Patent Application
20220360047
Head mounted displays and optical projectors include a light source which may include one or more LEDs or one or more lasers. LEDs and lasers have different characteristics and hence their use provides different advantages and disadvantages. For example, LEDs output light with a wide spectral bandwidth but are relatively inefficient. In comparison, the lasers are more efficient, but their output typically has a very narrow spectral bandwidth which can impair image quality (e.g. due to interference effects) and also the peak wavelength varies with temperature. The spectral bandwidth of a laser may be broadened by operating them in fast pulsed mode.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known laser diodes.
The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its sole purpose is to present a selection of concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
A laser chip is described which comprises a plurality of gain areas. Each gain area comprises a ridge waveguide and a wavelength locking element, where the wavelength locking element in a gain area defines the output wavelength characteristics of visible light emitted from that gain area and adjacent gain areas comprise different wavelength locking elements.
Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The present description will be better understood from the following detailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings.
The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present examples are constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the examples and the sequence of operations for constructing and operating the examples. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples
Described herein is a laser chip having a wide spectral bandwidth in the visible light range. The laser chip comprises a plurality of gain areas which are integrally formed on the same substrate (i.e. the same wafer) as a single chip. Each gain area comprises a ridge waveguide (RWG) and a wavelength locking element Each wavelength locking element comprises a grating-based structure and different wavelength locking elements comprise different grating-based structures such that the wavelength profile of the output light from at least adjacent gain areas is different and in some examples, the wavelength profile of the light output from each gain area is different from all other gain areas in the laser chip. The wavelength profiles of the light output from each gain area are all in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum and in various examples, the wavelength profiles of the light output from each gain area in a single chip are all in the same color region of the visible spectrum (e.g. all in one of the yellow, red, green or blue regions of the visible spectrum) but at different (e.g. offset) wavelengths within that same color region (e.g. at wavelengths offset by 2 nm from each other).
Each gain area comprises a wavelength locking element 108, 208, 308 which uses a grating-based structure (and hence is frequency selective) and three different example implementations are shown in
In the example of
In the example of
In the example of
In a further example, which is a variation on that shown in
The grating-based structures which form the wavelength locking elements 108, 208, 308 may be formed in different ways and an example is shown in
By including multiple gain areas and wavelength locking elements 108, 208, 308 centered on different wavelengths within the visible spectrum (and in some examples, within the same color band of the visible spectrum) in the same laser chip, the resultant laser chip (which is a single element, formed together on the same wafer) has a broader output spectrum, as shown in
In any of the examples described above, the grating-based structures may be chirped (i.e. such that the periodicity of the grating is not constant but changes over the length of the grating-based structure) to broaden the output wavelength range of the gain area.
Where such a laser chip is used in a head mounted display or projector system, the spectral broadening improves the projected image quality whilst still providing the improved operating efficiency (e.g. compared to using LEDs).
In the examples shown in
In other examples, the plurality of outputs (one from each gain area) may be combined into a single output beam before being output from the laser chip. As shown in
The integrated laser chips 600, 700 shown in
In order to avoid a secondary cavity within the integrated laser chips 600, 700, the front facet 606 of the laser chip 600 may be angled or have an antireflective coating. In addition or instead, the single output waveguide 703 within the combiner element 704 may be angled as it approaches the front facet 706, as shown in
Instead of integrally forming a gain section 602 and a passive combiner section 604, 704 (as shown in
The gain/modulator section 904, 1004 is an active section (unlike the combiner sections 604, 704) which provides gain and/or modulation of the input light (e.g. the light output by the gain section 602). The gain/modulator section 904, 1004 is electrically isolated (within the laser chip 900, 1000) from the gain section 602, to provide independent control. The control of the part of the gain/modulator section 904, 1004 that relates to each gain portion (e.g. each RWG) in the gain section 602 may be independent, so that the gain/modulation can be independently controlled for each output beam, or there may be only common controls for the gain/modulator section 904, 1004 such that each output beam undergoes gain/modulation in the same way within the gain/modulator section 904, 1004.
In order to avoid a secondary cavity within the integrated laser chips 900, 1000, the front facet 906 of the laser chip 900 may be angled or have an antireflective coating. In addition or instead, the waveguides 1003 within the gain/modulator section 1004 may be angled as they approach the front facet 1006, as shown in
By incorporating a gain/modulator section 904, 1004 into the integrated laser chip 900, 1000, it is possible to increase the dynamic range of the laser chip (e.g. to increase the range of output powers that can be provided), improve efficiency and performance and reduce the complexity of the drive/control circuitry. For example, to obtain a large range of output powers from a laser chip without an integrated gain/modulator section 904, 1004, it may be necessary to both operate it close to threshold (to obtain low output powers) and at higher drive currents. When operating at higher drive currents, there may be thermal issues which impact the laser performance (e.g. which result in a wavelength shift and/or non-linear output powers). To obtain low output powers, it may be necessary to operate very close to the threshold; however, the threshold may shift with temperature. The wavelength shift is addressed through the use of the wavelength locking elements 108, 208, 308 (as described above) and through the use of an integrated gain/modulator section 904, 1004 the control of the output power may be decoupled from the control of the gain section 602 and hence provide more stable and predictable operation (e.g. because the performance of the gain/modulator section 904, 1004 is more stable over a wide range of both output powers and operating temperatures compared to the gain section 602). High dynamic ranges may be important where the laser chip is used in a head mounted display that must operate both in low light levels (e.g. in a dark room) and high light levels (e.g. in daylight).
