Miniature structured light illuminator
First Claim
1. A compact structured light optical module comprising:
- a structured light source including;
an array of surface emitting light sources to generate one or more light beams in a pattern determined according to the array geometry and size, wherein said array of surface emitting light sources is one selected from a group consisting of a VCSEL array and a RC-LED array, and wherein the surface emitting light sources are configured with differently shaped current confinement apertures to generate light patterns having different shapes, so as to alter microstructure of the structured light illumination pattern by selectively superimposing said light patterns having different shapes;
an array of microlenses integrated with the array of light sources, wherein a central axis of said one or more microlens is positioned to have a pre-determined lateral displacement with respect to a central axis of the corresponding one or more light beams, such that said each one or more microlens deflects corresponding said one or more light beams proportionally by a respective pre-determined angle along a different axis with respect to undeflected central axis of the one or more light beams to generate a structured light illumination pattern, andone or more optical elements for projecting the structured light illumination pattern at a distant plane.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A miniature structured light illuminator is provided. The miniature structured light illuminator uses a semiconductor surface emitting array including VCSEL or RC-LED array and an array of microlens elements to generate a wide range of structured light illumination patterns. The emission beam from a surface emitter array may be selectively directed, steered, focused or expanded, by applying a lateral displacement of the microlens array, such that centers of the emission beam and microlens array are misaligned. Emitted beams may be directed through small optical components to project the structured light pattern to a distant plane. The surface emitting arrays may be configured in addressable form to be activated separately for continuous or pulsed operation with very fast pulses having <100 ps risetime. A compact structured light illuminator module with projection optics is provided in very small physical size (˜6×6×3 mm3) suitable to configure in a handheld device.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A compact structured light optical module comprising:
a structured light source including; an array of surface emitting light sources to generate one or more light beams in a pattern determined according to the array geometry and size, wherein said array of surface emitting light sources is one selected from a group consisting of a VCSEL array and a RC-LED array, and wherein the surface emitting light sources are configured with differently shaped current confinement apertures to generate light patterns having different shapes, so as to alter microstructure of the structured light illumination pattern by selectively superimposing said light patterns having different shapes; an array of microlenses integrated with the array of light sources, wherein a central axis of said one or more microlens is positioned to have a pre-determined lateral displacement with respect to a central axis of the corresponding one or more light beams, such that said each one or more microlens deflects corresponding said one or more light beams proportionally by a respective pre-determined angle along a different axis with respect to undeflected central axis of the one or more light beams to generate a structured light illumination pattern, and one or more optical elements for projecting the structured light illumination pattern at a distant plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A compact structured light optical module comprising:
a structured light source including; an array of surface emitting light sources to generate one or more light beams in a pattern determined according to the array geometry and size, wherein said array of surface emitting light sources is one selected from a group consisting of a VC SEL array and a RC-LED array; an array of microlenses integrated with the array of light sources, wherein a central axis of said one or more microlens is positioned to have a pre-determined lateral displacement with respect to a central axis of the corresponding one or more light beams to deflect corresponding said one or more light beams by a respective pre-determined angle, and wherein the direction and extent of said pre-determined lateral displacement of the each one or more microlens in the array is determined according to their respective position relative to the center of the array of surface emitting light sources, such that the deflection angle achieved for said one or more light beams changes progressively and proportionally along a different axis with respect to undeflected central axis of the one or more light beams to generate the structured light illumination pattern having a desired size and shape; and one or more optical elements for projecting the structured light illumination pattern at a distant plane. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of generating a structured light illumination pattern, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a structured light illumination source including an array of one or more VCSEL or RC-LED devices for generating one or more light beams in a pattern determined according to the array geometry and size, wherein said step of generating the structured light illumination pattern includes a further step of generating a desired microstructure effected through generating and superposing, differently shaped light patterns by configuring differently shaped current confinement apertures in VCSEL or RC-LED devices of said surface emitting light source; integrating the array of surface emitting light sources with an array of microlenses wherein said step of integrating includes a further step of positioning a central axis of said one or more microlens in the array to have a pre-determined lateral displacement with respect to a central axis of corresponding one or more light beams emitted from the array of surface emitting light sources for deflecting proportionally, said one or more light beams by a desired respective pre-determined angle along a different axis with respect to undeflected central axis of the one or more light beams, and generating a structured light illumination pattern of a desired shape, size and microstructure. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification