranged differently depending on the area. For example, the pitch of emitters in the center may be wide and the pitch of emitters in the periphery may be narrow. That is, it is possible to gradually increase the pitch of the emitters in a radial form from the center. In this case, the standard is to normalize the diagonal length, which is the longest length direction from the center, to 1, so that distortion values are further allocated for each coordinate of the initial emitters.

For example, as shown in FIG. 20 , the position of each emitter is set based on the initial emitter array ( S100 ). In this case, the position of each emitter may be a coordinate value in which the emitters are spaced apart at a constant pitch. Then, the coordinates of each emitter are calculated as radius coordinates (r) based on the center of the initial emitter array (S110).

또는

로 구해질 수 있다. here,

or

can be saved with

The (x,y) is the emitter coordinate to be set, and (x0,y0) is the center coordinate.

In Figure 8, given the coordinates (x0,y0) of the central emitter and arbitrary emitter coordinates (x,y), (x0,y0) is (30,20), and (x,y) is In the case of (40,26), the radial coordinate r=11.66.

Then, by setting the diagonal end of the emitter array to 1, the coordinates of all emitters are normalized (S120), and distortion (r _distortion ) is shown in the coordinates of each normalized emitter (S130).

For example, r _initial is the coordinates of the initial emitter, and %distortion can be the distortion value. For example, when there is a distortion of 14%, a distortion coordinate of 1.14 may be assigned to the initial emitter coordinates. Here, since the distortion has a (-) sign, a value corresponding to the coordinates normalized from the center (or 0) to the edge (or 1) can be obtained. When the distortion value for each emitter coordinate is obtained, the ratio can be adjusted to the diagonal length of the emitter array (S140).

In this way, using the radius coordinates with respect to the center of the emitter array, the diagonal ends from the center are normalized to 1, and then the initial coordinates of the emitters having regular intervals are in the normalized coordinates from 0 to 1. After giving a value corresponding to the distortion, it is possible to apply the distortion to the coordinates of each emitter by adjusting the ratio by the diagonal length of the emitter array. In this way, by providing the coordinates of each emitter of the emitter array, the spacing of the emitters can be different.

The emitters may be increased or decreased in spacing or pitch from adjacent emitters based on a radius from the center. For example, the emitter array may have a first radius from a center to a diagonal end, and a pitch between emitters in a row or column direction adjacent to a second radius smaller than the first radius from the center may be the same, The pitch may increase from the second radius toward the center, and the pitch may become narrower toward the first radius.

Here, as shown in FIG. 19, it is a diagram showing a distortion curve of flood illumination when no distortion is applied. The curve may increase in the form of a quadratic function from the center (0) to 1 (1). The curve can be divided into a plurality of sections from the center to the edge of the edge 1, and the slope of the first section (B1) having a straight line connecting from 0 to the first point (B1) is higher than the slope of the second section (B2). can be small The slope of the second section B2 may be greater than the slope of the third section B3. Here, the first section B1 is a section from the center (0) to 0.2 in the diagonal direction when the main line length is 1, the second section B2 is a section from 0.2 to 0.7, and the third section (B3) may be a section from 0.7 to 1. That is, the distortion value applied to each emitter in the second section B2 and the third section B3 in which the amount of change of the slope is relatively large may be larger. Three or more of these sections, for example, 3 to 5 sections, may be divided into equal intervals or a slope value of a two-dimensional function, but is not limited thereto. The distortion of the illumination brightness may be applied to each emitter coordinate of the emitter array to correspond to the distortion value. The horizontal direction of FIG. 19 is a value representing the length from the center in %, and the vertical direction is a value representing the length from the center to the diagonal end as relative positions of emitters.

Here, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a pitch between emitters can be reduced as the radius increases by using the radius coordinates from the center to the diagonal end of the emitter array. As another example, the pitch between emitters may be the same within the section, and the pitch between emitters may be narrower than that of the entire section (section closer to the center) as the section moves away from the center.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the emitter array 201 arranges the distance between the emitters E1 and E2 at a gradually narrower distance from the central part Ra to the peripheral part Rb, or, conversely, from the peripheral part Rb to the central part. It can be arranged at a gradually wider interval toward (Ra). Accordingly, a problem in which the optical axis of the emitter array is shifted can be prevented, and the spot characteristic of the peripheral part Rb can be provided brighter than the spot characteristic of the central part Ra. In addition, by arranging the emitters at the center Ra to be wider, a heat dissipation effect at the center Ra may be given. In addition, by lowering the light output at the center portion, the light output of the peripheral portion Rb may be provided similar to that of the center portion Ra.

Accordingly, in the embodiment of the present invention, when light is projected by an optical system without distortion, the light may be projected while the distortion shape of the emitter array is maintained. If, during flood lighting, the brightness of the periphery may be made brighter than that of the center, and as a result, it may be possible to implement a batwing. When distortion is applied to the coordinates of each emitter of the emitter array according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in (a) of FIG. 20, spot lighting can be implemented, and flood lighting having a batwing as shown in (b) can be implemented as Accordingly, it is possible to similarly implement the spot quality of the center and the periphery of the emitter array. In addition, when an optical system with distortion is used, it is possible to solve the problem that not only the entire area of the emitter array, but also a single spot in the periphery may be affected by the distortion locally.

In addition, compared to the periphery of the emitter array, since the heat source is located at the center of the emitter array, it is possible to solve the problem of poor heat dissipation characteristics in the same operating environment. In addition, the central part can reduce problems such as wavelength shift, optical output reduction, and modulation delay due to a higher temperature than the peripheral part. It can also reduce the problem of non-uniformity within the area of the emitter array.

On the other hand, even in the case of decentering of the emitter array and lens, which inevitably occurs due to process limitations, the center of distortion can always be implemented as the center of the emitter array.

As a modified example of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , when distortion is applied using the lens unit 120 and the lens driving 130 , the center of the distortion is decentered. can be shifted within the emitter array. When the lens unit 120 is adjusted in the optical axis direction to impart distortion, spot illumination can be implemented as shown in (a) of FIG. 13, and flood illumination having a batwing as shown in FIG. 13 (b). can be implemented. In this case, the emitter array may be provided in the form shown in FIG. 6 or may be provided as an emitter array without distortion as shown in FIG. 18 .

When looking at the distortion aberration of the lens unit 120, the aberration refers to a phenomenon in which light emitted from one point passes through the optical system and then does not gather at one point when forming an image, and the image is distorted. Aberration is largely divided into monochromatic aberration and chromatic aberration. Here, monochromatic aberration is derived from the geometric shape of the lens, and includes spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism, curvature aberration, and distortion aberration. The distortion aberration refers to a phenomenon in which a planar object perpendicular to the optical axis is not imaged in a different shape on an image plane perpendicular to the optical axis. The distortion aberration may be an aberration indicative of a defect in image shape reproducibility. The form of distortion aberration can be divided into barrel distortion and pincushion distortion, and can be called negative distortion and positive distortion, respectively.

The distortion aberration may be expressed as a percentage of the height of the ideal image to the distance away from the position of the ideal image. The distortion rate can be expressed as follows.

Here, Distortion (%) represents the distortion rate, y _real represents the changed image position, and y _paraxial represents the ideal image position. That is, y _real denotes the position of the distorted image, and y _paraxial denotes the position of the image in the undistorted case. When distortion aberration exists, in the case of imaging equipment such as a projector, distortion occurs in the transmitted image. And, in the case of imaging equipment such as a camera, distortion occurs in the captured image. In order to solve this problem, a lens with minimal distortion aberration is used for equipment such as a projector or a camera, or distortion aberration is minimized through image correction. In general, a lens having a distortion aberration of 3% or less is used.

