Vertical cavity surface emitting laser arrays for illumination
First Claim
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1. An illumination source comprising:
- a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting laser chips, each chip having a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting laser elements, the elements on each chip generating laser light of a predetermined wavelength and being coupled together so that they can be driven at least in parallel, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser elements being at least 20 μ
m in diameter, each element having multiple lasing filaments, the filaments lasing independently of one another, without temporal coherence;
a power supply coupled to each of the chips, the power supply being at least capable of supplying drive current to all the elements in all of the chips in parallel; and
a controller coupled to the power supply for controlling the light output of the chips.
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Abstract
Arrays of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers ("VCSEL"s) used for illumination in both infra-red and visible light wavelengths are described. By using several different arrays, each array generating light of a different wavelength, a replacement for conventional lighting sources can be obtained. The present invention offers lower power consumption and longer operating lifetime than known lighting technologies.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. An illumination source comprising:
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a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting laser chips, each chip having a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting laser elements, the elements on each chip generating laser light of a predetermined wavelength and being coupled together so that they can be driven at least in parallel, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser elements being at least 20 μ
m in diameter, each element having multiple lasing filaments, the filaments lasing independently of one another, without temporal coherence;a power supply coupled to each of the chips, the power supply being at least capable of supplying drive current to all the elements in all of the chips in parallel; and a controller coupled to the power supply for controlling the light output of the chips. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An illumination source comprising:
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a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting laser chips, each chip having a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting laser elements, the elements on each chip generating laser light of a predetermined wavelength and being coupled together so that they can be driven at least in parallel, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser elements being separated form one another by a distance of between 20 μ
m and 50 μ
m;a power supply coupled to each of the chips, the power supply being at least capable of supplying drive current to all the elements in all of the chips in parallel; and a controller coupled to the power supply for controlling the light output of the chips. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification