Beam-splitting wavelength division multiplexer, laser light source, and light turning element

Abstract

The invention provides a beam-splitting wavelength division multiplexer, a laser light source and a light turning element. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer comprises a beam splitting element used for inputting M input light beams with different wavelengths and splitting each input light beam into N sub-light beams to obtain M * N sub-light beams; the wavelength division multiplexing element is used for receiving the M * N sub light beams and forming N output light beams, each output light beam is synthesized by one sub light beam of each input light beam in the M input light beams, and M and N are integers larger than or equal to 2.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of optics, and more particularly, to a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer, a laser light source, and an optical turning element. Background Art

[0002] In the field of optics, with the rapid development of industries such as optical communications, optical computing, and data centers, the functional integration and performance requirements for light source modules or communication equipment are increasing. The inventors have recognized that in some scenarios, it is necessary to provide multiple beams of light with multiple wavelengths. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer, comprising: a beam splitting element for inputting M input light beams of different wavelengths and splitting each input light beam into N sub-beams to obtain M×N sub-beams; and a wavelength division multiplexing element for receiving the M×N sub-beams and forming N output light beams, each output light beam being synthesized by a sub-beam of each input light beam in the M input light beams, wherein M and N are integers greater than or equal to 2.

[0004] Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a laser light source, which includes the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer as described above and M laser generators for generating the M input light beams of different wavelengths.

[0005] The beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer disclosed in this disclosure provides multiple beams of light at multiple wavelengths through a clever structural design. Furthermore, the associated structure prevents excessive light intensity within each optical path within the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer, thereby preventing damage to the device. This improves device stability and extends its service life. Applying the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer disclosed in this disclosure to a laser light source also significantly improves its reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below only relate to some embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. In different drawings, the same reference numerals represent the same elements.

[0007] Figure 1 shows a schematic structure of a laser light source according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0008] Figure 2A A schematic top view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0009] Figure 2B A schematic perspective view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0010] Figure 3 A schematic top view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0011] Figure 4A A schematic top view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012] Figure 4B A schematic front view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] Figure 4C A schematic perspective view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] Figure 5A A schematic top view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0015] Figure 5B A schematic front view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 5C A schematic perspective view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 5D A schematic exploded diagram showing an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 5E A schematic optical path diagram showing an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 6A A schematic top view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 6B A schematic front view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 6C A schematic perspective view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 6D A schematic exploded diagram showing an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0023] Figure 6E A schematic optical path diagram of an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein and can be implemented in many different forms. The described embodiments are intended only to make the present disclosure thorough and complete and to fully convey the concepts of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. The features of the various described embodiments may be combined or replaced with each other unless expressly excluded or should be excluded based on the context.

[0025] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this disclosure should have the usual meanings understood by persons of ordinary skill in the field to which this disclosure belongs. The words "first", "second" and similar terms used in this disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. In this disclosure, terms related to spatial position, such as "upper", "lower", "above", "below", etc., are only used to describe the relative positional relationship between one component and another component, and are not limited to the upper and lower positional relationship in natural space. In this disclosure, a plurality means at least two.

[0026] Figure 1 FIG. 4 shows a schematic structure of a laser light source according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] refer to Figure 1 The laser light source 10 may include M laser generators (for example, laser chips) and a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 100, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The M laser generators respectively emit M beams of different wavelengths. For example, the laser generators 110a to 110m respectively emit M beams of wavelengths of 、……、 The beams L1, L2, L3, ..., Lm are transmitted by the splitter wavelength division multiplexer 100. The splitter wavelength division multiplexer 100 has M input channels and N output channels. The beams L1, L2, L3, ..., Lm enter the splitter wavelength division multiplexer 100 through the M input channels. The splitter wavelength division multiplexer 100 first splits these beams and then combines them, ultimately forming N output beams K1, K2, K3, ..., Kn, which are output from the N output channels. Wherein, N is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and may be equal to or different from M.

[0028] The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 100 may include at least a beam splitting element for performing beam splitting according to light intensity and a wavelength division multiplexing element for performing beam combining according to wavelength. The beam splitting element and the wavelength division multiplexing element may each include a prism as an optical component. Figure 1In the scenario shown, the beam splitting element can receive M input beams L1, L2, L3, ..., Lm of different wavelengths via M input light channels. Each input beam is split into N sub-beams, each receiving a certain intensity ratio of the input beam (i.e., splitting is performed by intensity), resulting in M ​​x N sub-beams. A wavelength division multiplexing element can receive these M x N sub-beams and generate N output beams K1, K2, K3, ..., Kn, which are output from N output light channels. Each output beam is synthesized from one sub-beam from each of the M input beams.

[0029] Optionally, the laser light source 10 may further include M optical isolators, such as optical isolators 130a to 130m, respectively connected between the M laser generators and the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 100. Each of these optical isolators helps prevent the corresponding input light beam from being reflected back to the laser generator and also helps prevent crosstalk between these input light beams.

[0030] Optionally, the laser light source 10 may further include M lenses, such as lenses 120a to 120m, respectively connected between the M laser generators and the M optical isolators. These lenses help to collimate each input light beam.

[0031] The schematic structure of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 100 is described below through the first to fifth embodiments. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 100 can be any of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 200 in the first embodiment, the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 300 in the second embodiment, the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 400 in the third embodiment, the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 500 in the fourth embodiment, or the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 600 in the fifth embodiment. However, it should be understood that modifications and variations can be made based on the first to fifth embodiments to obtain new embodiments without departing from the inventive concept of the present disclosure.

[0032] For ease of description, in the first to fifth embodiments below, it is assumed that the number of input light channels M and output light channels N of the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer is 4. However, it should be understood that the specific structure of the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer in each embodiment may vary with changes in the number of M and / or N. M and N refer to the maximum number of channels that the physical structure of the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer can support. When the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer is used, fewer than the maximum number of channels may be used as needed. For example, for M=4, only three light sources are provided to input light of three different wavelengths.

[0033] First embodiment

[0034] Figure 2A A schematic top view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 2BA schematic perspective view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] In a first embodiment, the beam splitting element 210 may include N beam splitting element interfaces.

[0036] When N is an integer greater than 2, each of the N beamsplitting element interfaces from the first beamsplitting element interface to the (N-1)th beamsplitting element interface is configured to transmit the M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect them into M reflected partial light beams. The Nth beamsplitting element interface among the N beamsplitting element interfaces is configured to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element. The M incident light beams at the first beamsplitting element interface are the M input light beams. The M reflected partial light beams at the first beamsplitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams at the next beamsplitting element interface, and the M transmitted partial light beams serve as M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element. The M transmitted partial light beams of each of the remaining beam splitting element interfaces except the first beam splitting element interface and the Nth beam splitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams of the next beam splitting element interface, and the M reflected partial light beams serve as the M sub-beams of the M×N sub-beams output by the beam splitting element.

[0037] When N is 2, the first of the two beamsplitting element interfaces is configured to transmit the M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial beams and reflect them into M reflected partial beams. Furthermore, the M incident light beams at the first beamsplitting element interface serve as the M input light beams. Furthermore, the M reflected partial beams at the first beamsplitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams at the second beamsplitting element interface, and the M transmitted partial beams serve as M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element. The second of the N beamsplitting element interfaces is configured to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element.

[0038] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the beam splitting element is configured to receive M input light beams, which are input into the beam splitting element in parallel along a first direction. The N beam splitting element interfaces are parallel to each other and distributed along a second direction, so that M×N sub-beams are emitted in parallel along the first direction. The second direction is non-parallel to the first direction.

[0039] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the beam splitting element is configured to receive M input light beams distributed along a second direction, and the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 includes M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces include a first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces to an Nth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces corresponding to the first beam splitting element interface to the Nth beam splitting element interface, respectively. Each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces includes M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are mutually parallel and distributed along the second direction. The M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces in each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are configured to receive M sub-beams emitted from the corresponding beam splitting element interfaces, and to reflect or transmit the M sub-beams, thereby wavelength division multiplexing the M sub-beams of different wavelengths into one of N output light beams. The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are configured to cause the N output light beams to be output from the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 in parallel along the first direction and distributed along the second direction.

[0040] Figure 2A and Figure 2B What is shown is merely one example of the first embodiment.

[0041] In this example, the length, width and height directions of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 200 are used as the three orthogonal axis directions of the reference coordinate system, and the first direction is the X-axis direction, and the second direction is the Y-axis direction.

[0042] The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 200 includes a beam splitting element 210 and a wavelength division multiplexing element 220 distributed in sequence along the X axis. The wavelengths are and The input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 are distributed parallel to each other along the Y-axis direction, and are incident on the beam splitting element 210 side by side with the X-axis direction as the incident direction. The beam splitting element 210 includes four beam splitting element interfaces, namely the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214. Each of the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 is perpendicular to the XY plane and is distributed parallel to each other along the Y-axis direction, that is, the angles between them and the X-axis direction are the same. When the input light beam is incident, each beam splitting element interface 211 to 214 is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the incident direction of the input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4, so the angle is not 0 degrees, 90 degrees or 180 degrees (for example, the angle is shown to be 45 degrees in the figure, but it is not limited to this). The dimensions of the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 are such that the input beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 can all be incident on the first beam splitting element interface 211. Optionally, two adjacent beam splitting element interfaces do not overlap along the Y direction.

[0043] refer to Figure 2AThe optical path in beam splitter element 210 is shown. First beam splitter interface 211 splits each of input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 into two sub-beams according to a predetermined intensity splitting ratio, with one sub-beam being transmitted and the other being reflected. For example, assuming the intensity splitting ratio of first beam splitter interface 211 is reflectivity:transmittance = 75:25, each of input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 is reflected at 75% of its intensity and transmitted at 25% of its intensity. As shown, first beam splitter interface 211 splits input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 into four transmitted partial light beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 that are transmitted along the X-axis and four reflected partial light beams L12, L22, L32, and L42 that are reflected along the Y-axis. The four transmitted partial light beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 are incident on wavelength division multiplexing element 220. The four reflected partial light beams L12 , L22 , L32 and L42 are incident on the second beam splitting element interface 212 .

[0044] The second beam splitting element interface 212 similarly splits the light beams L12, L22, L32, and L42 incident thereon into four reflected partial light beams L13, L23, L33, and L43 reflected along the X-axis and four transmitted partial light beams L14, L24, L34, and L44 transmitted along the Y-axis. The four reflected partial light beams L13, L23, L33, and L43 are incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 along the X-axis, while the four transmitted partial light beams L14, L24, L34, and L44 are incident on the third beam splitting element interface 213 along the Y-axis.

[0045] The third beam splitting element interface 213 similarly splits the light beams L14, L24, L34 and L44 incident thereon into four reflected partial light beams L15, L25, L35 and L45 reflected along the X-axis and four transmitted partial light beams L16, L26, L36 and L46 transmitted along the Y-axis. The four reflected partial light beams L15, L25, L35 and L45 are incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 along the X-axis, and the four transmitted partial light beams L16, L26, L36 and L46 are incident on the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 along the Y-axis.

[0046] The fourth beam splitting element interface 214 reflects the four incident light beams L16 , L26 , L36 , and L46 incident thereon into the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 along the X-axis.

[0047] In this way, the beam splitting element 210 splits each of the four input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 into four sub-beams, thus splitting a total of 4×4=16 sub-beams. The input beam L1 is split into wavelengths The four sub-beams L11, L13, L15 and L16 have wavelengths of The input beam L2 is split into The four sub-beams L21, L23, L25 and L26 have wavelengths of The input beam L3 is split into The four sub-beams L31, L33, L35 and L36 have wavelengths of The input beam L4 is split into The four sub-beams L41, L43, L45 and L46.

[0048] As can be seen, the intensity of each output beam from the beam splitter 210 is less than the original intensity of each input beam. The light from the beam splitter 210 is output to the wavelength division multiplexing element 220, so the structures of the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 are not at risk of being damaged by high light intensity.

[0049] Each of the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 can be an ideal plane, or an ideal plane and an area with a certain thickness near the ideal plane. For example, the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the third beam splitting element interface 213 can respectively include a partial reflection film, or be made using a partial reflection film. The partial emission film can be a thin film structure coated with a multilayer medium. Through the interference effect of the multilayer medium, the light beam incident thereon can be partially reflected and partially transmitted according to a preset light intensity splitting ratio to generate two sub-beams. For example, each of the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the third beam splitting element interface 213 can be made by coating a multilayer medium that can achieve such partial reflection and partial transmission functions on the corresponding surface of the corresponding prism. For example, the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 can include a film layer with a reflection function. In order to achieve high reflection, a total reflection film can be used, or it can be made using a total reflection film. One type of total reflection film is a thin film structure coated with multiple layers of highly reflective media, through which the light within a specific wavelength range incident thereon can be almost completely reflected, with the transmittance close to zero, so as to achieve a reflection effect of nearly 100%. For example, the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 can be made by coating the corresponding surfaces of the corresponding prisms with multiple layers of highly reflective media that can achieve such a total reflection function. The type of total reflection film can also be a thin film structure made using the principle of optical total internal reflection (Total Internal Reflection). The beam splitting element 210 can be made by bonding together the various prisms including the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 using glue or optical glue. In this example, the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 includes a first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221, a second group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 222, a third group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 223 and a fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224, which correspond to the first beam splitting element interface 211, the second beam splitting element interface 212, the third beam splitting element interface 213 and the fourth beam splitting element interface 214, respectively.

[0050] The first group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 221 includes the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 221a to the fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 221d, which are used to transmit wavelengths from the first beam splitting component interface 211. 、 The sub-beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 are formed into the first output beam K1. The second group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 222 includes the fifth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 222a to the eighth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 222d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths from the second beam splitting element interface 212 to the eighth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 222d. 、 The sub-beams L13, L23, L33, and L43 are formed into the second output beam K2. The third group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 223 includes the ninth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 223a to the twelfth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 223d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths of the sub-beams L13, L23, L33, and L43 from the third beam splitting element interface 213. 、 The sub-beams L15, L25, L35, and L45 are formed into the third output beam K3. The fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224 includes the thirteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224a to the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths of the sub-beams L15, L25, L35, and L45 from the fourth beam splitting element interface 214. 、 The sub-beams L16, L26, L36, and L46 are formed into a fourth output beam K4.

[0051] Each of these 16 WDM component interfaces is perpendicular to the XY plane and parallel to each other along the Y-axis, meaning that each WDM component interface has the same angle with the X-axis. Each WDM component interface is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the incident direction of the sub-beam incident thereon (in this example, the same as the incident direction of input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4), and therefore the angle is not 0, 90, or 180 degrees (for example, 45 degrees is shown in the figure, but is not limited to this). The dimensions of the four WDM component interfaces included in each group of WDM components ensure that the four sub-beams emitted from the corresponding beam splitting component interface are incident on each of the four WDM component interfaces. Optionally, adjacent WDM component interfaces do not overlap along the Y-axis.

[0052] Each set of WDM component interfaces has a similar structure and a similar process for forming the corresponding output beams. For simplicity, only the process of forming the first output beam K1 by the first set of WDM component interfaces 221 is described below.

[0053] As shown in the figure, the sub-beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 transmitted from the first beam splitting element interface 211 are incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221a, 221b, 221c, and 221d respectively. The first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a can be designed to Thus, the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a reflects the light of wavelength φ incident on the first surface (shown as its upper surface in the figure) from the first beam splitting element interface 211. The sub-beam L11 is reflected along the Y-axis to the second surface (shown as the lower surface in the figure) of the second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221b.

