The present application is a U.S. National Phase of International Application No. PCT/JP2019/040829 entitled “PRISM LENS, LIGHT DEFLECTION DEVICE, AND LIDAR APPARATUS,” and filed on Oct. 17, 2019. International Application No. PCT/JP2019/040829 claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-203714 filed on Oct. 30, 2018. The entire contents of each of the above-listed applications are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
The present invention relates to a prism lens, a light deflection device, and a LiDAR apparatus.
A laser radar or Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) apparatus using laser measurement that performs three-dimensional imaging on surroundings and acquires a distance to a surrounding object as a two-dimensional image have been developed. This technical field is used for automatic driving of automobiles, creation of three-dimensional maps, etc., and the basic technologies thereof are also applicable to laser printers, laser displays, laser processing machines, etc.
In this technical field, a light beam is applied to an object, the reflected light reflected and returned from the object is detected, information on the distance is obtained from the time difference and frequency difference thereof, and the light beam is scanned two-dimensionally so as to obtain wide-angle three-dimensional information.
A light deflection device is used in the light beam scanning. Traditionally used are mechanical mechanisms such as rotation of the entire device, mechanical mirrors such as polygonal mirrors (polygon mirrors) and galvanometer mirrors, and small integrated mirrors using micro machine technology (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology). However, since these mechanical mechanisms have problems associated with their large sizes, increased costs, and instability on a moving object that oscillates, researches have been widely conducted on non-mechanical light deflection devices in recent years.
As a non-mechanical light deflection device, devices of a phased array type and a diffraction grating type that realizes light deflection by changing the wavelength of light or the refractive index of the device have been proposed. Here, a phased array type light deflection device has a problem that it is very difficult to adjust the phase of a large number of light radiators arranged in an array and it is difficult to form high-quality sharp light beams. Meanwhile, a diffraction grating type light deflection device can readily form sharp beams but has a problem that the optical deflection angle is small.
To address the problem of a small light deflection angle, the inventor of the present invention has proposed a technique of increasing the light deflection angle by coupling a slow light waveguide to a diffraction mechanism such as a diffraction grating (Patent Literature 1). Slow light, which is generated in a photonic nanostructure such as a photonic crystal waveguide, is characterized by the fact that it has a low group velocity and causes significant change in the propagation coefficient due to slight change in the wavelength and the refractive index of the waveguide. When a diffraction mechanism is installed inside or immediately near the slow light waveguide, the slow light waveguide is coupled to the diffraction mechanism and becomes a leaky waveguide, which radiates light to free space. At this point, significant change in the propagation constant affects the deflection angle of the radiated light, as a result of which a large deflection angle is realized. A cylindrical lens is used to suppress the spread in the right-left direction with respect to the direction along the waveguide of the light radiated from the photonic crystal waveguide.
The light deflection device according to Patent Literature 1 above cannot radiate light in the directly upward direction (at a radiation angle θ=0°). The photonic crystal waveguide with a diffraction mechanism causes the propagated light in a diagonally upper direction to be radiated due to Bragg diffraction. Here, waves of θ=0° that is perpendicular to the waveguide satisfy the diffraction condition when propagated light forms standing waves that reciprocate in the front and back directions. Since, in such standing waves, a positive phase and a negative phase of an electric field of the propagated light exist in the same manner, the far field of the radiated light beam is cancelled in principle. In fact, when the radiation angle θ is close to 0°, the intensity of the radiated beam is rapidly weakened. Therefore, the light radiated at such an angle cannot be used. The cylindrical lens according to Patent Literature 1 only suppresses the spread in the right-left direction with respect to the direction along the waveguide of the light radiated from the photonic crystal waveguide, and it is difficult to deflect light in an oblique direction radiated from the waveguide to the directly upward direction.
The cylindrical lens according to Patent Literature 1 also has a problem that, when the radiation angle of light changes, the focal length changes because the radius of curvature of the cylindrical lens viewed from the radiated light changes, and the collimating condition is thus displaced.
The present invention has been made in view of the problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a prism lens, a light deflection device and a LiDAR apparatus that can deflect light in an oblique direction radiated from a waveguide to a direction in vicinity of the directly upward direction.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a prism lens, a light deflection device and a LiDAR apparatus by which a collimating condition is not easily displaced even when the radiation angle of light changes.
A prism lens according to the present invention includes a prism lens body having a set of facing planes a mutual distance of which decreases or increases from one end to another end, and at least one cylindrical lens integral to at least one plane of the set of planes. The cylindrical lens is formed such that a cross section shape thereof at a plane perpendicular to a direction of a slope of a plane of the prism lens body having the cylindrical lens thereon with respect to the other plane of the set of planes has a certain curved shape to be convex against the plane having the cylindrical lens thereon.