5 and 11 , the light emitting unit 100 uses the lens unit 120 to which intentional distortion aberration is applied. In the lens unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a preset distortion aberration may be applied to each field. That is, when the lens unit 120 can be divided into 10 fields, a distortion aberration may be set for each of the 10 fields, and the distortion aberration set for each field may be applied. Distortion aberrations set in each field may be different from each other or some may be the same. For example, it is assumed that the field of illumination (FOI) of the light emitting unit 100 is 70 degrees. The FOI means a viewing angle with respect to the light emitting unit 100 , which may correspond to a Field Of View (FOV) of the light receiving unit 200 . The viewing angle may be set based on a diagonal angle, but may also be set based on a horizontal angle or a vertical angle.

In this case, as in FIG. 11 , when a field is divided into 7, a difference of 7 degrees may occur between adjacent fields in each field. When the seven fields are divided into fields 0 to 6, a preset distortion aberration may be applied to each of the 0th to 6th fields. That is, the lens unit 120 may apply a 0 th distortion aberration to a 6 th distortion aberration to each of the 0 th field to the 6 th field. In addition, the optical signal distorted according to the 0th to 6th distortion aberrations may be incident to the 0th field to the 6th field of the object. According to a modified example of the invention, in a range larger than the half angle of the FOI, the amount of distortion may be set to 5% or more. Here, the half angle of the FOI may mean an angle corresponding to a half of the FOI. For example, when the FOI is 70 degrees, the half angle of the FOI may mean 35 degrees. Accordingly, in this case, the magnitude of the distortion factor at FOI 35 degrees may be set to 5% or more.

The distortion aberration may increase monotonically from the center of the lens unit 120 to the half angle of the FOI. As for the distortion aberration, the magnitude of the distortion factor from the center of the lens unit 120 to the half-angle of the FOI may increase monotonically for each field. For example, when the half-angle of the lens unit 120 is included in the third field, the magnitude of the distortion factor may monotonically increase from the 0th field including the center of the lens unit 120 to the third field. The distortion aberration may be maintained or reduced in a range greater than the half-angle of the lens unit 120 . In the above example, assuming that the lens unit 120 is divided up to the sixth field, the fourth to sixth fields cannot be greater than the magnitude of the distortion rate of the third field. According to a modified example of the invention, the lens unit 120 may distort the optical signal so that the light pattern has a cylindrical shape corresponding to the distortion aberration. Accordingly, the light pattern of the optical signal incident on the object may be in the form of cylindrical distortion. When hot distortion is applied to the lens part, as shown in (a) (b) of FIG. 22 , spot lighting and flood lighting may be implemented.

13 and 15 , the emitters E1 and E2 of the emitter array 201 may be arranged in a plurality of lines, or pads 101 and 102 for supplying power to the plurality of lines may be connected to each other. As shown in (a)-(c) and (d)-(f) of FIG. 14 , spot lighting according to the line-by-line driving of each emitter may be implemented. For example, by selectively connecting pads to emitters of alternately arranged horizontal lines and/or vertical lines, it is possible to control the partially emitting active area. While controlling the line or/and the active area of the emitted emitters, it is possible to give distortion by moving in the vertical direction through the lens unit.

Also, FIG. 16(a) shows an example in which the emitter is driven in the entire active region. Fig. 16B shows an example in which a plurality of emitters arranged within a predetermined distance from the center of the entire area are driven by the electrodes 101 and 202A. FIG. 16C shows an example in which a plurality of emitters arranged within a predetermined distance from the center of the entire area are driven by the electrodes 101 and 202B. The predetermined distance in (c) of FIG. 16 may be closer than the predetermined distance in (b) of FIG. 16 .

17 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of driving a partial region of a light source unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 17 , the light source unit 110 may be divided into a plurality of regions. For example, as in FIG. 17 , the entire area may be divided into two or more, such as 2 to 12 zones. Each zone may be a single individually driven group or a plurality of groups may be included. The light source unit 110 may drive a plurality of emitters disposed in at least one of the plurality of zones. 17 (a)-(c) illustrates that an emitter disposed in one zone is driven as an example, but an emitter disposed in two or more zones may be driven.

