WO2021115013A1

WO2021115013A1 - Time-of-flight transmitter, time-of-flight depth module and electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2021115013A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/128310
Authority: WO
Inventors: 吕向楠
Original assignee: Oppo广东移动通信有限公司
Priority date: 2019-12-09
Filing date: 2020-11-12
Publication date: 2021-06-17
Also published as: CN111007523A

Abstract

A time-of-flight transmitter (10), a time-of-flight depth module (100) and an electronic device (1000). The time-of-flight transmitter (10) comprises a light source (11) and a diffractive optical element (13). The light source (11) comprises a substrate (111) and a light-emitting element array (112) disposed on the substrate (111). The light-emitting element array (112) comprises a plurality of light-emitting element groups (113), and the plurality of light-emitting element groups (113) may be driven by time sharing to emit speckle laser light. The diffractive optical element (13) is used to diffract the speckle laser light.

Description

Time-of-flight transmitter, time-of-flight depth module and electronic device

Priority information

This application requests the priority and rights of the patent application with the patent application number 201911251399.X filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on December 9, 2019, and the full text is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical field

This application relates to the technical field of depth information detection, and more specifically, to a time-of-flight transmitter, a time-of-flight depth module, and an electronic device.

Background technique

The Time of Flight (TOF) depth module calculates the distance based on the flight time of light. The basic principle of the time-of-flight depth module is to transmit modulated light pulses through the time-of-flight transmitter. After encountering the reflection of the object, the reflected light pulse is received by the time-of-flight receiver, and the distance between the light pulse and the object is calculated according to the round-trip time of the light pulse. The distance between.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a time-of-flight transmitter, a time-of-flight depth module, and an electronic device.

The time-of-flight transmitter of the embodiment of the present application includes a light source and a diffractive optical element. The light source includes a substrate and a light emitting element array provided on the substrate. The light-emitting element array includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups, and the plurality of light-emitting element groups can be time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light. The diffractive optical element is used to diffract the speckle laser light.

The time-of-flight depth module of the embodiment of the present application includes a time-of-flight transmitter and a time-of-flight receiver. The time-of-flight receiver is used to receive the speckle laser reflected by the target object to obtain a depth map. The time-of-flight transmitter includes a light source and a diffractive optical element. The light source includes a substrate and a light emitting element array provided on the substrate. The light-emitting element array includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups, and the plurality of light-emitting element groups can be time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light. The diffractive optical element is used to diffract the speckle laser light.

The electronic device of the embodiment of the present application includes a time-of-flight depth module and a housing. The time-of-flight depth module is combined with the housing. The time-of-flight depth module includes a time-of-flight transmitter and a time-of-flight receiver. The time-of-flight receiver is used to receive the speckle laser reflected by the target object to obtain a depth map. The time-of-flight transmitter includes a light source and a diffractive optical element. The light source includes a substrate and a light emitting element array provided on the substrate. The light-emitting element array includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups, and the plurality of light-emitting element groups can be time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light. The diffractive optical element is used to diffract the speckle laser light.

The additional aspects and advantages of the embodiments of the present application will be partly given in the following description, and part of them will become obvious from the following description, or be understood through the practice of the embodiments of the present application.

Description of the drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become obvious and easy to understand from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present application;

2 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a time-of-flight transmitter according to some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of area array light and speckle laser;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a time-of-flight transmitter according to some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a timing control diagram of a plurality of light-emitting element groups being time-divisionally driven in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application;

15 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the light source according to some embodiments of the present application.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions. The following embodiments described with reference to the drawings are exemplary, and are only used to explain the present application, and cannot be understood as a limitation to the present application.

In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", " "Back", "Left", "Right", "Vertical", "Horizontal", "Top", "Bottom", "Inner", "Outer", "Clockwise", "Counterclockwise" and other directions or The positional relationship is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, Therefore, it cannot be understood as a restriction on this application. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present application, "multiple" means two or more than two, unless otherwise specifically defined.

In the description of this application, it should be noted that the terms "installation", "connection", and "connection" should be understood in a broad sense, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited. For example, it can be a fixed connection or a detachable connection. Connected or integrally connected; it can be mechanically connected, or electrically connected or can communicate with each other; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal communication of two components or the interaction of two components relationship. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above-mentioned terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples for realizing different structures of the present application. In order to simplify the disclosure of the present application, the components and settings of specific examples are described below. Of course, they are only examples, and are not intended to limit the application. In addition, the present application may repeat reference numerals and/or reference letters in different examples, and this repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity, and does not indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and/or settings discussed. In addition, this application provides examples of various specific processes and materials, but those of ordinary skill in the art may be aware of the application of other processes and/or the use of other materials.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3, the time-of-flight transmitter 10 according to the embodiment of the present application includes a light source 11 and a diffractive optical element 13. The light source 11 includes a substrate 111 and a light-emitting element array 112 disposed on the substrate 111. The light-emitting element array 112 includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113, which can be time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light; diffractive optics The element 13 is used for diffracting speckle laser light.

Referring to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, the substrate 111 includes a plurality of regions 111, and the plurality of light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 are respectively disposed on the plurality of regions 1111.

Referring to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, multiple light-emitting elements 1131 on each area 1111 are used to emit speckle laser light at the same angle.

Please refer to FIG. 6. In some embodiments, multiple light-emitting elements 1131 on each area 1111 are used to emit speckle laser light at different angles.

Referring to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, the substrate 111 includes a plurality of regions 1111, and the plurality of light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 are correspondingly disposed on one region 1111, so that the plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 are respectively Set on multiple areas 1111.

In some embodiments, a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 are sequentially driven to emit speckle laser light.

5, in some embodiments, the time-of-flight transmitter 10 further includes a collimating element 12, the collimating element 12 is used to collimate the speckle laser, and the diffractive optical element 13 is used after the diffractive collimating element 12 is collimated Speckle laser.

Referring to FIG. 5, in some embodiments, the collimating element 12 may include one or more collimating lenses, and the surface of each collimating lens may be aspheric, spherical, Fresnel, or binary optics. Any of the noodles.

Referring to FIG. 5, the speckle laser emitted by the light source 11 has a first divergence angle, and the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element 12 has a second divergence angle, and the second divergence angle is smaller than the first divergence angle.

Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the time-of-flight depth module 100 according to the embodiment of the present application includes a time-of-flight transmitter 10 and a time-of-flight receiver 20. The time-of-flight transmitter 10 includes a light source 11 and a diffractive optical element 13. The light source 11 includes a substrate 111 and a light-emitting element array 112 disposed on the substrate 111. The light-emitting element array 112 includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113, which can be driven in a time-sharing manner to emit speckle laser light; diffractive optics The element 13 is used for diffracting speckle laser light.

2 and 6, in some embodiments, the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive the speckle laser light emitted by the light-emitting element group 113 at each moment and reflected by the target object to obtain a frame of sub-depth maps. Multiple sub-depth maps corresponding to multiple moments are used to merge to form a depth map.

Please refer to FIG. 2, the electronic device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present application includes the time-of-flight depth module 100 and the housing 200 according to any of the above-mentioned embodiments. The time-of-flight depth module 100 is combined with the housing 200.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the electronic device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present application includes a time-of-flight depth module 100 and a housing 200. The electronic device 1000 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a smart wearable device (such as a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a smart glasses, a smart helmet, etc.), a head-mounted display device, a virtual reality device, etc., which are not limited here. The embodiments of the present application are described by taking the electronic device 1000 as a mobile phone as an example. It can be understood that the specific form of the electronic device 1000 is not limited to a mobile phone.