[0054] The second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221b can be designed to be only for wavelength Thus, the second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221b reflects the light of wavelength φ from the first beam splitting element interface 211 to its first surface (shown as its upper surface in the figure). The sub-beam L21 is reflected along the Y-axis onto the second surface (shown as the lower surface in the figure) of the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221c. Simultaneously, the second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221b also transmits the sub-beam L11 reflected from the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a onto its second surface (shown as the lower surface in the figure) to the second surface of the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221c.

[0055] The third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221c can be designed to be only for wavelength Thus, the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221c receives light of a wavelength of The sub-beam L31 is reflected along the Y axis to the second surface (shown as the lower surface) of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d. At the same time, the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221c also transmits the sub-beam L31 with a wavelength of The wavelength of the sub-beam L11 and the wavelength of the sub-beam L11 reflected from the second beam splitting element interface 221b to the second surface thereof is The sub-beam L21 of wavelength is transmitted along the Y axis to the second surface (shown as the lower surface in the figure) of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d. The sub-beam L11 with a wavelength of The sub-beam L21 with a wavelength of The sub-beams L31 are all incident on the second surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d.

[0056] The fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d can be designed to be only for wavelength Thus, the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d transmits light of wavelength 210 incident on its first surface (shown as its upper surface in the figure) from the first beam splitting element interface 211. The sub-beam L41 of φ is transmitted along the X axis. At the same time, the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d also reflects the wavelength of φ from the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221c to its second surface. The wavelength of the sub-beam L31 transmitted to its second surface is The sub-beam L21 with a wavelength of The sub-beam L11 is reflected along the X-axis.

[0057] So, the wavelength is The sub-beam L11 with a wavelength of The sub-beam L21 with a wavelength of The sub-beam L31 with a wavelength of The sub-beams L41 are all emitted from the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d along the X axis, thereby forming a first output beam K1.

[0058] It can be seen that because light passes through beam splitter 210 and is input into wavelength division multiplexing element 220, the light intensity of each optical path within wavelength division multiplexing element 220 is not too high. For example, assuming the light intensity splitting ratio at first beam splitter interface 211 is reflectivity:transmittance = 75:25, then each of input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 is reflected at 75% of its intensity and transmitted at 25% of its intensity. Consequently, the light intensities of sub-beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 are 25% of the input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4, respectively.

[0059] Each of the first to fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 221a, 221d can be an ideal plane, or an ideal plane and a region of a certain thickness near the ideal plane. For example, the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 221a can include a reflective film layer. To achieve high reflection, a total reflection film can be used, or a total reflection film can be used. For example, the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 221a can be formed by coating the corresponding surfaces of the corresponding prisms with multiple layers of highly reflective media that can achieve total reflection. The type of total reflection film can also be a thin film structure made using the principle of total internal reflection (TIR). For example, each of the second to fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 221b, 221d can include a wavelength selective film, or a wavelength selective film can be used. The wavelength selective film can be a thin film structure coated with multiple layers of dielectrics that utilizes the interference effect between the multiple layers to selectively reflect or transmit light of different wavelengths. For example, each of the second to fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 221b to 221d can be fabricated by coating a multilayer medium that implements such a wavelength selection function on the corresponding surface of the corresponding prism. The wavelength division multiplexing component 220 can be fabricated by bonding together the prisms formed with the first to sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 221a to 224d using glue or optical adhesive.

[0060] Thus, according to the first embodiment, the wavelength division multiplexer 200 employs a method of first intensity splitting and then wavelength combining, thereby ensuring that the light intensity of each optical path within the wavelength division multiplexer 200 is not excessively high. This prevents the wavelength division multiplexer 200 from being damaged by high light intensity, thereby improving the stability and lifespan of the device. It should be understood that, based on this example, the specific structure of the wavelength division multiplexer 200 may vary with changes in the number of M and N.

[0061] It should be understood that Figure 2A and Figure 2B In the illustrated example, the incident direction of the input beam and the exit direction of the output beam are perpendicular to each other, but this is not limiting. For example, the angle between the incident direction of the input beam and the exit direction of the output beam can vary depending on the angle between the incident direction of the input beam and each of the beam splitting element interface and the wavelength division multiplexing element surface.

[0062] For example, when M=2 and N=4, that is, when the number of incoming light channels is 2 and the number of outgoing light channels is 4, the beam splitter element 210 can still include four beam splitter element interfaces, and the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 can still include four groups of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces (each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces corresponds to one beam splitter element interface), but each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces can only include two wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. Figure 2A For illustration. In this case, the beam splitting element 210 may include the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214, and the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 may include the first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221 to the fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224, but each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces may include only two wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. For example, the first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221 may include only the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a and the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d. The second group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 222 may include only the fifth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 222a and the eighth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 222d. The third group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 223 may include only the ninth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 223a and the twelfth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 223d. The fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224 may include only the thirteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224a and the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224d. In this configuration, two input beams (e.g., with wavelengths of The beam L1 and wavelength are The light beam L4) is input into the beam splitting element 210 along the X-axis direction, resulting in four output light beams being output from the wavelength division multiplexing element 220, wherein each output light beam contains a wavelength of and . In the first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221, the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a reflects the sub-beam L11 incident on its first surface (shown as its upper surface in the figure) along the Y-axis to the second surface (shown as its lower surface in the figure) of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d. The fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d transmits the sub-beam L41 incident on its first surface (shown as its upper surface in the figure) along the X-axis, and reflects the sub-beam L11 reflected from the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a onto its second surface along the X-axis, thereby forming the first output beam K1 of the four output beams. The process of forming the corresponding output beams from the second group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 222 to the fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224 is similar.

[0063] For another example, when M=4 and N=2, that is, when the number of incoming light channels is 4 and the number of outgoing light channels is 2, the beam splitter element 210 may include two beam splitter element interfaces, and the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 may include only two groups of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces, but each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces includes four wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. Figure 2A For explanation. In this case, the beam splitting element 210, for example, only includes the first beam splitting element interface 211 and the fourth beam splitting element interface 214. The wavelength division multiplexing element 220, for example, only includes the first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221 and the fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224, but each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces includes four wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. For example, the first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221 includes the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a to the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221d. The fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224 includes the thirteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224a to the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224d. Under this construction, four input light beams (for example, input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4) input into the beam splitting element 210 along the X-axis will cause the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 to output two output light beams, each of which contains a wavelength of The process of the first set of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 221 and the fourth set of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 224 forming the corresponding output beams is the same as the above-mentioned combination Figure 2A The process of forming the first output light beam by the first set of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 221 is the same as described above and will not be repeated here.

[0064] For the sake of brevity, other combinations of M and N are not listed here.

[0065] In addition, in this embodiment, in order to achieve the aforementioned beam splitting function, the interfaces of the N beam splitting elements in the beam splitting element are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light emitting surface of the beam splitting element. Figures 2A-2BAs shown, the first to fourth beam-splitting element interfaces 211 to 214 are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light-emitting surface 215 of the beam-splitting element 210. For example, the figure shows that the angle between the first to fourth beam-splitting element interfaces 211 to 214 and the light-emitting surface 215 of the beam-splitting element 210 is 45 degrees, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0066] In addition, in this embodiment, to achieve the aforementioned beam combining function, the M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces in the wavelength division multiplexing element are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light input surface of the wavelength division multiplexing element, and the intersection line between each of the M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces and the light input surface of the wavelength division multiplexing element is parallel to the intersection line between each of the N beam splitting element interfaces and the light output surface of the beam splitting element. Figure 2A-2B As shown, the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 221a to the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 224d are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light-entering surface 225 of the wavelength division multiplexing component 220. For example, the figure shows that the angle between the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 221a to the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 224d and the light-entering surface 225 of the wavelength division multiplexing component 220 is 45 degrees, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In addition, in combination with Figures 2A-2B As shown, the intersection line between each of the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 221a to the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 224d and the light input surface 225 of the wavelength division multiplexing element 220 is parallel to the intersection line between each of the first beam splitting element interface 211 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 214 and the light output surface 215 of the beam splitting element 210.

