A light homogenizer

Abstract

The light homogenizer provided by the present invention is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is located satisfy random distribution. The adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged, and each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface type curved surface. When incident light irradiates on the light homogenizer, each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture divides the incident light beam into several parts, and then exits to the far field for superposition to form a light homogenized spot with a fixed shape. Due to the light homogenizer provided by the present invention, the shapes of any microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are randomly distributed, and the randomness will disrupt its interference. Therefore, the provided light homogenizer overcomes the interference problem in light homogenization by traditional periodic microlens arrays.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of optical devices, and particularly relates to a light homogenizer. Background Art

[0002] Optical light homogenizers have very wide applications in laser illumination, backlight display, industrial processing, 3D imaging, etc. Currently, optical light homogenization is mainly achieved by means of a geometric light homogenization system of a periodically arranged microlens array, a binary stepped diffraction light homogenization structure, and random ground glass, etc. Due to the strong periodicity of its structure, the microlens array is prone to strong interference effects due to its periodicity when the light source is a laser, forming regions with enhanced or weakened interference in the far field, which affects the light homogenization effect; for the binary stepped diffraction structure, since the zero-order energy is extremely sensitive to the step depth, it is very difficult to eliminate the zero-order; although random ground glass can eliminate the coherence of the laser, the uniformity of the far-field light spot and the shape of the light spot cannot be controlled, so its application is limited. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, it is necessary to provide a light homogenizer that overcomes the limitations of traditional geometric light homogenizers and diffraction light homogenizers in view of the defects existing in the prior art.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0005] A light homogenizer, comprising: the light homogenizer is composed of a microarray with multiple irregular quadrilateral apertures, the centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any one of the microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures is located satisfy random distribution, adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged, and each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface type of curved surface. When incident light irradiates on the light homogenizer, each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture divides the incident light beam into several parts, and then exits to the far field for superposition, forming a light homogenized light spot with a fixed shape.

[0006] In some preferred embodiments, the material for forming the light homogenizer is optical plastic or optical glass.

[0007] In some preferred embodiments, the shapes of the quadrilaterals of each of the microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are different from each other.

[0008] In some preferred embodiments, the quadrilaterals where adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are located share a common side.

[0009] In some preferred embodiments, the continuous surface type includes a convex continuous curved surface, a concave continuous curved surface, and a wavy continuous curved surface.

[0010] The advantages of the present invention adopting the above technical solutions are:

[0011] The light homogenizer provided by the present invention is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is located satisfy random distribution. The adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged, and each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface-shaped curved surface. When incident light irradiates on the light homogenizer, each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture divides the incident light beam into several parts, and then emits them to the far field for superposition, forming a light homogenized spot with a fixed shape. Since the shape of any microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture in the light homogenizer provided by the present invention is randomly distributed, the randomness will disrupt its interference, so the provided light homogenizer overcomes the interference problem in the light homogenization of traditional periodic microlens arrays.

[0012] In addition, for the light homogenizer provided by the present invention, since each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface-shaped curved surface, the light homogenization method satisfies the geometric optical light homogenization law. Therefore, there is no zero-order diffraction phenomenon in the traditional binary diffraction light homogenizer, and the size of the light homogenized light field is related to the ratio of its sagitta and aperture. Compared with the diffraction light homogenizer, it is easier to achieve large-angle light homogenization.

[0013] In addition, for the light homogenizer provided by the present invention, both the spot shape and the light distribution can be adjusted, and the spot shape and distribution control that cannot be achieved by the frosted glass light homogenization structure can be obtained. Description of the Drawings

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following-described drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0015] Figure 1 It is a distribution diagram of the center points of the sub-apertures of the light homogenizer with a convex irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 It is a two-dimensional distribution diagram of the irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 3 It is a three-dimensional distribution diagram of the irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 4 It is an example diagram of the far-field emission angle distribution of the light homogenizer with an irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 5This is an example diagram of the far-field output light field distribution of the light homogenizer with an irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by the embodiments of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0020] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0021] The present invention provides a light homogenizer, which is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any one of the microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures is located satisfy random distribution. The adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged, and each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface type of curved surface. When incident light irradiates on the light homogenizer, each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture divides the incident light beam into several parts, and then outputs to the far field for superposition to form a light homogenization spot with a fixed shape.

[0022] It can be understood that the light homogenizer is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. Due to the irregular quadrilateral characteristics of each sub-aperture, the strong and weak light fields caused by interference during far-field superposition are smoothed, achieving the purpose of light homogenization.

[0023] In some preferred embodiments, the material for forming the light homogenizer is optical plastic or optical glass.

[0024] In some preferred embodiments, the shapes of the quadrilaterals of each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture are different from each other.

[0025] In some preferred embodiments, the quadrilaterals where the adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are located share a common side.

[0026] In some preferred embodiments, the continuous surface type includes a convex continuous curved surface, a concave continuous curved surface, and a wavy continuous curved surface.

[0027] Please refer to Figure 1 , which is a distribution diagram of the center points of the sub-apertures of the light homogenizer with a convex irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention. It can be seen from Figure 1 that the light homogenizer is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any one of the microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures is located satisfy random distribution, and the adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged.

[0028] Please refer to Figure 2and Figure 3 respectively give the two-dimensional distribution diagram and three-dimensional distribution diagram of the irregular quadrilateral microarray structure. It can be seen from Figure 2 and Figure 3 that the light homogenizer is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is located satisfy random distribution. The adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged, and each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface type of curved surface.

[0029] Please refer to Figure 4 for the far-field emission angle and the example diagram of the emitted light field distribution of the light homogenizer with an irregular quadrilateral microarray structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] It can be understood that the size of the far-field light spot of the light homogenizer is determined by the aperture size and the sagitta of the irregular quadrilateral; the uniformity of the light field distribution of the far-field light spot of the light homogenizer is determined by the shape of the continuous surface type.

[0031] The light homogenizer provided by the present invention is composed of a plurality of microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is located satisfy random distribution. The adjacent microarrays with irregular quadrilateral apertures are closely arranged, and each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface type of curved surface. When the incident light irradiates on the light homogenizer, each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture divides the incident light beam into several parts, and then emits them to the far field for superposition to form a light homogenized light spot with a fixed shape. Since the shape of any microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture in the light homogenizer provided by the present invention is randomly distributed, the randomness will disrupt its interference, so the provided light homogenizer overcomes the interference problem in the light homogenization of the traditional periodic microlens array.

[0032] In addition, for the light homogenizer provided by the present invention, since each microarray with an irregular quadrilateral aperture is composed of a continuous surface type of curved surface, the light homogenization method satisfies the geometric optical light homogenization law. Therefore, there is no zero-order diffraction phenomenon in the traditional binary diffraction light homogenizer, and the size of the light homogenized light field is related to the ratio of its sagitta and aperture. Compared with the diffraction light homogenizer, it is easier to achieve large-angle light homogenization.

[0033] In addition, for the light homogenizer provided by the present invention, the shape and light distribution of its light spot can be adjusted, and the shape and distribution control that cannot be achieved by the frosted glass light homogenization structure can be obtained.

[0034] The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0035] Embodiment 1:

[0036] A light homogenizer adopts the following technical solution:

[0037] (1) The device material is optical UV plastic;

[0038] (2) The center points of the irregular quadrilateral array satisfy Figure 1 the random distribution shown;

[0039] (3) The aperture distribution of the irregular quadrilateral array satisfies Figure 2 the random distribution shown, where each sub-aperture is an irregular quadrilateral, and the shapes of each quadrilateral are different. Two adjacent sub-apertures are closely arranged and share one side. The average aperture of this structure in the horizontal direction is 30 microns, and the average aperture in the vertical direction is 50 microns;

[0040] (4) The three-dimensional surface profile distribution of the irregular quadrilateral array is as Figure 3 shown, and the inside of each sub-aperture is a concave continuous curved surface distribution;

[0041] (5) Under the incidence of parallel laser with a wavelength of 940 nm, the outgoing direction of this light homogenizer is as Figure 4 shown, forming an angular distribution similar to the sinc function in the horizontal and vertical directions;

[0042] (6) The light homogenizing spot of this light homogenizer at 1 meter is as Figure 5 shown. The overall shape of this spot is close to a rectangle, without the interference of zero-order and bright-dark distribution, and the internal light distribution is uniform.

[0043] Example 2:

[0044] A light homogenizer adopts the following technical solutions:

[0045] (1) The device material is optical glass;

[0046] (2) The center points of the irregular quadrilateral array are randomly distributed;

[0047] (3) The four corners of the sub-apertures of the irregular quadrilateral array are randomly distributed, and the shapes of each quadrilateral are different. Two adjacent sub-apertures are closely arranged. The average aperture of this structure in the horizontal direction is 20 microns, and the average aperture in the vertical direction is 30 microns;

[0048] (4) Inside each sub-aperture of the light homogenizer is a protruding spherical surface distribution;

[0049] (5) Under the incidence of parallel laser with a wavelength of 650 nm, the outgoing direction of this light homogenizer forms an angular distribution similar to a rectangular window function in the horizontal and vertical directions;

[0050] (6) The light homogenizing spot of this light homogenizer at 0.5 meter is overall close to a rectangle, without the interference of zero-order and bright-dark distribution, and the internal light distribution is uniform.

[0051] Of course, the light homogenizer of the present invention can also have various transformations and modifications, and is not limited to the specific structure of the above embodiments. In short, the protection scope of the present invention should include those transformations, substitutions, and modifications that are obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Claims

1. A light homogenizer, characterized in that, it includes: The light homogenizer is composed of a microarray with multiple irregular quadrilateral apertures. The centers and four vertices of the quadrilaterals where any irregular quadrilateral aperture microarray is located satisfy random distribution. The adjacent irregular quadrilateral aperture microarrays are closely arranged, and the shapes of each quadrilateral of the irregular quadrilateral aperture microarray are different; and each irregular quadrilateral aperture microarray is composed of a continuous surface-type curved surface. When incident light irradiates on the light homogenizer, each irregular quadrilateral aperture microarray divides the incident light beam into several parts, and then exits to the far field for superposition to form a rectangular light homogenized spot with a fixed shape; The field angles of the rectangular light homogenized spot in the vertical and horizontal directions are different; Inside each irregular quadrilateral aperture of the light homogenizer is a concave continuous curved surface distribution. Under the incidence of parallel laser with a wavelength of 940 nm, the exit direction of the light homogenizer forms an angular distribution similar to the sinc function in the horizontal and vertical directions; Alternatively, inside each irregular quadrilateral aperture of the light homogenizer is a protruding spherical surface distribution. Under the incidence of parallel laser with a wavelength of 650 nm, the exit direction of the light homogenizer forms an angular distribution similar to the rectangular window function in the horizontal and vertical directions.

2. The light homogenizer according to claim 1, characterized in that, the material constituting the light homogenizer is optical plastic or optical glass.

3. The light homogenizer according to claim 1, characterized in that, the quadrilaterals where the adjacent irregular quadrilateral aperture microarrays are located share a common side.

4. The light homogenizer according to claim 1, characterized in that, the continuous surface type includes a convex continuous curved surface, a concave continuous curved surface, and a wavy continuous curved surface.

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