The housing 200 can be used as a mounting carrier for the functional elements of the electronic device 1000. The housing 200 can provide protections such as dustproof, drop-proof, and waterproof for the functional elements. The functional elements can be the display screen 300, the time-of-flight depth module 100, the processor 400, the receiver, and the like. In the embodiment of the present application, the housing 200 includes a main body 210 and a movable bracket 220. The movable bracket 220 can move relative to the main body 210 under the driving of the driving device. For example, the movable bracket 220 can slide relative to the main body 210 to slide. Enter the main body 210 (as shown in FIG. 1) or slide out from the main body 210 (as shown in FIG. 2). Part of the functional elements (such as the display screen 300) can be installed on the main body 210, and another part of the functional elements (such as the time-of-flight depth module 100, receiver) can be installed on the movable bracket 220, and the movement of the movable bracket 220 can drive the other part The functional element is retracted into the main body 210 or protrudes from the main body 210. Of course, FIGS. 1 and 2 are only examples of a specific form of the housing 200 and cannot be understood as a limitation of the housing 200 of the embodiment of the present application.

The time-of-flight depth module 100 is combined with the housing 200, that is, the time-of-flight depth module 100 is installed on the housing 200. Specifically, the time-of-flight depth module 100 is installed on the movable support 220. When the user needs to use the time-of-flight depth module 100, he can trigger the movable bracket 220 to slide out of the main body 210 to drive the time-of-flight depth module 100 to extend from the main body 210; when the time-of-flight depth module 100 is not needed , The movable bracket 220 can be triggered to slide into the main body 210 to drive the time-of-flight depth module 100 to retract into the main body 210. In other embodiments, the housing 200 may be provided with a light-through hole, and the time-of-flight depth module 100 is immovably disposed in the housing 200 and corresponds to the light-through hole to collect depth information; or, the display screen 300 may A light-through hole is opened, and the flight time depth module 100 is arranged under the display screen 300 and corresponds to the light-through hole to collect depth information.

The time-of-flight depth module 100 includes a time-of-flight transmitter 10 and a time-of-flight receiver 20. The time-of-flight transmitter 10 is used to emit speckle laser light to the target object, and the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive the speckle laser light reflected by the target object to obtain a depth map.

Please refer to FIG. 3, the time-of-flight transmitter 10 includes a light source 11 and a diffractive optical element 13. The light source 11 is used to emit speckle laser light, and the diffractive optical element 13 is used to diffract the speckle laser light emitted by the light source 11.

In the related art, the time-of-flight transmitter usually includes a light source and a diffuser. After the light emitted by the light source is shaped by the diffuser (diffusion, for example, it was originally a lattice light, and the area array light is obtained after the diffuser is shaped, as shown in Figure 4. Show), output uniformly distributed area array light, so that the energy of the light emitted by the time-of-flight transmitter is dispersed and the energy per unit area is weak, and the action distance is short.

In the embodiment of the present application, the diffractive optical element 13 is used to diffract the speckle laser light emitted by the light source 11 (replication effect, for example, there are 300 speckles originally, and 30,000 speckles are obtained after diffraction by the diffractive optical element 13. The original is lattice light. After diffraction, the obtained light is still dot matrix light, as shown in Fig. 4), and the speckle laser light emitted by the light source 11 will not be diffused into uniformly distributed area light rays. The light emitted by the time-of-flight transmitter 10 is still speckle laser light. , The energy is more concentrated and the energy per unit area is stronger, so the action distance is longer.

Please refer to FIG. 5, the time-of-flight transmitter 10 may further include a collimating element 12. The collimating element 12 is located between the light source 11 and the diffractive optical element 13. At this time, the light source 11 is used to emit speckle laser light, the collimating element 12 is used to collimate the speckle laser light emitted by the light source 11, and the diffractive optical element 13 is used to collimate the speckle laser light from the diffractive collimating element 12.

The collimating element 12 may include one or more collimating lenses. The surface type of each collimating lens can be any one of aspherical surface, spherical surface, Fresnel surface, or binary optical surface. The collimating lens can be made of glass material to solve the problem of temperature drift of the lens when the ambient temperature changes; or, the collimating lens can be made of plastic material to make the cost lower and facilitate mass production; or, Part of the collimating lens is made of glass material to solve the problem of temperature drift of the lens when the ambient temperature changes, and some of the collimating lens is made of plastic material to make the cost lower and facilitate mass production.

In some embodiments, the speckle laser emitted by the light source 11 has a first divergence angle α1, and the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element 12 has a second divergence angle α2, and the second divergence angle α2 is smaller than the first divergence angle. α1. The collimating element 12 has a converging effect on the speckle laser light emitted by the light source 11. The second divergence angle α2 is smaller than the first divergence angle α1, so that the energy of the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element 12 is more concentrated, and the action distance is longer.

Specifically, the first divergence angle α1 may be in the range of 9 degrees to 24 degrees, that is, 9°≦α1≦24°. For example, the first divergence angle α1 may be 9 degrees, 11 degrees, 13 degrees, 14.5 degrees, 15 degrees, 16 degrees, 17.1 degrees, 18 degrees, 20 degrees, 24 degrees, and so on. The first divergence angle α1 is controlled within the range of 9 degrees to 24 degrees, so that almost all the speckle laser light emitted by the light source 11 is incident on the collimating element 12, and will not be scattered to other positions and reflected to generate stray light, which is beneficial to The time-of-flight depth module 100 obtains the accuracy of the depth map, and can improve the utilization rate of the speckle laser emitted by the light source 11.

The second divergence angle α2 may be less than or equal to 8 degrees, that is, α2≦8°. For example, the second divergence angle α2 may be 1 degree, 2 degrees, 3 degrees, 4 degrees, 5 degrees, 6 degrees, 6.5 degrees, 7 degrees, 7.5 degrees, 8 degrees, and so on. The second divergence angle α2 is less than or equal to 8 degrees, which is beneficial for all the speckle laser light collimated by the collimating element 12 to enter the diffractive optical element 13 without being scattered to other positions and reflected to generate stray light, which is beneficial to flying The time-depth module 100 obtains the accuracy of the depth map, and can improve the utilization rate of the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element 12.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 12, the light source 11 includes a substrate 111 and a light-emitting element array 112 disposed on the substrate 111. The light emitting element array 112 includes a plurality of light emitting element groups 113, and the plurality of light emitting element groups 113 can be time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light.

Specifically, the substrate 111 may be a semiconductor substrate. In the examples of FIGS. 6 and 12, the light-emitting element array 112 is a 10*8 light-emitting element array 112. The light-emitting element array 112 includes four light-emitting element groups 113, which are a first light-emitting element group 113a, a second light-emitting element group 113b, a third light-emitting element group 113c, and a fourth light-emitting element group 113d. The first light-emitting element group 113a, the second light-emitting element group 113b, the third light-emitting element group 113c, and the fourth light-emitting element group 113d can be time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light. For example, referring to FIG. 7, at the first time T1, the first light-emitting element group 113a is driven to emit speckle laser light (as shown in FIG. 8); at the second time T2, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit Speckle laser (as shown in FIG. 9); at the third time T3, the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser light (as shown in FIG. 10); at the fourth time T4, the fourth light-emitting element group 113d It is driven to emit a speckle laser (as shown in Figure 11). When the multiple light-emitting element groups 113 are time-divisionally driven to emit the speckle laser, the time-of-flight receiver 20 is correspondingly kept on to receive the speckle laser reflected by the target object. Of course, in other examples, the multiple light-emitting element groups 113 are time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light may also be: at the first time T1, the first light-emitting element group 113a and the fourth light-emitting element group 113d are driven to emit the speckle laser light. Spot laser; at the second time T2, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit speckle laser; at the third time T3, the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser, etc., which is not limited here.

In the embodiment of the present application, the light-emitting element array 112 includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 that emit speckle laser light. Compared with the light-emitting element array 112 that includes only one light-emitting element group 113 that emits speckle laser light, the depth of flight time can be increased. The resolution of the depth map obtained by the module 100 (for example, if the number of light-emitting element groups 113 is four times the original, the number of speckle lasers is four times the original, and the resolution of the depth map is also increased to four times the original) . In addition, multiple light-emitting element groups 113 are time-divisionally driven to emit speckle laser light. Compared with multiple light-emitting element groups 113 emitting speckle laser light at the same time, the current of the light source 11 can be prevented from being too large, thereby reducing the flight time emission. The power consumption of the device 10.

Referring to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, the substrate 111 includes a plurality of regions 1111, and the plurality of light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 are respectively disposed on the plurality of regions 1111.

Still taking the light-emitting element array 112 including four light-emitting element groups 113 as an example, the substrate 111 includes 20 regions 1111, each light-emitting element group 113 includes 20 light-emitting

elements

1131, and 20 light-emitting element groups 113 emit light. The elements 1131 are respectively arranged on these 20 areas 1111. For example, in the first region 1111 in FIG. 6, the first light-emitting element 1131 of the first light-emitting element group 113a is provided with the first light-emitting element 1131 of the second light-emitting element group 113b. The first light-emitting element 1131 and the first light-emitting element 1131 of the fourth light-emitting element group 113d. It can be understood that each area 1111 is provided with at least one light-emitting element 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113.

In one embodiment, multiple light-emitting elements 1131 on each area 1111 are used to emit speckle laser light at the same angle. For example, the four light-emitting elements 1131 on the first area 1111 in FIG. 6 are used to emit speckle laser light toward the same angle (toward the same position of the target object). Since the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 on each area 1111 are used to emit speckle laser light at the same angle, the laser light emitted from this area 1111 is concentrated into one speckle, the speckle energy is relatively strong, and the action distance is relatively long.

In another embodiment, the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 on each area 1111 are respectively used to emit speckle laser light at different angles. For example, the four light-emitting elements 1131 on the first area 1111 in FIG. 6 are used to emit speckle laser light toward different angles (toward different positions of the target object). Since the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 on each area 1111 are used to emit speckle laser light at different angles, the laser light emitted by this area 1111 is 4 speckles. Correspondingly, the depth map obtained by the time-of-flight depth module 100 is The resolution can be increased to four times the original.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 may be sequentially driven to emit speckle laser light. In other words, at each moment, there is one and only one light-emitting element group 113 emitting speckle laser light. Taking FIG. 6 as an example, the light-emitting element array 112 includes four light-emitting element groups 113, which are a first light-emitting element group 113a, a second light-emitting element group 113b, a third light-emitting element group 113c, and a fourth light-emitting element group 113d. The first light emitting element group 113a, the second light emitting element group 113b, the third light emitting element group 113c, and the fourth light emitting element group 113d are sequentially driven to emit speckle laser light. For example, at the first time T1, the first light-emitting element group 113a is driven to emit speckle laser light (as shown in FIG. 8); at the second time T2, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit speckle laser light (such as 9); at the third time T3, the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser light (as shown in FIG. 10); at the fourth time T4, the fourth light-emitting element group 113d is driven to emit light Spot laser (as shown in Figure 11).

Referring to FIG. 7, the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive the speckle laser light emitted by the light-emitting element group 113 at each time and reflected by the target object to obtain a frame of sub-depth maps, and multiple sub-depth maps corresponding to multiple times are used Merging to form a depth map. For example, the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive the speckle laser light emitted by the first light-emitting element group 113a at the first time T1 and reflected by the target object to obtain the first frame sub-depth map; the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive At the second time T2, the speckle laser emitted by the second light-emitting element group 113b and reflected by the target object obtains the second frame sub-depth map; the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive the third light-emitting element group 113c at the third time T3 , And the speckle laser reflected by the target object to obtain the third frame sub-depth map; the time-of-flight receiver 20 is used to receive the speckle laser emitted by the fourth light-emitting element group 113d at the fourth time T4 and reflected by the target object Obtain the fourth frame sub-depth map. Finally, the first frame of sub-depth map, the second frame of sub-depth map, the third frame of sub-depth map, and the fourth frame of sub-depth map are combined to form a frame of depth map.

Referring to FIG. 12, in some embodiments, the substrate 111 includes a plurality of regions 1111, and the plurality of light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 are correspondingly disposed on one region 1111, so that the plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 are respectively Set on multiple areas 1111.

Still taking the light emitting element array 112 including four light emitting element groups 113 as an example, the substrate 111 includes 4 regions 1111, each light emitting element group 113 includes 20

light emitting elements

1131, and 20 light emitting elements in each light emitting element group 113 emit light. The components 1131 are all arranged on one area 1111. For example, in the first area 1111 in FIG. 12, 20 light-emitting elements 1131 of the first light-emitting element group 113a are provided; in the second area 1111 in FIG. 12, 20 light-emitting elements of the second light-emitting element group 113b are provided Light-emitting element 1131; In the third area 1111 in FIG. 12, 20 light-emitting elements 1131 of the third light-emitting element group 113c are provided; in the fourth area 1111 in FIG. 12, the fourth light-emitting element group 113d is provided 20 light-emitting elements 1131.

In the embodiment of the present application, the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 are correspondingly arranged on one area 1111, so that the multiple light-emitting element groups 113 are respectively arranged on the multiple areas 1111, so that each light-emitting element group 113 The light-emitting elements 1131 in are relatively concentrated, which facilitates mass production of each light-emitting element group 113. In addition, the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 are correspondingly arranged on a region 1111, and the speckle lasers corresponding to different regions 1111 can be integrated through the action of the diffractive optical element 13, and the result is similar to that shown in FIG. 6 The multiple light-emitting element groups 113 correspond to speckle laser light.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 12, a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 may be sequentially driven to emit speckle laser light. In other words, at each moment, there is one and only one light-emitting element group 113 emitting speckle laser light. Taking FIG. 12 as an example, the light-emitting element array 112 includes four light-emitting element groups 113, which are a first light-emitting element group 113a, a second light-emitting element group 113b, a third light-emitting element group 113c, and a fourth light-emitting element group 113d. The first light emitting element group 113a, the second light emitting element group 113b, the third light emitting element group 113c, and the fourth light emitting element group 113d are sequentially driven to emit speckle laser light. For example, at the first time T1, the first light-emitting element group 113a is driven to emit speckle laser light (as shown in FIG. 13); at the second time T2, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit speckle laser light (such as 14); at the third time T3, the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser light (as shown in FIG. 15); at the fourth time T4, the fourth light-emitting element group 113d is driven to emit scattered laser light Spot laser (as shown in Figure 16).

6 and 12, in some embodiments, the light emitting element 1131 includes a point light source light emitting device, the point light source light emitting device may be a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser, VCSEL) or other types Point light emitting device. Specifically, VCSEL is a new type of laser that emits light from a vertical surface. Compared with traditional edge-emitting lasers, such as Distributed Feedback Laser (DFB), the VCSEL emits light in a direction perpendicular to the substrate 111, which can be easier Realize the integration of high-density two-dimensional area arrays to achieve higher power output, and because it has a smaller volume than edge-emitting lasers, it is easier to integrate into small electronic components; at the same time, VCSEL and optical fiber The coupling efficiency is high, so there is no need for a complicated and expensive beam shaping system, and the manufacturing process is compatible with the light emitting diode, which greatly reduces the production cost.

