TWM550670U - Pattern generator with multiple point light sources - Google Patents

Abstract

A pattern generator with multiple point light source includes a multiple point light source module capable of providing plural laser dot light beams in a spherical wave form and a diffractive member receiving the plural laser dot light beams. These laser dot light beams are arranged with different offsets. The diffractive member includes a diffractive optical element capable of planarizing and diffracting the plural laser dot light beams to generate plural diffractive light beams. A pattern distribution consisting of the plural diffractive light beams has wide field angle and good homogenous brightness.

Description

Multi-point source pattern generator

The present invention relates to a field in which a pattern generator is composed of diffraction points, and more particularly, a pattern generator that generates a diffraction point by a point source.

Forming and presenting a pattern of diffraction points is a conventional way of applying diffraction points. Conventionally, a collimated laser incident diffractive element, such as a Diffractive Optical Element (DOE), can be used to generate a plurality of diffraction spots distributed over a distance on a projection surface. Among the plurality of diffraction points generated on the projection surface in this way, the brightness of the zero order spot is usually much larger than the other spots, thereby limiting the application of such a diffraction point.

Chinese Patent Publication No. CN103309137 discloses a structured light projector comprising a semiconductor substrate and a monolithic array of light-emitting elements, wherein the light-emitting elements are arranged on the semiconductor substrate in a two-dimensional pattern of irregular lattices. Chinese Patent Publication No. CN105319811 discloses an overlap pattern projector comprising a semiconductor substrate, an optical emitter array arranged in a two-dimensional pattern on a substrate, a projection lens and a diffractive optical element, wherein the projection lens and the diffractive optical element Both are mounted on a semiconductor substrate that collects and focuses the beam from the array of optical emitters, and the diffractive optical element produces and projects a plurality of duplicate copies of the pattern. Chinese Patent Publication No. CN105324631 discloses an integrated structured light projector, which A semiconductor film and a light-emitting element formed on the semiconductor film in a plurality of grid patterns are formed, and a common contact conductor is formed on the semiconductor film, thereby driving and controlling the light-emitting element.

The present invention provides a multi-point source pattern generator. The point source or the facet source is disposed on a focal plane of a Diffractive Optical Element (DOE), and the plurality of positions are offset at the source but the illumination angle is the same. Multi-spherical light, which can form a pattern, a character or a disordered distribution by passing through a light spot formed on a projection surface after the optical element is diffracted.

The present invention provides a multi-point source pattern generator in which a plurality of off-coordinate spherical spot laser beams pass through a diffractive optical element, and each spherical laser spot beam can be planarized and produce a set of diffractive patterns. A plurality of mutually offset diffraction patterns may form a pattern, a character, or a disordered distribution with a large opening angle and a uniform intensity uniformity on a projection surface at a predetermined distance.

The present invention provides a multi-point source pattern generator, which replaces a deep-grain diffractive element such as a Holographic Optical Element (HOE) with a diffractive optical element, and breaks through a pattern of a Gaussian intensity distribution generated by a deep-grain diffractive element. A projection pattern distribution capable of producing a large opening angle and uniform intensity.

According to the above, a multi-point source pattern generator includes: a multi-point source module comprising: a beam emitting common surface providing a plurality of laser spot beams in the form of a spherical wave, wherein the plurality of beam spot beams And emitting, by a plurality of openings at different offset positions on the common surface of the light beam; and a diffraction component disposed on the multi-point light source module, receiving the laser beam, each of the laser points The beam is planarized and diffracted by the diffraction assembly to produce a plurality of diffracted beams.

According to the above, a multi-point source pattern generator includes: a multi-point source module including a beam emission common surface providing a plurality of laser spot beams in the form of a spherical wave, wherein the lasers The point beam is emitted by a plurality of apertures at different offset positions on the common surface of the beam emission; a reflective element that receives the laser beam and reflects the laser beam to form the reflected laser points And a diffraction assembly that receives the reflected laser beam beams, each of the reflected laser beam beams being planarized and diffracted by the diffraction assembly to produce a plurality of diffracted beams.

In one example, the diffraction assembly includes a single diffractive optical element that receives the reflected or reflected laser spot beams, and a range of receiving surfaces of the single diffractive optical element covers a plurality of incidents of the plurality of laser spot beams position.

In one example, the diffraction assembly includes a plurality of diffractive optical elements, each of the diffractive optical elements receiving one of the reflected or reflected laser spot beams, the number of the diffractive optical elements, and the plurality of laser points The beams are equal.

In one example, the diffraction assembly includes a plurality of diffractive optical elements, and any one of the diffractive optical elements receives at least one of the or some of the reflected laser spot beams, the number of the diffractive optical elements, and the plurality of The spot beams are different.

In one example, the diffractive optical elements or the diffractive optical elements are transmissive or reflective.

In one example, the multi-point light source module includes a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser having a common surface of the beam emission and providing a plurality of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures as the openings hole.

In one example, the multi-point light source module includes a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser and a window mask disposed on the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser, the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser having the beam emission common surface A plurality of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures are provided, and the window mask includes the openings to face the laser apertures corresponding to the vertical cavity.

In one example, the multi-point source pattern generator further includes a housing for housing the multi-point source module and the diffraction assembly, and the housing is provided with an opening for the diffracted beams to leave the multi-point source Pattern generator.

1, 3, 4‧‧‧ multi-point source pattern generator

10‧‧‧Multi-point light source module

11‧‧‧ Beam emission commonality

12, 14, 16, 18‧‧ ‧ laser spot beam

13, 15, 17, 19‧‧ ‧ vertical cavity surface laser

20, 30, 40‧‧‧ diffraction components

21‧‧‧Window mask

22, 42, 72‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

23‧‧‧Window

24‧‧‧ Carrier

26‧‧‧Reflective components

32, 34, 36, 38‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

50‧‧‧ Target Office

52, 54, 56, 58‧‧‧ diffracted spots

60‧‧‧shell

62‧‧‧ openings

A, B, C, D, O‧‧‧ Geometric Center

L‧‧‧ axis

1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a module of a first embodiment of a multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a module of a second embodiment of a multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention.

3 is a side view showing the configuration of a module of a third embodiment of a multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention.

4 is a side view showing the configuration of a module of a fourth embodiment of a multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the light transmission surface of the multi-point light source module of the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention.

6 is a side view of the light transmission surface of the multi-point light source module of the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a multi-point light source module of the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention having a window mask.

First of all, it is explained that the object described below in the present case is a specific illuminating surface, which may be a plane projected by the diffraction laser beam distribution, and this plane will be applied to the description in the subsequent embodiments. However, the target of the present invention is not limited to a plane, and it may also be a curved surface, a curved surface or a contour with irregularities. In this case, the diffraction laser beam distribution is projected on the target, and the purpose is to form a spot with uniformity and contrast, so as to avoid a spot with excessive brightness difference.

The multi-point light source module referred to below emits multiple laser beam points. In principle, each laser beam used in this case is a spherical wave. In the same illumination plane (the common plane of beam emission), the multiple laser beam beams that have just left the same illumination plane (the common plane of the beam emission) are the same. The normal direction of the light-emitting plane is emitted. Therefore, the spherical wave or the plane wave of the multiple laser spot beams of the present invention are parallel to each other but do not overlap, that is, offset from each other and the offset position can be differentiated. However, it can be understood that the laser beam is a light having a small illuminating angle, that is, a multi-channel laser beam having an illuminating angle between the illuminating plane (the common plane of the beam emitting) and the diffractive optical element (DOE). There is a staggered situation. In practice, each of the laser spot beams in the present case can be provided by a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), and a vertical cavity surface laser is arranged through the opening position to provide more of the case. The Dora's spot beam, the arrangement of these vertical cavity surface lasers can be differentiated and irregular. In addition, in the present case, the so-called aperture light source can also be used to more accurately establish the wavefront real distribution model of the small-surface light source, and more accurately do phase modulation. Therefore, the point light source referred to below covers the small-surface light source, if and The optical element receives the receiving surface of the plurality of laser spot beams, and the aperture of the aperture of the point source is tens of micrometers, and the receiving surface of the diffractive optical element that receives the incident of multiple laser beams is 1*1 square millimeter (mm2) grade.

The differential or irregular arrangement referred to below is relative to the regular arrangement. In terms of light sources, commercially available vertical cavity laser arrays (VCSEL arrays), in which multiple vertical cavity lasers are arranged in a uniform or fixed period, and multiple lasers are emitted. The light beams are parallel to each other and the pitch between the advancing axes in the advancing direction is the same. The vertical cavity surface laser of this case The irregular arrangement is arranged according to the design requirements of the end diffraction pattern, and the different positions are designed in the reverse direction. In the case of a common beam emitting surface of a beam, the vertical cavity of the present invention faces the laser in the direction of advancement between the advancing axes. The spacing or direction is different.

The multi-channel laser beam emitted by the point source is hereinafter referred to as infrared invisible light. The multi-channel laser beam can selectively emit invisible light of other wavelengths as needed.