An embodiment of the invention selectively uses or mixes the first method of distorting the coordinate position of each emitter of the emitter array and the second method of distorting lighting by moving the lens unit disclosed in the modified example in the optical axis direction. Available. Also, the distortion by the second method may be partially applied to the distortion by the first method.

23 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile terminal to which a surface-emitting laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 23 , the mobile terminal 1500 may include a camera module 1520 , a flash module 1530 , and an auto-focus device 1510 provided on one side or the rear side. Here, the autofocus device 1510 may include the above-described surface-emitting laser device and a light receiving unit as a light emitting layer.

The flash module 1530 may include an emitter emitting light therein. The flash module 1530 may be operated by a camera operation of a mobile terminal or a user's control. The camera module 1520 may include an image capturing function and an auto focus function. For example, the camera module 1520 may include an auto-focus function using an image.

The auto focus device 1510 may include an auto focus function using a laser. The auto focus device 1510 may be mainly used in a condition in which the auto focus function using the image of the camera module 1520 is deteriorated, for example, in proximity of 10 m or less or in a dark environment.

The above detailed description should not be construed as restrictive in all respects and should be considered as illustrative. The scope of the embodiments should be determined by a reasonable interpretation of the appended claims, and all modifications within the equivalent scope of the embodiments are included in the scope of the embodiments.

Claims (10)

an emitter array in which a plurality of emitters are arranged; and
at least one pad disposed outside the emitter array and coupled to at least one of the plurality of emitters;
The emitters of the emitter array have an opening and are spaced apart from each other;
and an interval in which adjacent emitters or openings disposed in at least one of a central portion, a middle portion, and a peripheral portion of the emitter array include a non-linearly varying interval. According to claim 1,
and an interval in which adjacent emitters or openings disposed in each of the central part, the middle part, and the peripheral part of the emitter array are non-linearly changed. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The non-linearly changing spacing is a surface emitting laser device, wherein the average spacing between adjacent emitters or openings is reduced. 4. The method of claim 3,
The adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the central portion and the peripheral portion include a linearly decreasing spacing. 4. The method of claim 3,
The adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the middle portion include a linearly decreasing spacing in a region adjacent to the central portion and a nonlinearly decreasing spacing in the center of the intermediate portion. 6. The method of claim 5,
and adjacent emitters or openings disposed in the middle portion include a linearly decreasing spacing in a region adjacent to the peripheral portion. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2,
The emitters or openings of the emitter array are non-linearly reduced in a row or column direction from the center toward both sides. A light emitting unit having a light source unit having the surface emitting laser device of claim 1 or 2 and a lens unit on the light source unit; and
and a light receiving unit configured to receive light scattered or reflected from an object by driving the emitters of the light source to emit light in the irradiated infrared region. setting a coordinate position of each emitter of an emitter array in which emitters having a predetermined interval are arranged;
converting the coordinates of each emitter into radial coordinates based on the center of the emitter array;
Normalizing the coordinates of all emitters by setting a diagonal end to 1 in the center of the emitter array;
imparting a distortion in which a pitch between emitters is nonlinearly reduced in a row or column direction from the center toward both sides to the normalized coordinates of each emitter;
A method for arranging an emitter array of a surface emitting laser device, comprising the step of arranging each of the emitters having the distortion by adjusting the ratio in a diagonal length. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the distortion applying step gives a value corresponding to each of the coordinates of the normalized emitters from 0 to 1 of the center of the emitter array,
The radius coordinates are obtained as follows,

(x,y) is the coordinate of the emitter you want to set,
(x0,y0) is the center coordinate,
The distortion (r _distortion ) in the radial coordinate is obtained as follows,

The distortion has a (-) sign,
r _initial is the initial coordinate,
Wherein 1 is a diagonal length, the arrangement method of the emitter array of the surface light emitting laser device.

Images