In some embodiments, the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 in the light-emitting element array 112 are distributed regularly as a whole, and the regular distribution may be a matrix distribution as shown in FIGS. 6 and 12 (the rows and columns are criss-crossed, and the rows and columns are perpendicular to each other). ), or distributed in a circular ring shape, or distributed in a parallelogram shape (rows and columns crisscross, and the angle between the rows and columns is not 90 degrees), or distributed at equal intervals along a predetermined direction; or randomly distributed with a certain regularity , There is no restriction here. It can be understood that manufacturing multiple light-emitting elements 1131 regularly distributed on the same substrate 111 can greatly improve manufacturing efficiency. Wherein, the multiple light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 may also be distributed regularly to further improve manufacturing efficiency. The number of light-emitting elements 1131 in each light-emitting element group 113 is the same. For example, in FIGS. 6 and 12, the first light-emitting element group 113a, the second light-emitting element group 113b, the third light-emitting element group 113c, and the fourth light-emitting element group 113d Each includes 20 light-emitting elements 1131.

In addition, each light-emitting element group 113 can also be driven to emit speckle lasers of different light intensity as required; each light-emitting element group 113 can also be driven to emit speckle lasers of different wavelengths as required; each light-emitting element group The 113 can also be driven as needed to emit speckle lasers with different light-emitting areas, etc., which is not limited here. For example, the first light-emitting element group 113a is driven to emit speckle laser light with an intensity of L1, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit speckle laser light with an intensity of L2, and the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser light. The speckle laser with the light intensity of L3, the fourth light-emitting element group 113d is driven to emit the speckle laser with the light intensity of L4. Among them, L1≠L2≠L3≠L4. For another example, the first light-emitting element group 113a is driven to emit speckle laser light with a wavelength of λ1, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit speckle laser light with a wavelength of λ2, and the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser light with a wavelength of λ2. As the speckle laser light of λ3, the fourth light-emitting element group 113d is driven to emit the speckle laser light of wavelength λ4. Among them, λ1≠λ2≠λ3≠λ4. For another example, the first light-emitting element group 113a is driven to emit speckle laser light with an area of S1, the second light-emitting element group 113b is driven to emit speckle laser light with an area of S2, and the third light-emitting element group 113c is driven to emit speckle laser light. It is the speckle laser light of S3, and the fourth light-emitting element group 113d is driven to emit the speckle laser light of the area S4. Among them, S1≠S2≠S3≠S4.

To sum up, in the time-of-flight transmitter 10, the time-of-flight depth module 100, and the electronic device 1000 of the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, the diffractive optical element 13 is used to diffract the speckle laser light emitted by the light-emitting element array 112, which will not emit light. The speckle laser emitted by the element array 112 diffuses into uniformly distributed area array light, and the emitted light from the time-of-flight transmitter 10 is still speckle laser, with relatively concentrated energy and strong energy per unit area, so the action distance is relatively long; On the one hand, the light-emitting element array 112 includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups 113 that emit speckle lasers, which can improve the resolution of the depth map obtained by the time-of-flight depth module 100; on the other hand, the multiple light-emitting element groups 113 can be time-shared Driving to emit speckle laser light, compared with multiple light-emitting element groups 113 emitting speckle laser light at the same time, the current of the light source 11 can be prevented from being too large, and the power consumption of the time-of-flight transmitter 10 can be reduced.

In the description of this specification, reference is made to the terms “certain embodiments”, “one embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “exemplary embodiments”, “examples”, “one embodiment”, “specific examples”, The description of "some examples" or the like means that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiments or examples are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above-mentioned terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the described specific features, structures, materials or characteristics can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise.

Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described above, it can be understood that the foregoing embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art can perform the above-mentioned embodiments within the scope of the present application. For changes, modifications, substitutions and variations, the scope of this application is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

A time-of-flight transmitter, characterized by comprising:

A light source, the light source includes a substrate and a light-emitting element array disposed on the substrate, the light-emitting element array includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups, and the plurality of light-emitting element groups can be time-sharing driven to emit speckle laser light ;with

The diffractive optical element is used to diffract the speckle laser light.
The time-of-flight transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a plurality of regions, and the plurality of light-emitting elements in each of the light-emitting element groups are respectively arranged on the plurality of the regions.
3. The laser transmitter of claim 2, wherein a plurality of the light-emitting elements on each of the regions are used to emit the speckle laser light toward the same angle.
3. The laser transmitter of claim 2, wherein a plurality of the light-emitting elements on each of the regions are respectively used to emit the speckle laser light at different angles.
The time-of-flight transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a plurality of regions, and the plurality of light-emitting elements in each of the light-emitting element groups are correspondingly arranged on one of the regions, so that a plurality of The light-emitting element groups are respectively provided on a plurality of the regions.
The time-of-flight transmitter according to claim 2 or 5, wherein a plurality of the light-emitting element groups are sequentially driven to emit the speckle laser light.
The time-of-flight transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the time-of-flight transmitter further comprises a collimating element, the collimating element is used for collimating the speckle laser, and the diffractive optical element is used for Diffracting the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element.
The time-of-flight transmitter according to claim 7, wherein the collimating element may include one or more collimating lenses, and the surface of each collimating lens may be aspherical, spherical, or Fresnel. Either a mirror surface or a binary optical surface.
The time-of-flight transmitter of claim 7, wherein the speckle laser emitted by the light source has a first divergence angle, and the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element has a second divergence angle, so The second divergence angle is smaller than the first divergence angle.
A time-of-flight depth module, characterized in that it comprises:

Time-of-flight transmitter; and

A time-of-flight receiver for receiving the speckle laser reflected by a target object to obtain a depth map; the time-of-flight transmitter includes a light source and a diffractive optical element, and the light source includes a substrate and a setting A light-emitting element array on the substrate, the light-emitting element array includes a plurality of light-emitting element groups, and the plurality of light-emitting element groups can be time-sharing driven to emit speckle laser light; the diffractive optical element is used for diffractive light The speckle laser.
The time-of-flight depth module according to claim 10, wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of regions, and the plurality of light-emitting elements in each of the light-emitting element groups are respectively arranged on the plurality of the regions.
11. The time-of-flight depth module of claim 11, wherein a plurality of the light-emitting elements on each of the regions are used to emit the speckle laser light at the same angle.
11. The time-of-flight depth module of claim 11, wherein a plurality of the light-emitting elements on each of the regions are respectively used to emit the speckle laser light at different angles.
The time-of-flight depth module of claim 10, wherein the substrate includes a plurality of regions, and the plurality of light-emitting elements in each of the light-emitting element groups are correspondingly arranged on one of the regions, so that more Each of the light-emitting element groups is provided on a plurality of the regions, respectively.
The time-of-flight depth module according to claim 11 or 14, wherein a plurality of the light-emitting element groups are sequentially driven to emit the speckle laser.
The time-of-flight depth module of claim 10, wherein the time-of-flight transmitter further comprises a collimating element, the collimating element is used to collimate the speckle laser, and the diffractive optical element is used After diffracting the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element.
The time-of-flight depth module of claim 16, wherein the collimating element may include one or more collimating lenses, and the surface of each collimating lens may be aspherical, spherical, or Philippine. Either the Niel surface or the binary optical surface.
The time-of-flight depth module of claim 16, wherein the speckle laser emitted by the light source has a first divergence angle, and the speckle laser collimated by the collimating element has a second divergence angle, The second divergence angle is smaller than the first divergence angle.
The time-of-flight depth module of claim 10, wherein the time-of-flight receiver is configured to receive the speckle laser light emitted by the light-emitting element group at each moment and reflected by the target object A frame of sub-depth maps is obtained, and multiple sub-depth maps corresponding to multiple moments are used to merge to form the depth map.
An electronic device, characterized in that it comprises:

The time-of-flight depth module of any one of claims 10-19; and

Shell, the time-of-flight depth module is combined with the shell.