[0067] Second embodiment

[0068] Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 300 according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0069] In a second embodiment, the beam splitting element 310 may include N beam splitting element interfaces.

[0070] When N is an integer greater than 2, each of the N beam-splitting element interfaces from the first beam-splitting element interface to the N-1th beam-splitting element interface is used to transmit the M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect M reflected partial light beams. The Nth beam-splitting element interface among the N beam-splitting element interfaces is used to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among M×N sub-beams. The M incident light beams of the first beam-splitting element interface are the M input light beams. The M transmitted partial light beams of each of the first beam-splitting element interface to the N-1th beam-splitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams of the next beam-splitting element interface, and the M reflected partial light beams serve as the M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams.

[0071] When N is 2, the first of the two beam splitter element interfaces is configured to transmit the M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect them into M reflected partial light beams. Furthermore, the M incident light beams at the first beam splitter element interface serve as the M input light beams. Furthermore, the M transmitted partial light beams at the first beam splitter element interface serve as the M incident light beams at the second beam splitter element interface, and the M reflected partial light beams serve as M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams. The second beam splitter element interface is configured to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams.

[0072] Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the beam splitting element 310 is configured to receive M input beams, which are input parallel to each other along a first direction. The N beam splitting element interfaces are parallel to each other and distributed along the first direction, so that M×N sub-beams are emitted in parallel along a second direction. The second direction is non-parallel to the first direction.

[0073] Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the wavelength division multiplexing element 320 includes M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces include a first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces to an Nth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces corresponding to the first beam splitting element interface to the Nth beam splitting element interface, respectively. Each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces includes M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are mutually parallel and distributed along a first direction. The M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces in each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are used to respectively receive M sub-beams emitted from the corresponding beam splitting element interfaces and reflect or transmit the M incident sub-beams to form the M incident sub-beams of different wavelengths into one of N output beams in a wavelength division multiplexing manner. The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are configured to cause the N output beams to be output from the wavelength division multiplexing element 320 in parallel along a second direction and distributed along the first direction.

[0074] Figure 3 What is shown is merely one example of the second embodiment.

[0075] In this example, the length, width and height directions of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 300 are used as the three orthogonal axis directions of the reference coordinate system, and the first direction is the X-axis direction, and the second direction is the Y-axis direction.

[0076] In this example, the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 300 includes a beam splitting element 310 and a wavelength division multiplexing element 320 arranged along the Y-axis direction. The wavelengths are and The input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 are distributed parallel to each other along the Y-axis and incident on the beam splitting element 310 side by side with the X-axis as the incident direction. Assuming that the number of input light channels M and the number of output light channels N of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 300 is 4, the beam splitting element 310 may include 4 beam splitting element interfaces, namely the first beam splitting element interface 311 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 314. The first beam splitting element interface 311 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 314 are perpendicular to the XY plane and are distributed parallel to each other along the X-axis, that is, the angle between each beam splitting element interface and the X-axis is the same. Each beam splitting element interface 311 to 314 is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the incident direction of the input light beam, so the angle is not 0 degrees, 90 degrees, or 180 degrees (for example, shown as 45 degrees in the figure, but not limited to this). The dimensions of the first beam splitting element interface 311 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 314 satisfy that the input beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 can all be incident on the first beam splitting element interface 311. Optionally, two adjacent beam splitting element interfaces do not overlap along the X axis.

[0077] refer to Figure 3 The optical path in the beam splitting element 310 is shown. The first beam splitting element interface 311 splits each of the input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 into two sub-beams according to a predetermined light intensity splitting ratio, one of which is transmitted and the other is reflected. As shown in the figure, the first beam splitting element interface 311 splits the input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 into four reflected partial light beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 reflected along the Y axis and four transmitted partial light beams L12, L22, L32, and L42 transmitted along the X axis. The four reflected partial light beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 are incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 320, and the four transmitted partial light beams L12, L22, L32, and L42 are incident on the second beam splitting element interface 312. The beam splitting process from the second beam splitting element interface 312 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 314 is analogous and will not be described in detail.

[0078] In this way, the beam splitting element 310 splits each of the four input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 into four sub-beams, thus splitting a total of 4×4=16 sub-beams. The input beam L1 is split into The four sub-beams L11, L13, L15 and L16 have wavelengths of The input beam L2 is split into The four sub-beams L21, L23, L25 and L26 have wavelengths of The input beam L3 is split into The four sub-beams L31, L33, L35 and L36 have wavelengths of The input beam L4 is split into The four sub-beams L41, L43, L45 and L46.

[0079] It can be seen that the light intensity of each light path output by the beam splitting element 310 is smaller than the light intensity of each original input light beam.

[0080] Each of the first beam-splitting element interface 311 to the fourth beam-splitting element interface 314 can be an ideal plane, or can be an ideal plane and a region of a certain thickness near the ideal plane. For example, the first beam-splitting element interface 311 to the third beam-splitting element interface 313 can each include a partially reflective film, or be manufactured using a partially reflective film. The fourth beam-splitting element interface 314 can include a film layer with a reflective function, and to achieve high reflection, can use a fully reflective film, or be manufactured using a fully reflective film.

[0081] In this example, the wavelength division multiplexing element 320 includes a first group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 321, a second group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 322, a third group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 323 and a fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 324, which correspond to the first beam splitting element interface 311, the second beam splitting element interface 312, the third beam splitting element interface 313 and the fourth beam splitting element interface 314, respectively.

[0082] The first group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 321 includes the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 321a to the fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 321d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths from the first beam splitting component interface 311. 、 The sub-beams L11, L21, L31, and L41 form an output beam K1. The second group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 322 includes the fifth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 322a to the eighth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 322d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths from the second beam splitting element interface 312 to form an output beam K1. 、 The sub-beams L13, L23, L33, and L43 of the beam splitter 313 are formed into an output beam K2. The third group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 323 includes the ninth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 323a to the twelfth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 323d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths of the sub-beams L13, L23, L33, and L43 from the third beam splitting element interface 313. 、 The sub-beams L15, L25, L35, and L45 of the fourth group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 324 include the thirteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 324a to the sixteenth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 324d, which are used to reflect the wavelengths of the sub-beams L15, L25, L35, and L45 from the fourth beam splitting element interface 314. 、 The sub-beams L16, L26, L36, and L46 form an output beam K4.

[0083] These 16 WDM component interfaces are perpendicular to the XY plane and parallel to each other along the X-axis, meaning that each WDM component interface has the same angle with the Y-axis. Each WDM component interface is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the incident direction of the sub-beam incident thereon, and therefore the angle is not 0, 90, or 180 degrees (for example, 45 degrees is shown in the figure, but is not limited to this). The dimensions of the four WDM component interfaces included in each group of WDM component interfaces are such that the four sub-beams emitted from the corresponding beam splitting component interface are incident on each of the four WDM component interfaces. Optionally, adjacent WDM component interfaces do not overlap along the X-axis.

[0084] The process of forming the corresponding output beams from the first set of WDM component interfaces 321 to the fourth set of WDM component interfaces 324 is similar to the process of forming the first output beam K1 from the first set of WDM component interfaces 221 described in the first embodiment.

[0085] Similar to the first embodiment, since light passes through the beam splitter 310 and is input to the WDM 320, the light intensity of each optical path in the WDM 320 is relatively low. Therefore, the WDM 320 is not at risk of being damaged by excessive light intensity.

[0086] Therefore, the light intensity in each optical path in the splitter wavelength division multiplexer 300 according to the second embodiment is relatively low, so that the splitter wavelength division multiplexer 300 will not be damaged by high light intensity, thereby improving the stability and life of the entire device and the laser light source 10.

[0087] Similar to the first embodiment, the specific structure of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 300 may vary according to the number of M and N. For the sake of brevity, no further examples are given here.

[0088] It should be understood that Figure 3 In the illustrated example, the incident direction of the input beam and the exit direction of the output beam are perpendicular to each other, but this is not limiting. For example, the angle between the incident direction of the input beam and the exit direction of the output beam can vary depending on the angle between each of the beam splitting element interface and the wavelength division multiplexing element interface and the incident direction of the input beam.

[0089] Third embodiment

[0090] Figure 4A A schematic top view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 4B A schematic front view showing a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 4C A schematic perspective view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0091] In a third embodiment, the beam-splitting element may include N beam-splitting element interfaces.

[0092] When N is an integer greater than 2, each of the N beamsplitting element interfaces from the first beamsplitting element interface to the (N-1)th beamsplitting element interface is configured to transmit the M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect them into M reflected partial light beams. The Nth beamsplitting element interface among the N beamsplitting element interfaces is configured to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element. The M incident light beams at the first beamsplitting element interface among the N beamsplitting element interfaces are the M input light beams. The M reflected partial light beams at the first beamsplitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams at the next beamsplitting element interface, and the M transmitted partial light beams serve as M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element. The M transmitted partial light beams of each of the remaining beam splitting element interfaces except the first beam splitting element interface and the Nth beam splitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams of the next beam splitting element interface, and the M reflected partial light beams serve as the M sub-beams of the M×N sub-beams output by the beam splitting element.

[0093] When N is 2, the first of the two beamsplitting element interfaces is configured to transmit the M incident beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial beams and reflect them into M reflected partial beams. Furthermore, the M incident beams at the first beamsplitting element interface serve as the M input beams. Furthermore, the M reflected partial beams at the first beamsplitting element interface serve as the M incident beams at the second beamsplitting element interface, and the M transmitted partial beams serve as M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element. The second beamsplitting element interface is configured to reflect the M incident beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams output by the beamsplitting element.

[0094] Furthermore, in a third embodiment, the beam splitting element is configured to receive M input light beams, which are input into the beam splitting element in parallel along a first direction. The N beam splitting element interfaces are parallel to each other and distributed along a second direction, such that M×N sub-beams are emitted in parallel along the first direction. The second direction is non-parallel to the first direction.

[0095] Furthermore, in a third embodiment, the M input beams are distributed along a third direction, which is perpendicular to the first and second directions. The wavelength division multiplexing element includes M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces that are parallel to each other and distributed along the third direction. Each of the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces is used to receive N of the M×N sub-beams, and the N sub-beams are composed of one of the M sub-beams emitted by each of the N beam splitting element interfaces. The M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces reflect or transmit the incident M×N sub-beams to form the incident M×N sub-beams into N output beams. The N output beams exit the wavelength division multiplexing element in parallel along the first direction and are distributed along the second direction.

[0096] In other words, the main difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment is that the distribution direction of the input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 is the third direction instead of the second direction, and the wavelength division multiplexing element only includes M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces and these interfaces are distributed along the third direction.

[0097] Figures 4A to 4C Only one example of the third embodiment is shown.

[0098] In this example, the length, width and height directions of the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer 400 are used as the three orthogonal axis directions of the reference coordinate system, and the first direction is the X-axis direction, the second direction is the Y-axis direction, and the third direction is the Z-axis direction.

[0099] refer to Figures 4A to 4C The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 400 includes a beam splitting element 410 and a wavelength division multiplexing element 420 arranged along the X-axis direction. The wavelengths are and The input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 are distributed parallel to each other along the Z-axis direction, and are incident on the beam splitting element 410 side by side with the X-axis direction as the incident direction. The structure of the beam splitting element 410 is similar to that of the beam splitting element 210, and includes a first beam splitting element interface 411 to a fourth beam splitting element interface 414 distributed parallel to each other along the Y-axis. Each beam splitting element interface 411 to 414 is perpendicular to the XY plane and is distributed parallel to each other along the Y-axis, that is, the angle between each beam splitting element interface 411 to 414 and the X-axis is the same. Each beam splitting element interface 411 to 414 is neither parallel to nor perpendicular to the incident direction of the input light beam, so the angle is not 0 degrees, 90 degrees or 180 degrees (for example, 45 degrees is shown in the figure, but it is not limited to this). The dimensions of the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 are designed to ensure that the input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 can be incident on the first beam splitting element interface 411. Optionally, interfaces of two adjacent beam splitting elements do not overlap along the Y-axis.

[0100] refer to Figure 4B and Figure 4C The optical path in the beam splitting element 410 shown. The first beam splitting element interface 411 splits each of the input light beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 into two sub-beams according to a predetermined light intensity splitting ratio, one of which is transmitted and the other is reflected. The sub-beam reflected from the first beam splitting element interface 411 is incident on the second beam splitting element interface 412, and the sub-beam transmitted from the first beam splitting element interface 411 is incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 420. By analogy, the sub-beam reflected from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the second beam splitting element interface 412 continues to be partially reflected and partially transmitted by the second beam splitting element interface 412. The sub-beam transmitted from the second beam splitting element interface 412 to the third beam splitting element interface 413 continues to be partially reflected and partially transmitted by the third beam splitting element interface 413. The sub-beam transmitted from the third beam splitting element interface 413 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 is reflected by the fourth beam splitting element interface 414.

[0101] In this way, the wavelengths are 、 Each of the four input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 is split into four sub-beams, which are then emitted along the X-axis from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414. Therefore, the beam splitting element 410 outputs a total of 4×4=16 sub-beams along the X-axis.

[0102] Each of the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 can be an ideal plane, or can be an ideal plane and a region of a certain thickness near the ideal plane. For example, the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the third beam splitting element interface 413 can include a partially reflective film or be manufactured using a partially reflective film. The fourth beam splitting element interface 414 can include a film layer with a reflective function. To achieve high reflection, a fully reflective film can be used or be manufactured using a fully reflective film.

[0103] In this example, four input light beams, L1, L2, L3, and L4, are distributed along the Z-axis. WDM element 420 includes four WDM element interfaces: a first WDM element interface 421, a second WDM element interface 422, a third WDM element interface 423, and a fourth WDM element interface 424. Each of first through fourth WDM element interfaces 421 through 424 is perpendicular to the XZ plane and parallel to one another and distributed along the Z-axis. In other words, each of WDM element interfaces 421 through 424 has the same angle with the X-axis. Each beam splitting element interface 421 through 424 is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the incident direction of the sub-beams incident thereon, and therefore the angle is not 0, 90, or 180 degrees (for example, 45 degrees is shown in the figure). Each of the first to fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 421 to 424 has a size sufficient for the four sub-beams emitted from the first to fourth beam splitting element interfaces 410 to 440 to be incident thereon.

[0104] like Figures 4A to 4C As shown, the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 421 can be designed to reflect light of all wavelengths. The wavelengths into which the input beam L1 is split are The four sub-beams are incident on the first surface of the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 421 from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 ( Figure 4A The first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 421 reflects the four sub-beams to the second surface of the second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 422 ( Figure 4A The lower surface is shown in FIG.

[0105] The second wavelength division multiplexing component interface 422 can be designed to only The wavelength is The input beam L2 is split into wavelengths of The four sub-beams are incident on the first surface of the second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 422 from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 ( Figure 4A The second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 422 reflects the four sub-beams to the second surface of the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 423 ( Figure 4A At the same time, the second wavelength division multiplexing component interface 422 also reflects the wavelength of the light from the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 421 to its second surface. The four sub-beams are transmitted to the second surface of the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 423 ( Figure 4A The lower surface is shown in FIG.

[0106] The third wavelength division multiplexing component interface 423 can be designed to only be used for wavelengths of The light of wavelength is reflected and the light of other wavelengths is transmitted. The wavelengths into which the input beam L3 is split are The four sub-beams are incident on the first surface of the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 423 from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 ( Figure 4A The third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 423 reflects the four sub-beams to the second surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 ( Figure 4A At the same time, the third wavelength division multiplexing component interface 423 also reflects the wavelength of the light from the second wavelength division multiplexing component interface 422 onto its second surface. The wavelengths of the four sub-beams transmitted from the second wavelength division multiplexing element interface 422 to the second surface thereof are The four sub-beams of wavelength are transmitted to the second surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424. The four sub-beams with wavelengths of The four sub-beams with wavelengths of The four sub-beams are all incident on the second surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 ( Figure 4A The lower surface is shown in FIG.

[0107] The fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 can be designed to be only for wavelengths The light of wavelength is transmitted and the light of other wavelengths is reflected. The wavelengths into which the input beam L4 is split are The four sub-beams are incident on the first surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 ( Figure 4A The fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 transmits the four sub-beams along the X-axis direction. At the same time, the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 also reflects the wavelength of the light from the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 423 to its second surface. The wavelength of the four sub-beams transmitted from the third wavelength division multiplexing element interface 423 to its second surface is The 4 sub-beams and wavelengths are The four sub-beams are reflected along the X-axis direction.

[0108] Thus, the wavelengths incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 from the first beam splitting element interface 411 are respectively and The four sub-beams are output from the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 along the X-axis direction to form the first output beam K1. The wavelengths incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 from the second beam splitting element interface 412 are respectively and The four sub-beams are output from the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 along the X-axis direction to form the second output beam K2. The wavelengths incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 from the third beam splitting element interface 413 are respectively and The four sub-beams are output from the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 along the X-axis direction to form the third output beam K3. The wavelengths incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 from the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 are respectively and The four sub-beams are all output from the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 along the X-axis direction to form a fourth output beam K4.

[0109] It can be seen that since the light passes through the beam splitter 410 and is input into the wavelength division multiplexing element 420, the light intensity of each optical path within the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 will also be relatively small. For example, assuming that the light intensity splitting ratio of the first beam splitter interface 411 is reflectivity: transmittance = 75:25, then each of the input light beams L1, L2, L3, and L4 is reflected at 75% of its intensity and transmitted at 25% of its intensity. Then, the wavelengths incident on the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 from the first beam splitter interface 411 are respectively and The light intensities of the four sub-beams are 25% of the input beams L1, L2, L3 and L4 respectively.

[0110] Each of the first to fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 421, 424 can be an ideal plane, or a region of a certain thickness around the ideal plane. For example, the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 421 can include a reflective film layer. To achieve high reflectivity, a total reflection film can be used, or a total reflection film can be used. For example, each of the second to fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces 422, 424 can include a wavelength selective film, or a wavelength selective film can be used.

[0111] Therefore, the light intensity in each optical path of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 400 according to the third embodiment is relatively weak, and the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 400 will not be damaged by high light intensity. At the same time, this design can reduce the number of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces in the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 400 and also reduce the size of the wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces in the distribution direction, which can better meet packaging requirements.

[0112] It should be understood that, based on the above example, the specific structure of the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer 400 can vary with the number of M and N. For example, when M=2 and N=4, that is, when the number of input light channels is 2 and the number of output light channels is 4, the beam splitter element 410 can include four beam splitter element interfaces, but the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 can include only two wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces. Figure 4A and Figure 4B In this case, the beam splitting element 410 may include the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414, but the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 may include only two wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces, for example, only the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 421 and the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424. In this configuration, for example, two input light beams (for example, with a wavelength of The beam L1 and wavelength are The light beam L4) is input into the beam splitting element 410 along the X-axis direction, which will cause the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 to output four output beams, each of which contains a wavelength of and The two sub-beams of wavelength are The wavelengths into which the input beam L1 is split are The four sub-beams are incident on the first surface of the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 421 from the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 ( Figure 4A The first wavelength division multiplexing element interface 421 reflects the four sub-beams to the second surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interface 424 ( Figure 4A The lower surface is shown in the figure). The wavelengths into which the input beam L4 is split are The four sub-beams of 41 are incident on the first surface of the fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 424 from the first beam splitting component interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting component interface 414. The fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 424 transmits all the four sub-beams along the X axis. At the same time, the fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 424 also reflects a wavelength of 41 from the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 421 onto its second surface. The four sub-beams are all reflected along the X-axis. Thus, four output beams are formed, each of which has a wavelength of A sub-beam with a wavelength of A sub-beam is formed.

[0113] It should be understood that, based on this example, the specific structure of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 400 may vary with the number of M and N. For the sake of brevity, no further examples are given here.

[0114] In addition, in this embodiment, in order to achieve the aforementioned beam splitting function, the interfaces of the N beam splitting elements are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light emitting surface of the beam splitting element. Figure 4B and Figure 4C As shown, the angle between the first beam splitting element interface 411 to the fourth beam splitting element interface 414 and the light emitting surface 415 of the beam splitting element 410 is 45 degrees, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0115] Furthermore, in this embodiment, to achieve the aforementioned beam combining function, the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces in the wavelength division multiplexing element are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light entrance surface of the wavelength division multiplexing element, and the intersection line between each of the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces and the light entrance surface of the wavelength division multiplexing element is perpendicular to the intersection line between each of the N beam splitting element interfaces and the light exit surface of the beam splitting element. Figure 4B and Figure 4C As shown, the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 421 to the fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 424 are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light-entering surface 425 of the wavelength division multiplexing component 420. For example, the figure shows that the angle between the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface 421 to the fourth wavelength division multiplexing component interface 424 and the light-entering surface 425 of the wavelength division multiplexing component 420 is 45 degrees, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In addition, as Figure 4B and Figure 4C As shown, the intersection line between each of the first to fourth wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces 421 to 424 and the light incident surface 425 of the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 is perpendicular to the intersection line between each of the first to fourth beam splitting element interfaces 411 to 414 and the light exit surface 415 of the beam splitting element 410.

[0116] Fourth embodiment

[0117] Figure 5A A schematic top view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5B A schematic front view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5C A schematic perspective view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5D A schematic exploded diagram illustrating an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5E A schematic optical path diagram of an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0118] The fourth embodiment can be regarded as adding an optical deflection element to the third embodiment. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, the following description will not describe the beam splitting element and wavelength division multiplexing element in the fourth embodiment in detail, but will focus on the optical deflection element.

[0119] In the fourth embodiment, the light turning element is used to receive N output light beams emitted from the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 and turn the N output light beams to be output from the light turning element in parallel along a first direction and distributed along a third direction.

[0120] Furthermore, in the fourth embodiment, the light turning element includes N+1 reflective interfaces.

[0121] When N is an integer greater than 2, the optical turning element is configured such that the Nth output beam of the N output beams of the wavelength division multiplexing element passes through the optical turning element. The first reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces is used to receive the first output beam to the N-1th output beam of the N output beams, and reflects the first output beam to the N-1th output beam in a direction opposite to the third direction. The second reflective interface to the Nth reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces are respectively used to receive the first output beam to the N-1th output beam emitted by the first reflective interface, and reflect the first output beam to the N-1th output beam in a direction parallel to the second direction and toward the Nth output beam. The N+1th reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces is used to receive the first output beam to the N-1th output beam emitted by the second reflective interface to the Nth reflective interface, and reflect the incident first output beam to the N-1th output beam to output the optical turning element in parallel with the first direction, and to be distributed in the third direction with the Nth output beam.

