Laser diode assembly including a cylindrical lens
First Claim
1. A laser assembly for providing a beam of laser radiation, comprising:
- a laser diode having a rectangular emitting aperture defining a first axis along its width and a second axis normal to the first axis along its length; and
,a cylindrical microlens bonded to the output facet of said laser diode, said cylindrical microlens comprising an optical fiber having a cylindrical axis positioned parallel to said second axis, wherein;
the boundary of the cross section of said microlens perpendicular to said cylindrical axis includes a portion shaped approximately like a curved conic section, wherein;
said portion has a non-zero eccentricity.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a diffraction limited, high numerical aperture (fast) cylindrical microlens. The method for making the microlens is adaptable to produce a cylindrical lens that has almost any shape on its optical surfaces. The cylindrical lens may have a shape, such as elliptical or hyperbolic, designed to transform some particular given input light distribution into some desired output light distribution. In the method, the desired shape is first formed in a glass preform. Then, the preform is heated to the minimum drawing temperature and a fiber is drawn from it. The cross-sectional shape of the fiber bears a direct relation to the shape of the preform from which it was drawn. During the drawing process, the surfaces become optically smooth due to fire polishing.
96 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A laser assembly for providing a beam of laser radiation, comprising:
-
a laser diode having a rectangular emitting aperture defining a first axis along its width and a second axis normal to the first axis along its length; and
,a cylindrical microlens bonded to the output facet of said laser diode, said cylindrical microlens comprising an optical fiber having a cylindrical axis positioned parallel to said second axis, wherein; the boundary of the cross section of said microlens perpendicular to said cylindrical axis includes a portion shaped approximately like a curved conic section, wherein; said portion has a non-zero eccentricity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A laser assembly for providing a beam of laser radiation that is substantially collimated along at least one axis, comprising:
-
a laser diode bar having an emitting aperture with a narrow portion defining a fast axis and a substantially longer portion defining a long axis; and
,a cylindrical microlens bonded to the output facet of said laser diode, said cylindrical microlens comprising an optical fiber having a shape to substantially collimate the fast axis component of the laser beam emitted from said aperture, wherein; said shape includes a cross-sectional boundary shaped approximately like a curved conic section, wherein said boundary has a non-zero eccentricity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A cylindrical microlens for collimating the output of a laser diode, said cylindrical microlens comprising an optical fiber having:
-
a first optical surface having a shape matched to a facet of a laser diode for bonding thereto; and
,a second optical surface positioned in an opposed relationship to the first optical surface, said second optical surface having an elliptical shape along the boundary of its cross section, wherein said second surface is positioned between 50 and 1000 microns of the first surface, said ellipse having a focal point positioned outside the lens and adjacent to the first surface. - View Dependent Claims (17)
-
Specification