Arrangement for producing a conversion between light rays having a small beam cross-section and a light ray having a large beam cross-section and a method of making the arrangement

• US 5,963,687 A
• Filed: 09/29/1997
• Issued: 10/05/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Schneider, Hartmut
• Primary Examiner(s): Palmer, Phan T. H.
• Application Number:
  US08/939,525
• Time in Patent Office: 736 Days
• Field of Search: 385/31, 385/14, 385/15, 385/20, 385/21, 385/24
• US Class Current: 385/31
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0028 refractive and reflective surfaces, e.g. non-imaging catadioptric systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0057 in the form of a laser diode array, e.g. laser diode bar semiconductor laser arrays with beam combining arrangement H01S5/4012
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/1215 Splitter
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12195 Tapering
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/09 Beam shaping, e.g. changing the cross-sectional area, not otherwise provided for adapting the beam shape of a laser diode G02B19/0052; adapting the beam shape of an LED G02B19/0061; coupling into light guides using intermediate optical elements G02B6/4204; beam shaping specially adapted for lasers H01S3/005
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0905 Dividing and/or superposing multiple light beams
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0994 Fibers, light pipes optical fibers per se G02B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/125 Bends, branchings or intersections
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/132 by deposition of thin films
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4206 Optical features G02B6/4207, G02B6/421 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/425 Optical features semiconductor laser arrays H01S5/40; hybrid LED arrays H01L25/0753; monolithic LED arrays H01L27/153

Abstract

An arrangement which converts a plurality of light beams having a small beam cross-section into a light beam having a larger cross-section comprises a plurality of waveguide cores with each core having a first end face which is oblong and arranged for receiving light from each of the light rays having the smaller beam cross-section and each core has a second end face which are arranged together and extend in a different direction than the first end faces for coupling light with the beam having the large beam cross-section. Preferably, each of the cores is fashioned in the form of a bisphenoid so that the first and the second core end faces are oblong in directions extending perpendicular to one another.

Claims

1. An arrangement for producing a conversion between a plurality of mutually separate light rays with a respectively small beam cross-section and a light ray having a larger beam cross-section, said arrangement having an optical waveguide core for each of the light rays having a small beam cross-section, each of said optical waveguide cores having a first core end face and a second core end face with a longitudinal core axis extending between the two end faces, the first core end faces having an oblong configuration in a first direction and being arranged in the first direction extending parallel to a plane allocated to the common waveguide cores for receiving light rays having the smaller beam cross-section and the second end faces of the cores being arranged for coupling light into the light ray having the larger beam cross-section, the improvements comprising each of the second end faces being fashioned to have an oblong shape extending in a second direction different from said first direction, and the core cross-section of each of the waveguide cores essentially continuously changing along the longitudinal core axis from the geometric shape of the first core end face into the geometric shape of the second core end face.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the second direction of the second core end faces is common for each of the waveguide cores.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the second core end faces of the waveguide cores are arranged together in a gap-free arrangement in an apparatus plane extending perpendicular to a common plane and in the first direction parallel to the common plane.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the second core end faces of each waveguide core are arranged to extend perpendicular to the longitudinal core axis of the waveguide core.

5. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the first core end faces of the waveguide cores are arranged at a greater axial spacing from one another compared to the second core end faces of the waveguide cores which are positioned close together, and the longitudinal core axes of each of the waveguide cores extends in a curved path between the first core end face and the second core end faces, and is parallel to one another at each of the core end faces.

6. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of the first core faces of the waveguide cores are arranged in an apparatus plane extending perpendicular to the common plane.

7. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the core cross-section of each light waveguide core exhibits an essentially constant cross-sectional area along the longitudinal core axis.

8. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the first and second core end faces of each waveguide core are essentially elongated with a rectangular shape and the core cross-section of each of the waveguide cores is essentially rectangular along the longitudinal core axis.

9. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of the waveguide cores is provided with means for facilitating a mode mixing in the waveguide core.

10. An arrangement according claim 1, wherein each of the light rays having the small beam cross-section is generated by respective line of a semiconductor light sources arranged side-by-side that extend in a first direction parallel to said plane allocated in common for the waveguide cores and are coupled to the first core end faces of each of the waveguide cores and that the second core end faces of each of the waveguide cores elongated in the second direction are dimensioned so that the length are arranged in such a close proximity to one another they essentially fit into the core end face of a waveguide core of a multimode waveguide and so that the light rays having the larger beam cross-section coupled out in common from the second core end faces of the waveguide is coupled into the multimode waveguide.

11. In an arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the plane allocated in common to the waveguide cores is defined by a surface of the substrate on which the waveguide cores are constructed.