In further examples, the integrated laser chip 1100, 1200 may comprise both a combiner section 604, 704 and a gain/modulator section 904, 1004 as shown in
By integrating forming a gain section 602 with a combiner section and/or a gain/modulator section, the need for external components is reduced (e.g. external combiners, amplifiers and/or modulators) and this alleviates coupling difficulties (i.e. by integrally forming the different sections, the waveguides are inherently aligned and so there is inherently good coupling from one section to another).
The laser chip described herein is formed as a single entity on a substrate (or wafer) where the nature of the substrate may depend upon the operating wavelength of the laser chip. For example, a laser chip operating in the blue or green wavelength bands may be formed from gallium nitride whereas a laser chip operating in the red wavelength band may be formed form gallium arsenide.
As described above, the spectral bandwidth of a laser may be increased by operating it in pulse mode. The laser chips described herein may be operated in pulse mode to further broaden their spectral bandwidth.
The laser chip described herein may be used in many different applications. For example, the laser chip may be used within a head mounted display or laser projector. A head mounted display or laser projector may comprise a plurality of laser chips as described herein, e.g. one (or more) operating in the red wavelength band (with each of the individual gain regions centered on a different wavelength within that band), one (or more) operating in the green wavelength band (with each of the individual gain regions centered on a different wavelength within that band) and one (or more) operating in the blue wavelength band (with each of the individual gain regions centered on a different wavelength within that band).
Although the present examples are described and illustrated herein as being implemented in a head mounted display or laser projector system, the system described is provided as an example and not a limitation. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the present examples are suitable for application in a variety of different types of optical systems.
A first further example provides a laser chip comprising a plurality of gain areas, each gain area comprising a ridge waveguide and a wavelength locking element, wherein each wavelength locking element defines output wavelength characteristics of visible light emitted from the gain area and adjacent gain areas comprise different wavelength locking elements.
In the laser chip of the first further example, each of the plurality of gain areas may comprise a different wavelength locking element, such that for each gain area, the output wavelength characteristics of visible light emitted from the gain area is different. The output wavelength characteristics of visible light emitted from each gain area may be offset by a predefined amount.
In the laser chip of the first further example, the wavelength locking element in each gain area may be proximate to a front facet of the gain area.
In the laser chip of the first further example, the wavelength locking element in each gain area may extend over substantially the entire length of the gain area.
In the laser chip of the first further example, the wavelength locking element in each gain area may be proximate to a rear facet of the laser chip.
In the laser chip of the first further example, the wavelength locking element may be a grating-based structure. The grating-based structure may comprise a chirped grating.
The laser chip of the first further example may further comprise an integrally formed combiner section, the combiner section comprising a plurality of input waveguides, each input waveguide coupled to the ridge waveguide in one of the gain areas and a single output waveguide.
The laser chip of the first further example may further comprise an integrally formed gain/modulation section, the gain/modulation section comprising a plurality of waveguides, each waveguide coupled to the ridge waveguide in one of the gain areas.
The laser chip of the first further example may further comprise an integrally formed combiner section and an integrally formed gain/modulation section, the combiner section comprising a plurality of input waveguides, each input waveguide coupled directly or indirectly to the ridge waveguide in one of the gain areas and a single output waveguide. Each input waveguide in the combiner section may be coupled to the ridge waveguide in one of the gain areas via the gain/modulation section.
The laser chip of the first further example may comprise four gain areas.
In the laser chip of the first further example, the ridge waveguides in each of the plurality of gain areas may be parallel to each other.
A second further example provides a head mounted display comprising one or more laser chips of the first further example.
A third further example provides a head mounted display comprising one or more laser chips, each laser chip comprising a plurality of gain areas, each gain area comprising a ridge waveguide and a wavelength locking element, wherein each wavelength locking element defines output wavelength characteristics of visible light emitted from the gain area and adjacent gain areas comprise different wavelength locking elements.
In the head mounted display of the third further example, a first of the one or more laser chips may comprise wavelength locking elements defining different output wavelength characteristics of red visible light, a second of the one or more laser chips may comprise wavelength locking elements defining different output wavelength characteristics of green visible light and a third of the one or more laser chips may comprise wavelength locking elements defining different output wavelength characteristics of blue visible light. In other variations, there may be different combinations of colors, e.g. red, green, blue and yellow or any combination of two or more colors from red, green, blue and yellow.
A fourth further example provides a laser chip comprising a plurality of gain areas, each gain area comprising a grating-based wavelength locking element that defines a central wavelength of visible light emitted from the gain area and wherein wavelength locking element of each gain area defines a different central wavelength.
In the laser chip of the fourth further example, each of the central wavelengths is in a same visible color band.
The laser chip of the fourth further example further comprises a front facet and a rear facet, wherein each of the gain areas extend between the front facet and the rear facet and wherein the wavelength locking elements are located proximate to the front facet.
In the laser chip of the fourth further example, the wavelength locking elements extend substantially over an entire length of the gain areas.
Any range or device value given herein may be extended or altered without losing the effect sought, as will be apparent to the skilled person.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages. It will further be understood that reference to ‘an’ item refers to one or more of those items.
The operations of the methods described herein may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from any of the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the examples described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other examples described to form further examples without losing the effect sought.
The term ‘comprising’ is used herein to mean including the method blocks or elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprise an exclusive list and a method or apparatus may contain additional blocks or elements.
It will be understood that the above description is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of this specification.