Preferably, two prism lens bodies having the cylindrical lenses thereon are coupled such that slope directions of the sets of planes of the prism lens bodies are symmetrical.
Preferably, the cylindrical lens is formed on both planes of the set of planes.
Preferably, the prism lens is configured such that light radiated from a waveguide having a diffraction grating formed by periodically arranging a low-refractive-index region on a high-refractive-index member enters from one plane of the set of planes and exits from the other plane of the set of planes.
A light deflection device according to the present invention includes a prism lens and a waveguide having a diffraction grating formed by periodically arranging a low-refractive-index region on a high-refractive-index member.
A LiDAR apparatus according to the present invention includes a light deflection device, a light source configured to cause light to enter the light deflection device, and a photodetector unit configured to detect light received by the light deflection device.
According to the present invention, a prism lens, a light deflection device and a LiDAR apparatus that can deflect light in an oblique direction radiated from a waveguide to a direction in vicinity of the directly upward direction can be provided.
Overview of embodiments of the present invention is described below with reference to drawings.
The light deflection device 1A has a photonic crystal waveguide 2 and a cylindrical lens 10. The cylindrical lens 10 is provided above the photonic crystal waveguide 2 (on a side where light is radiated from the photonic crystal waveguide 2). Since the configuration of the photonic crystal waveguide 2 is substantially the same as the configuration of the photonic crystal waveguide according to Patent Literature 1 above, outline thereof is only described. The photonic crystal waveguide 2 has a diffraction grating 4 and a waveguide 6. The diffraction grating 4 periodically has a low-refractive-index region on a high-refractive-index member made of a semiconductor such as Si. Light enters to the waveguide 6 from a direction of incidence (front direction) so that the waveguide 6 propagates the light.
It is assumed here that the direction of incidence of light on the waveguide 6 is an X axis direction, and a vertically upper direction (directly upper direction) is a Z axis direction. A direction perpendicular to the ZX plane is a Y axis direction (side direction). The swing angle in the right-left direction viewed from the front direction is Φ (Φ direction). In other words, the Φ direction is a direction on the YZ plane. The swing angle in the right-left direction viewed from the side direction is θ (θ direction). In other words, the θ direction is a direction on the ZX plane. The photonic crystal waveguide 2 deflects light to the θ direction by changing the wavelength of the light or the refractive index of the photonic crystal waveguide 2 (diffraction grating 4) and deflects light to the Φ direction by switching the waveguide 6 to change its position relative to the cylindrical lens 10.
The waveguide 6 is formed along the X axis direction (the depth direction viewed from the front direction) at a part where the diffraction grating 4 is not provided. Light that enters to the waveguide 6 is propagated through the waveguide 6 in the X axis direction and is radiated to an upper direction (Z axis direction) of the waveguide 6. In this case, as shown in
The cylindrical lens 10 has a shape that is uniform in the direction along the waveguide 6 (the direction of propagation, that is, the X axis direction) as shown in
Because of such a shape of the cylindrical lens 10, the spread in the D direction of the radiated light Lr is suppressed. In other words, through the cylindrical lens 10, the radiated light Lr is collimated and is converted to parallel light (collimated beams). Thus, the radiated light Lr that is parallel light is radiated far away in the Z axis direction. It is assumed here that, for the radiation angle θ of the radiated light Lr from the waveguide 6, the position of the cylindrical lens 10 is adjusted such that the radiated light Lr radiated at a radiation angle (θa) in a certain θ direction (see
Next, problems of the light deflection device 1A shown in
On the other hand, when the radiation angle θ is increased, since the radiated light Lr crosses the upper surface 10a of the cylindrical lens 10 in an oblique direction, the radius of curvature of the upper surface 10a is small with respect to the direction of travel of the radiated light Lr. This is also apparent from the fact that, regarding a cross section plane of a cylinder cut at a certain plane, the radius of curvature of the cross section plane cut at a plane tilted from a plane perpendicular to the center axis of a cylinder is smaller than the radius of the circle at the bottom though the radius of curvature of the cross section plane cut at a plane perpendicular to the center axis of the cylinder is equal to the radius of the circle at the bottom.
In this way, as the radius of curvature decreases, the focal length decreases, which causes displacement of the focus. In other words, because the condition for enabling to collimate the radiated light Lr is displaced, the radiated light Lr is not collimated even through the cylindrical lens 10 passes through, as shown in
Meanwhile, the light deflection device according to embodiments can solve the aforementioned first problem and second problem in the manner as described below. More specifically, the problems can be solved by adopting a prism lens having a cylindrical lens integral to at least one of a set of facing planes that are not parallel to each other instead of the cylindrical lens 10. Here, the “set of facing planes that are not parallel to each other” is a set of facing planes a mutual distance of which increases or decreases from one end to another end.
The prism lens 20 has a prism lens body 22 and cylindrical lenses 24 and 26. The prism lens body 22 has a set of facing planes 22a and 22b (first plane) that are not parallel to each other. Here, the lower plane (on the photonic crystal waveguide 2 side) of the prism lens body 22 is the plane 22a, and the upper plane (on the far side from the photonic crystal waveguide 2) is the plane 22b. Therefore, the planes 22a and 22b are a set of facing planes a mutual distance of which decreases or increases from one end to another end thereof. For example, in
The cylindrical lens 24 is integral to the plane 22a (first plane). The cylindrical lens 26 is integral to the plane 22b (first plane). Therefore, the prism lens 20 is configured such that the cylindrical lenses 24 and 26 are provided on the set of facing planes 22a and 22b that are not parallel to each other. It should be noted that, since the cylindrical lens 24 is integral to the plane 22a, the boundary between the prism lens body 22 and the cylindrical lens 24 is not required to be visually checked by, for example, cutting the prism lens 20. In the same manner, since the cylindrical lens 26 is integral to the plane 22b, the boundary of the prism lens body 22 and the cylindrical lens 26 is not required to be visually checked by, for example, cutting the prism lens 20.
Here, the cylindrical lens 24 is formed such that a cross section shape thereof at a plane Pa perpendicular to the direction of the slope (indicated by the arrow A in
Also, the cylindrical lens 26 is formed such that a cross section shape thereof at a plane Pb perpendicular to the direction of the slope (indicated by the arrow B in
By being formed as described above, the prism lens 20 functions as a prism that refracts light when viewed from the side direction and functions as a lens combining the two cylindrical lenses 24 and 26 when viewed from the front direction. Therefore, use of the prism lens 20 formed as described above enables the radiated light Lr to be collimated (which suppresses the spread of the radiated light Lr) even when the radiation angle θ is changed (which solves the first problem). Furthermore, the use of the prism lens 20 formed as described above enables the light in an oblique direction radiated from the waveguide 6 to be deflected to light in a direction in vicinity of the directly upward direction (output angle θ′=0°) (which solves the second problem).
A state is considered in which, referring to
Next, a condition for acquiring an input angle of θ0+Δθ is considered. In this case, since the length L1 from the light source to the lens is slightly longer than that with θ0 and the length L2 in the lens is slightly shorter than that with θ0, they act in the directions that cancel each other. Also, since the input angle to the cylindrical lens 24 is slightly large, the curvature to the direction of input to the cylindrical lens 24 is larger than that with θ0 (the radius of curvature is smaller than R′). Conversely, since the angle of input to the cylindrical lens 26 is slightly small, the curvature to the direction of input to the cylindrical lens 26 is small (the radius of curvature is larger than R′). Therefore, the curvatures (the radii of curvatures) also act in the directions that cancel each other. Therefore, since displacement of the focus is suppressed, the collimating condition with θ0 can be maintained as a result. The same is true for the case where θ0−Δθ, and displacement of the focus is suppressed even when the input angle is changed to either direction. Therefore, the collimating condition with θ0 can be maintained. In other words, by positioning the light source with θ0 to match the focus, the position of the light source and the focus are substantially matched even with θ0±Δθ.
However, a certain range of Δθ satisfies the collimating condition. When θ0+Δθ in
As shown in
In other words, since the condition described above with reference to
The fact that displacement of the focus is suppressed is now described schematically by using mathematical expressions. It is assumed that it is set such that the output beam is collimated with a certain radiation angle θ0. It is further assumed that the radius of curvature in the cylindrical lens 24 with respect to the direction that the light radiated at a certain radiation angle θ enters the cylindrical lens 24 is r1 (≤R1), and the radius of curvature with respect to the direction that the light enters the cylindrical lens 26 is r2 (≤R2). The length in this case from the light source to the lens is L1 and the length in the lens is L2. In this case, the lens maker's equation is expressed as in the following Expression (1).
where f is a focal length, and n is a refractive index of the prism lens 20.
From the expression for the thick lens focal length, L1 is expressed as in the following Expression (2).
From Expression (1) and Expression (2), when r1=r2=r0, L1 is expressed as in the following Expressions (3) and (4).