1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a module of a first embodiment of a multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention. The multi-point source pattern generator 1 includes a multi-point source module 10 and a diffraction assembly 20, wherein the plurality of point source waves are provided by the multi-point source module 10 in the form of a plurality of spherical wave beams 12, 14, 16 18 is incident on the diffraction assembly 20, and is planarized and diffracted by the diffraction assembly 20 to become a plurality of diffracted beams, the diffracted beams exiting the multi-point source pattern generator 1 (the light not shown thereafter) The path) is projected onto a target 50 to form a plurality of diffracted spots 52, 54, 56, 58. For convenience of explanation, the multi-point light source module 10, the diffraction assembly 20, and the target 50 are spaced apart along the L-axis. In the first embodiment, the multi-point light source module 10 includes a plurality of vertical cavity projection laser apertures 13 , 15 , 17 , and 19 respectively emitting a laser in the form of a spherical wave. Point beams 12, 14, 16, 18, for convenience of description, in this case, a beam emitting common surface 11 is used to define one of the vertical cavity projection laser apertures 13, 15, 17, 19 in the multi-point source module 10. The light transmitting surface, the beam emitting common surface 11 covers the emitting positions of the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16, 18. In practice, the beam emitting common surface 11 includes a wafer plane. It can be understood that the multi-point light source module 10 can further include a load-bearing structure for fixing or carrying a vertical cavity-exposure laser, an adjustment structure for adjusting the angle of the vertical cavity-emitting laser with respect to the beam-emitting common surface 11, and the like.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the diffractive assembly 20 includes a diffractive optical element (DOE) that incorporates planarization and diffraction functions, and the diffractive optical element 22 can be disposed or secured to a carrier 24. In a first embodiment, the diffractive optical element 22 is a transmissive single diffractive element that provides laser spot light The size of the receiving surface on which the beams 12, 14, 16, 18 are incident may substantially cover the range of incident positions of the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16, 18 on the diffractive optical element 22. For each of the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16 or 18, the diffractive optical element 22 can planarize and diffract each of the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16 or 18 to form a plurality of diffracted spots 52, 54, 56 or 58. Secondly, for the diffractive optical element 22, the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16 and 18 are all located on a focal plane of the diffractive optical element 22 and are offsetly distributed; or the beam emitting common surface 11 is located in the diffraction The focal planes of the optical elements 22, while the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16 and 18 are offset distributed over the beam emitting common plane 11. Therefore, the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention uses a laser having a vertical cavity with a vertical cavity (m is a positive integer greater than 1), and each vertical cavity is exposed by a laser. The spot beam can be diffracted by a single diffractive element to form n diffracted spots (n is a positive integer greater than 1), so the diffracted spot that can be presented at the target is m*n. Therefore, in this case, the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures 13, 15, 17, 19 are offset by differential spacing, and the laser beam 12, 14 is emitted from each vertical cavity surface. After the planarization and diffraction of 16 and 18, the positions of the diffracted spots formed at the target can be widely distributed with each other to form a pattern distribution of large opening angles, and have elasticity in design pattern generation. Secondly, in this case, a vertical cavity laser with multiple illuminating apertures is used, and the vertical cavity projection laser apertures 13, 15, 17, 19 are designed to be offset by differential spacing, so that a single aperture can be avoided. The single zero-order light of the laser spot beam is too bright to affect the performance of the subsequent diffraction pattern. Moreover, with respect to the edge-emitting type laser, the vertical resonance cavity surface-emitting laser as the light source can have a large illuminating opening angle (a few tens of degrees relative to the edge-emitting type laser), which is advantageous in the short distance. With a large area of light onto the DOE, the DOE can have more wavefront modulation capabilities. In addition, the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser structure of the present invention has a relatively thin thickness (approximately 1 mm can be reduced), and is generally advantageous for the flattening operation of the entire optical system.

2 is a second embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the first embodiment in that the diffraction assembly 30 of the multi-point source pattern generator 3 of the second embodiment includes a plurality of through windings on the carrier 24. Shoot Optical elements 32, 34, 36, 38. In the second embodiment, the plurality of diffractive optical elements 32, 34, 36, 38 respectively correspond to and receive the incidence of the laser beam beams 14, 16, 12 and 18, and the laser beam beams 14, 16, 12 and 18 Planarization and diffraction can be projected to produce diffracted spots 52, 54, 56 and 58 having different numbers of points. Second, the arrangement and distribution of the diffracted spots 52 may be the same or different from the diffracted spots 54, the diffracted spots 56 or the diffracted spots 58, and all of the diffracted spots 52, 54, 56 And 58 can be combined into a pattern, text or random distribution. Therefore, the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention can adopt the m diffractive optical elements respectively corresponding to m vertical cavity projection laser apertures, and the m vertical cavity projections are generated by the laser apertures. The laser beam is planarized and diffracted. Each diffractive optical element produces n(i) diffracted light spots (i is 1, 2, ....., m) for an incident laser spot beam diffraction, since m diffractive optical elements can each other For the same or different diffraction structures, the number of n(i) diffracted spots may be the same or different, and the arrangement or distribution of n(i) diffracted spots may be the same or different. Therefore, in terms of the number of diffracted spots, the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention can generate a large number of diffracted spots; secondly, the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention utilizes a laser beam that is offset in parallel with each other to generate a bias. The diffracted spot is enlarged to enlarge the angle of the angle of the pattern or pattern distribution formed by the diffracted spot. Furthermore, the multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention generates a plurality of laser spot beams through a plurality of laser apertures to disperse the brightness of the zero-order light after the diffraction, and does not generate a specific point having excessive brightness; The multi-point source pattern generator uses a diffractive optical element that combines both planarization and diffraction to produce a diffracted spot of good intensity uniformity.

3 is a side view of the module of the third embodiment of the present invention, which is different from the first embodiment in that the diffraction assembly 40 employed in the multi-point source pattern generator 4 is a single diffractive optical element 42 including a reflection type. The laser spot beams 12, 14 are incident on the diffractive optical element 42 and are planarized, reflected and diffracted into a plurality of diffracted spots 52, 54 projected at the target 50. It can be understood that the multi-diffractive optical element according to the second embodiment may also adopt a reflective type, or may be a multi-transmissive or reflective diffractive optical element respectively. A limited number of laser spot beams increase the flexibility of the projected pattern design. In addition, the multi-point source pattern generator 4 of the present invention may further include a housing 60 for housing the multi-point source module 10 and the diffractive optical element 42. The housing 60 has an opening 62 for providing diffracted spots 52, 54. The multi-point source pattern generator 4 is left. It will be appreciated that the housing 60 can also be used in other embodiments.

4 is a side view showing the configuration of a module of a fourth embodiment of a multi-point source pattern generator of the present invention. The difference from the third embodiment is that a multi-point source pattern generator is added with a reflective element 26, such as a mirror, and the parallel-biased laser spot beams 12, 14 from the multi-point source module 10 are incident first. The reflective element 26 is reflected by the reflective element 26 before being incident on the diffractive optical element 42, thus increasing the flexibility in positional setting of the various components within the multi-point source pattern generator.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic diagrams of the front and side of the light transmission surface of the multi-point light source module, respectively. For convenience of explanation, the beam emission common face 11 of the multi-point light source module is illustrated by a regular quadrilateral having a geometric center O. Secondly, the vertical cavity surface laser openings 13, 15, 17, 19 are illustrated by four circular openings, the geometric centers of the circular openings are A, B, C, D, respectively, and the laser emitted therefrom The point beams are respectively the laser spot beams 12, 14, 16, 18. In the present case, the length of the line segment between the geometric center O of any circular opening and the beam emitting common surface 11 can be differentiated, that is, the length of the AO line segment (the distance of the AO line), the length of the BO line segment, the length of the CO line segment, and the DO. The length of the line segments can be different; or the geometric center spacing of any two adjacent circular openings: the length of the AB line segment, the length of the AC line segment, the length of the CD segment, and the length of the BD segment can be different. Therefore, the multi-point light source module of the present invention transmits the laser diffraction aperture arrangement through the irregular vertical cavity to generate a subsequent different offset diffraction projection pattern or spot distribution. The vertical cavity surface-emitting laser in this case is arranged in such a way that the design of the end diffraction pattern is reversed to design different positions, and the diffraction pattern of the design can be exactly expressed. In addition, it should be noted that the spot beams emitted by the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures 13, 15, 17, 19 generally have the same illumination angle, and the size of the illumination angle can be controlled by the process, and the parallel dotted lines in FIG. Basically means laser light The normal axis when the beam is emitted, in fact, the laser beam is cone-shaped when it is emitted from the laser opening 13 , 15 , 17 , 19 of the vertical cavity surface.

7 is a front elevational view of a multi-point light source module having a window mask of the present invention. Compared with FIG. 5, the multi-point light source module of FIG. 7 has a window mask 21 placed or fixed in front of the common beam surface of the multi-point light source module, and the window mask 21 can have a plurality of windows 23 having different opening sizes, and the windows 23 The positions are respectively corresponding to and aligned with the vertical cavity projection laser apertures 13, 15, 17, 19, but the aperture size and shape can respectively correspond to the vertical cavity projection laser apertures 13, 15, 17 19, this can increase the flexibility of the design.

The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Therefore, any equivalent changes or modifications made without departing from the spirit of the present invention should be included in the present invention. Within the scope of creation.

4‧‧‧Multi-point source pattern generator

10‧‧‧Multi-point light source module

11‧‧‧ Beam emission commonality

12, 14‧‧ ‧ laser spot beam

40‧‧‧Diffractive components

42‧‧‧Diffractive optical components

50‧‧‧ Target Office

52, 54‧‧‧Diffraction spot

60‧‧‧shell

62‧‧‧ openings

Claims (15)

A multi-point source pattern generator comprising: a multi-point source module comprising a beam emission common surface providing a plurality of laser spot beams in the form of a spherical wave, wherein the plurality of laser spot beams are emitted by the beam a plurality of openings at different offset positions on the common surface; and a diffraction assembly disposed on the multi-point source module, receiving the laser beam, each of the laser beams being diffracted by the laser The component is planarized and diffracted to produce a complex diffracted beam. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 1, wherein the diffraction assembly comprises a single diffractive optical element receiving the plurality of laser spot beams, and a range of a receiving surface of the single diffractive optical element covers the The plurality of incident positions of the laser beam. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 1, wherein the diffraction assembly comprises a plurality of diffractive optical elements, and any one of the diffractive optical elements receives one of the plurality of laser spot beams, the diffraction The number of optical elements is equal to the laser beam points. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 1, wherein the diffraction assembly comprises a plurality of diffractive optical elements, and any one of the diffractive optical elements receives at least one of the plurality of laser spot beams, The number of diffractive optical elements is different from those of the laser spot beams. The multi-point source pattern generator of claims 2, 3 and 4, wherein the diffractive optical element or the diffractive optical elements are transmissive or reflective. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 1, 2, 3 and 4, wherein the multi-point source module comprises a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser having the beam A common plane is emitted and a plurality of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures are provided as the apertures. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 6, further comprising a housing for housing the multi-point source module and the diffraction assembly, wherein the housing is provided with an opening for the diffracted beams to leave The multi-point source pattern generator. The multi-point source pattern generator according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the multi-point source module comprises a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser and is disposed on the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser a window mask, the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser having the beam emitting common surface and providing a plurality of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures, the window mask including the openings to correspond to some vertical resonances The cavity faces the laser opening. A multi-point source pattern generator comprising: a multi-point source module comprising a beam emission common surface providing a plurality of laser spot beams in the form of a spherical wave, wherein the plurality of laser spot beams are emitted by the beam a plurality of openings at different offset positions on the common surface; a reflective element that receives the laser beam and reflects the laser beam to form a reflected laser beam; and a diffraction component And receiving the reflected laser beam beams, and each of the reflected laser beam beams is planarized and diffracted by the diffraction component to generate a plurality of diffracted beams. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 9, wherein the diffraction assembly comprises a single diffractive optical element that receives the reflected laser spot beams, the single diffractive optical element being transmissive or reflective The range of a receiving surface of the single diffractive optical element covers a plurality of incident positions of the plurality of laser spot beams. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 9, wherein the diffraction assembly comprises a plurality of diffractive optical elements, and any one of the diffractive optical elements receives the reflected laser spot beams In one of the numbers, the number of the diffractive optical elements is equal to the beams of the laser beams, and the diffractive optical elements are transmissive or reflective. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 9, wherein the diffraction assembly comprises a plurality of diffractive optical elements, and any one of the diffractive optical elements receives at least one of the reflected laser spot beams, The number of diffractive optical elements is different from the laser spot beams, which are transmissive or reflective. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 9, 10, 11 or 12, wherein the multi-point source module comprises a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser having the beam A common plane is emitted and a plurality of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures are provided as the apertures. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 9, wherein the multi-point source module comprises a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser and is disposed on the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser. a window mask, the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser having the beam emitting common surface and providing a plurality of vertical cavity surface-emitting laser apertures, the window mask including the openings to correspond to some vertical resonances The cavity faces the laser opening. The multi-point source pattern generator of claim 9, 10, 11 or 12, further comprising a housing for housing the multi-point source module and the diffraction assembly, wherein the housing is provided with an opening for The diffracted beams exit the multi-point source pattern generator.