[0122] When N is 2, the optical turning element can be configured so that one of the two output beams of the wavelength division multiplexing element passes through the optical turning element. The first reflective interface among the three reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the other output beam of the two output beams, and reflects the other output beam in a direction opposite to the third direction. The second reflective interface among the three reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the other output beam emitted by the first reflective interface, and reflects the other output beam in a direction parallel to the second direction and toward the output beam passing through the optical turning element. The third reflective interface among the three reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the other output beam emitted by the second reflective interface, and reflects the incident other output beam to be output from the optical turning element in parallel along the first direction, and distributed in the third direction with the output beam passing through the optical turning element. Optionally, in a fourth embodiment, the optical turning element is configured so that the Nth output beam passing through the optical turning element is coplanar with the M input beams.

[0123] Figures 5A to 5E Shown is only one example of the fourth embodiment.

[0124] In this example, the length, width and height directions of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 500 are used as the three orthogonal axis directions of the reference coordinate system, and the first direction is the X-axis direction, the second direction is the Y-axis direction, and the third direction is the Z-axis direction.

[0125] refer to Figures 5A to 5E The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 500 includes a beam splitting element 410, a wavelength division multiplexing element 420, and an optical turning element 530 arranged along the X-axis. For example, the beam splitting element 410, the wavelength division multiplexing element 420, and the optical turning element 530 are sequentially attached together using glue or optical adhesive to form the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 500. To avoid repetition, the beam splitting element 410 and the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 are not further described here.

[0126] refer to Figure 5C Light deflection element 530 receives the four output beams K1, K2, K3, and K4 emitted from wavelength division multiplexing element 520 and deflects these four output beams so that they are parallel to the X-axis and distributed along the Z-axis. As shown in the figure, the final output beams K1', K2', K3', and K4' emitted from light deflection element 530 are parallel to the X-axis and distributed along the Z-axis.

[0127] refer to Figure 5D The light deflection element 530 may include a first reflecting prism 531, a second reflecting prism 532, a third reflecting prism 533, a fourth reflecting prism 534, a fifth reflecting prism 535 and a sixth prism 536. The sixth prism 536 allows all light incident thereon to pass through. The first reflecting prism 531 to the fifth reflecting prism 535 may respectively include a first reflecting interface 5310 to a fifth reflecting interface 5350. The first reflecting interface 5310 to the fifth reflecting interface 5350 may be an ideal plane, or an ideal plane and an area with a certain thickness near the ideal plane. For example, each reflecting interface may include a film layer with a reflective function. In order to achieve high reflection, a total reflection film may be used, or a total reflection film may be used to make it.

[0128] refer to Figure 5EThe first reflective interface 5310 is perpendicular to the XZ plane, and the angle between it and the exit direction of the second, third, and fourth output beams K2, K3, and K4 (shown as the positive X-axis direction in the figure) enables the first reflective interface 5310 to receive and reflect the output beams K2, K3, and K4 in the negative Z-axis direction (for example, the angle is 45 degrees in the figure). The size of the first reflective interface 5310 in the Y-axis direction enables the output beams K2, K3, and K4, in addition to the output beam K1, to be incident thereon. Each of the second to fourth reflective interfaces 5320 to 5340 is perpendicular to the YZ plane, and the angle between it and the incident direction of the output beams K2, K3, and K4 incident thereon from the first reflective interface (shown as the negative Z-axis direction in the figure) enables it to receive and reflect the output beams K2, K3, and K4 in the negative Y-axis direction (for example, the angle is 45 degrees in the figure). Furthermore, the dimensions of the second to fourth reflective interfaces 5320 to 5340 are sufficient to respectively receive the output light beams K2, K3, and K4 reflected by the first reflective interface 5310. The fifth reflective interface 5350 is perpendicular to the XY plane and has an angle with the incident direction (indicated as the negative Y-axis direction) of the output light beams K2, K3, and K4 incident thereon from the second to fourth reflective interfaces 5320 to 5340, respectively, such that the fifth reflective interface 5350 can receive and reflect the output light beams K2, K3, and K4 along the positive X-axis direction (for example, the angle is shown as 45 degrees in the figure).

[0129] Under this construction, reference Figure 5A 、 Figure 5B 、 Figure 5C and Figure 5E Following the optical path in FIG. 1 , the output beam K1 emitted from the wavelength division multiplexing element 520 is incident on the sixth prism 536, thereby directly passing through the light deflection element 530 and emitting along the X-axis to form the final output beam K1'. This final output beam K1' is coplanar with the input beams L1, L2, L3, and L4. The output beams K2, K3, and K4 emitted from the wavelength division multiplexing element 520 are all incident on the first reflective interface 5310 and are reflected by the first reflective interface 5310 along the negative Z-axis to the second reflective interface 5320, the third reflective interface 5330, and the fourth reflective interface 5340, respectively. The second reflective interface 5320, the third reflective interface 5330, and the fourth reflective interface 5340 further reflect the output beams K2, K3, and K4 along the negative Y-axis to the fifth reflective interface 5350. Finally, the fifth reflective interface 5350 reflects the output beams K2, K3, and K4 along the X-axis to form final output beams K2', K3', and K4'. The final output beams K2', K3', and K4' are distributed with the final output beam K1' in the Z-axis direction.

[0130] The additional light turning element (compared to the third embodiment) changes the overall distribution of the light beam output from the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer, such as Figure 5C As shown, the plane formed by the N output light beams emitted from the light turning element 530 is parallel or coplanar with the plane formed by the M input light beams, which can reduce the complexity of coupling with the front and rear devices and increase user convenience.

[0131] It should be understood that, based on this example, the specific structure of the light deflection element 530 can vary depending on the specific structures of the beam splitter element 410 and the wavelength division multiplexing element 420. For example, when M = 4 and N = 2, the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 only emits two output beams, such as the first output beam K1 and the fourth output beam K4. In this case, the light deflection element 530 may not include the second reflective interface 5320 and the third reflective interface 5330. For the sake of brevity, these examples are not given here.

[0132] The first reflecting prism 531 can be referred to as an upstream reflecting prism, each of the second to fourth reflecting prisms (532-524) can be referred to as an intermediate reflecting prism, and the fifth reflecting prism 535 can be referred to as a downstream reflecting prism. Accordingly, the reflection interfaces therein can be referred to as an upstream reflecting interface, an intermediate reflecting interface, and a downstream reflecting interface.

[0133] Therefore, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a light turning element is proposed, comprising: an upstream reflection interface, a plurality of intermediate reflection interfaces, and a downstream reflection interface; wherein the upstream reflection interface is configured to receive a plurality of independent incident light beams and guide them respectively to the plurality of intermediate reflection interfaces; each of the plurality of intermediate reflection interfaces is configured to receive a light beam from the upstream reflection interface and guide it to the downstream reflection interface; the downstream reflection interface is configured to receive a light beam from the plurality of intermediate reflection interfaces and reflect it out.

[0134] In this embodiment, the upstream reflection interface, the intermediate reflection interface, and the downstream reflection interface are respectively distributed in multiple optical elements (the first to fifth reflection prisms), and then combined in the form of multiple optical elements to form a light deflection element. However, this is only an example. The upstream reflection interface, the intermediate reflection interface, and the downstream reflection interface can also be distributed in other forms in the light deflection element.

[0135] In addition, the above descriptions of the terms for the light deflection element are also applicable to other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0136] Fifth embodiment

[0137] Figure 6A A schematic top view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6B A schematic front view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6CA schematic perspective view of a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6D A schematic exploded diagram illustrating an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6E A schematic optical path diagram of an optical turning element in a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0138] The fifth embodiment can also be regarded as the third embodiment with an additional optical deflection element. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, the following does not describe the beam splitting element and wavelength division multiplexing element in the fifth embodiment in detail, but focuses on the optical deflection element.