If Expressions (3) and (4) are satisfied, light can be collimated.
As the radiation angle θ increases (θ1→θ2 in
Here, it is apparent from Expression (3) that L1 on the left side corresponds to the first term within the parentheses on the right side. Thus, the following Expression (6) is derived, and if ΔL1, ΔL2 and Δr behave to satisfy it, the collimating state is maintained even when the radiation angle θ of light changes. Since ΔL1, ΔL2 and Δr are all positive, ΔL1, ΔL2 and Δr can behave so as to satisfy Expression (6) even when the radiation angle θ of light changes.
Here, all of L1,ΔL1, L2,ΔL2,Δr and A can be expressed by the radiation angle θ of the light, the upper and lower angles Θ, Θ′ of the prism lens 20, the refractive index n of the prism lens 20, the thickness in the Z axis direction of the prism lens 20, and the distance from the light source to the prism lens 20, in
Next, a second embodiment is described.
More specifically, the prism lens 30 is formed by mutually coupling planes having a larger area (planes having longer distances between the plane 22a and the plane 22b) of two planes substantially parallel to the YZ plane of the prism lens 20. Thus, the prism lens 30 has a shape that bends in vicinity of the center in the X axis direction. In other words, the prism lens 30 according to the second embodiment is formed by combining the prism lens bodies 22 each having the cylindrical lenses 24 and 26 such that the slope directions of the planes 22a and 22b of the prism lens bodies 22 are symmetrical to each other.
The prism lens 30 has a prism lens 20A and a prism lens 20B. The prism lens 20A and the prism lens 20B have substantially the same shape as that the prism lens 20 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the prism lens 20A has a prism lens body 22A, a cylindrical lens 24A. and a cylindrical lens 26A. The prism lens 20B has a prism lens body 22B, a cylindrical lens 24B, and a cylindrical lens 26B. The prism lens bodies 22A and 22B correspond to the prism lens body 22. The cylindrical lenses 24A and 24B correspond to the cylindrical lens 24. The cylindrical lenses 26A and 26B correspond to the cylindrical lens 26.
The cylindrical lens 24A is integral to the plane 22a of the prism lens body 22A. The cylindrical lens 26A is integral to the plane 22b of the prism lens body 22A. The cylindrical lens 24B is integral to the plane 22a of the prism lens body 22B. The cylindrical lens 26B is integral to the plane 22b of the prism lens body 22B. Here, the slope direction of the plane 22a of the prism lens body 22A and the slope direction of the plane 22a of the prism lens body 22B are symmetrical about a boundary plane Pc between the prism lens 20A and the prism lens 20B. In the same manner, the slope direction of the plane 22b of the prism lens body 22A and the slope direction of the plane 22b of the prism lens body 22B are symmetrical about the boundary plane Pc between the prism lens 20A and the prism lens 20B.
The refractive index of the prism lens 30 is n=1.5. The slope angle of the plane 22a is Θ=5.5°, and the slope angle of the plane 22b is Θ′=24.6°. The radius of curvature of the cylindrical lens 24 is R1=10.2 mm, and the radius of curvature of the cylindrical lens 26 is R2=10.2 mm. The focal length of the prism lens 30 is f=11.38 mm. The entire length (length in the X axis direction) of the prism lens 30 is D1=16 mm, and its height at the center is H1=12.88 mm. The distance from the waveguide 6 to the center of the prism lens 30 is L0=6.86 mm. The radiation opening width of the waveguide 6 is W0=1.0 mm and is ±0.5 mm about X=0. The radiation angles θ are 10, 20, 30°. The radiation spread angle is ΔΦ=±15° (=30°). A simulation was performed under these conditions.
In this case, the beam width of the output light is Wb=6.1 mm. The output angle θ′ in the negative end part of the radiation opening width with θ=10° is 0°. The output angle θ′ in the positive end part of the radiation opening width with θ=30° is 20°. When the full width at half maximum (half width) of the distribution of the spread angle Φ is δΦ′, the full widths at half maximum in the negative end part of the radiation opening width with θ=10, 20, 300 are δΦ′=0.10, 0.01, 0.10°, respectively. In the same manner, the full widths at half maximum in the positive end part of the radiation opening width with θ=10, 20, 300 are δΦ′=0.04, 0.11, 0.04°, respectively. Here, when the cylindrical lens 10 shown in
It should be noted that the prism lens according to this embodiment is formed to have a shape that changes in the direction along the direction of light propagation (X axis direction). On the other hand, as shown in
The refractive index of the prism lens 30 is n=1.5. The slope angle of the plane 22a (slope angle of the ridge line of the cylindrical lens 24) is Θ=5.5°, and the slope angle of the plane 22b (slope angle of the ridge line of the cylindrical lens 26) is Θ′=24.6°. The radius of curvature of the cylindrical lens 24 is R1=12.75 mm, and the radius of curvature of the cylindrical lens 26 is R2=12.75 mm. The focal length of the prism lens 30 is f=12.93 mm. The entire length (length in the X axis direction) of the prism lens 30 is D1=23 mm, and its height at the center is H1=17.63 mm. The length in the width direction (length in the Y axis direction) of the prism lens 30 is D2=24 mm. The difference in height between the bottommost part of the prism lens 30 and the waveguide 6 is H0=7.72 mm. The difference in height between the highest part and the bottommost part of the prism lens 30 is H2=18.73 mm. The distance from the waveguide 6 to the center of the prism lens 30 is L0=8.82 mm. The radiation opening width of the waveguide 6 is W0=1.0 mm and is ±0.5 mm about X=0. The radiation angles θ are 10, 20, 30°. The radiation spread angle is δΦ=±15° (=30°). A simulation was performed under these conditions. In this case, as shown in
Next, a third embodiment is described. According to the aforementioned first embodiment and so on, a cylindrical lens is provided on planes on both sides of a set of facing planes that are not parallel to each other of the prism lens body. On the other hand, the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment and so on in that a cylindrical lens is provided on one plane of a set of facing planes that are not parallel to each other of the prism lens body.
The cylindrical lens 56 is integral to the plane 52b (first plane). Therefore, the prism lens 50 has the cylindrical lens 56 on one (plane 52b) of a set of facing planes that are not parallel to each other. It should be noted that, since the cylindrical lens 56 is integral to the plane 52b, the boundary between the prism lens body 52 and the cylindrical lens 56 is not required to be able to visually check by, for example, cutting the prism lens 50.
Here, the cylindrical lens 56 is formed such that the cross section shape thereof at a plane Pd perpendicular to the direction of the slope (indicated by the arrow C in
By being formed as described above, the prism lens 50 functions as a prism that refracts light when viewed from the side direction. Therefore, use of the prism lens 50 formed as described above enables light in an oblique direction radiated from the waveguide 6 to be deflected in a direction in vicinity of the directly upward direction (output angle θ′=0°) (which solves the second problem). Also, the prism lens 50 functions as a lens having the cylindrical lens 56 when viewed from the front direction. Therefore, like the cylindrical lens 10 shown in
Design conditions for the prism lens 50 shown in
Next, a fourth embodiment is described. According to the fourth embodiment, an example of an apparatus including the light deflection device 1 having the prism lens according to the first to fourth embodiments is described. Hereinafter, an example in which the light deflection device 1 is applied to a LiDAR apparatus is described. However, the prism lens according to the first to fourth embodiments is applicable to apparatuses other than a LiDAR apparatus.
When the light of the output beam reflected by the ranging target 90 and returning therefrom is received by the light deflection device 1, the received reflected light is input to the photodetector unit 120. Thus, the photodetector unit 120 detects the reflected light. The LiDAR apparatus 100 then calculates a distance to the ranging target 90 based on a time difference between a time when the output beam is output and a time when the reflected light is received or a frequency drift with passage of time of the frequency chirping light.
The photodetector unit 120 may be provided at one end of a path branched from an input waveguide between the laser light source 110 and the light deflection device 1. An optical filter may be provided between the light deflection device 1 and the photodetector unit 120. In this case, the reflected light that is received by the light deflection device 1 may be propagated to the photodetector unit 120 after passing through the optical filter. The laser light source 110 may have the functionality of the photodetector unit 120. In this case, separate provision of the photodetector unit 120 is not necessary.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments but can be changed as required without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, according to the aforementioned embodiments, the cylindrical lens has a shape the cross section of which has a curved shape being an arc. However, the cylindrical lens is not limited to have such a shape. The curved shape of the cross section is not required to be an arc if the cylindrical lens has the functionality of a lens. In other words, the curved shape of the cylindrical lens is not required to have a shape being a part of a side of a cylinder.
According to the first and second embodiments, the slope angle Θ of the lower plane 22a of the prism lens body 22 is smaller than the slope angle Θ′ of the upper plane 22b. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Θ>Θ′ may be satisfied. The prism lens may have a shape acquired by vertically inverting the prism lens 20 shown in
The subject application claims the priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-203714 filed Oct. 30, 2018, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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2018-203714 | Oct 2018 | JP | national |
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WO2020/090487 | 5/7/2020 | WO | A |
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