[0139] In the fifth embodiment, the light turning element is used to receive N output light beams emitted from the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 and turn the N output light beams to be output from the light turning element in parallel along a first direction and distributed along a third direction.

[0140] Furthermore, in the fifth embodiment, the light turning element includes N+1 reflective interfaces.

[0141] When N is an integer greater than 2, the light turning element is configured so that the N-th output beam among the N output light beams passes through the light turning element. The first reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the first output beam to the N-1-th output beam among the N output light beams, and reflects the first output beam to the N-1-th output beam in a direction opposite to the third direction. The second reflective interface to the N-th reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces are respectively used to be incident on the first output beam to the N-1-th output beam emitted by the first reflective interface, and reflect the first output beam to the N-1-th output beam in a direction parallel to the second direction and toward the N-th output beam. The N+1-th reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the first output beam to the N-1-th output beam emitted by the second reflective interface to the N-th reflective interface, and reflect the incident first output beam to the N-1-th output beam to be output from the light turning element in parallel along the first direction, and distributed in the third direction with the N-th output beam.

[0142] When N is 2, the optical deflection element can be configured so that one of the two output light beams of the wavelength division multiplexing element passes through the optical deflection element. The first reflective interface among the three reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the other output light beam of the two output light beams, and to reflect the other output light beam in a direction opposite to the third direction. The second reflective interface among the three reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the other output light beam emitted by the first reflective interface, and to reflect the other output light beam in a direction parallel to the second direction and toward the output light beam passing through the optical deflection element. The third reflective interface among the three reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the other output light beam emitted by the second reflective interface, and to reflect the incident other output light beam to be output from the optical deflection element in parallel along the first direction, and to be distributed in the third direction with the output light beam passing through the optical deflection element.

[0143] In the fifth embodiment, the light redirecting element is configured such that the Nth output light beam passing through the light redirecting element has the longest perpendicular distance to the plane of the M input light beams in the second direction compared with other output light beams.

[0144] Figures 6A to 6E What is shown is merely one example of the fifth embodiment.

[0145] In this example, the length, width and height directions of the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer 600 are used as the three orthogonal axis directions of the reference coordinate system, and the first direction is the X-axis direction, the second direction is the Y-axis direction, and the third direction is the Z-axis direction.

[0146] refer to Figures 6A to 6E The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 600 includes a beam splitting element 410, a wavelength division multiplexing element 420, and an optical turning element 630 arranged along the X-axis. For example, the beam splitting element 410, the wavelength division multiplexing element 420, and the optical turning element 630 are sequentially attached together using glue or optical adhesive to form the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer 600. To avoid repetition, the beam splitting element 410 and the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 are not further described here.

[0147] refer to Figure 6C Light deflecting element 630 receives the four output beams K1, K2, K3, and K4 emitted from wavelength division multiplexing element 420 and deflects these four output beams so that they are output parallel to the X-axis and distributed along the Z-axis. As shown in the figure, the final output beams K1', K2', K3', and K4' emitted from light deflecting element 630 are parallel to the X-axis and distributed along the Z-axis.

[0148] refer to Figure 6DThe light deflection element 630 may include a first reflecting prism 631, a second reflecting prism 632, a third reflecting prism 633, a fourth reflecting prism 634, a fifth reflecting prism 635 and a sixth prism 636. They may be bonded together by glue or optical adhesive. The sixth prism 636 allows all light incident on it to pass directly through. The first reflecting prism 631 to the fifth reflecting prism 635 may respectively include a first reflecting interface 6310 to a fifth reflecting interface 6350. The first reflecting interface 6310 to the fifth reflecting interface 6350 may be an ideal plane, or an ideal plane and an area with a certain thickness near the plane. For example, each reflecting interface may include a film layer with a reflective function. In order to achieve high reflection, a total reflection film may be used, or it may be made using a total reflection film.

[0149] refer to Figure 6E The first reflective interface 6310 is perpendicular to the XZ plane, and the angle between it and the exit direction of the output beams K1, K2, and K3 (shown as the positive X-axis direction in the figure) enables the first reflective interface 6310 to receive and reflect the output beams K1, K2, and K3 in the negative Z-axis direction (for example, the angle is 45 degrees in the figure). The size of the first reflective interface 6310 in the Y-axis direction enables the output beams K1, K2, and K3, excluding the output beam K4, to be incident thereon. Each of the second to fourth reflective interfaces 6320 to 6340 is perpendicular to the YZ plane, and the angle between it and the incident direction of the output beams K1, K2, and K3 incident thereon from the first reflective interface (shown as the negative Z-axis direction in the figure) enables it to receive and reflect the output beams K1, K2, and K3 in the positive Y-axis direction (for example, the angle is 45 degrees in the figure). Furthermore, the sizes of the second to fourth reflective interfaces 6320 to 6340 are sufficient to respectively receive the output light beams K1 , K2 , and K3 reflected by the first reflective interface 6310 .

[0150] Under this construction, reference Figure 6A 、 Figure 6B 、 Figure 6C and Figure 6EFollowing the optical path in FIG. 4 , the output beam K4 emitted from the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 is incident on the sixth prism 636, and then directly passes through the light deflection element 630 and is output along the X-axis to form the final output beam K4'. The output beams K1, K2, and K3 emitted from the wavelength division multiplexing element 420 are incident on the first reflective interface 6310 and are reflected by the first reflective interface 6310 along the negative Z-axis to the second reflective interface 6320, the third reflective interface 6330, and the fourth reflective interface 6340, respectively. The second reflective interface 6320, the third reflective interface 6330, and the fourth reflective interface 6340 further reflect the output beams K1, K2, and K3 along the positive Y-axis to the fifth reflective interface 6350. Finally, the fifth reflective interface 6350 reflects the output beams K1, K2, and K3 along the X-axis to form the final output beams K1', K2', and K3'. The final output beams K1 ′, K2 ′, and K3 ′ and the final output beam K4 ′ are distributed in the Z-axis direction.

[0151] In this way, the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer 600 can not only avoid damage due to high light intensity as in the first to fourth embodiments described above, but also, because the optical path differences between the various optical paths in the beam splitter wavelength division multiplexer 600 are relatively close, it is also beneficial to improve the consistency of the spot size and divergence angle of the final output light beams K1', K2', K3' and K4' when they are propagated to the end point.

[0152] By providing a light deflection element, for example, in the fourth and fifth embodiments, multiple prisms with specific reflective interfaces are combined to construct multiple parallel internal light paths, and ultimately achieve unified deflection or rearrangement of multiple light beams.

[0153] The various beam splitting element interfaces, wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces, and reflective interfaces described in the aforementioned embodiments can be supported by coating the corresponding surfaces of the corresponding prisms with a multilayer medium for achieving the corresponding partial reflection function, total reflection function, or wavelength selection function. The corresponding prisms are bonded together using glue or optical adhesive to form the corresponding beam splitting elements, wavelength division multiplexing elements, and optical deflection elements, and then the beam splitting elements, wavelength division multiplexing elements, and optical deflection elements are bonded together to form a beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer. Prisms are insensitive to temperature, humidity, and vibration, and using prisms to make beam splitting wavelength division multiplexers can improve the stability of the device.

[0154] Front combination Figures 1 to 6E The exemplary configurations of the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to the first to fifth embodiments of the present disclosure are described. However, it should be understood that the various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to Figures 1 to 6E Furthermore, the features of the first to fifth embodiments can be combined with each other unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0155] The terms “first”, “second” and the like in the specification, claims and drawings of the present disclosure are used to distinguish different objects rather than to describe a specific order.

[0156] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present invention.

[0157] The basic principles of the present disclosure have been described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, it should be noted that the advantages, strengths, and effects mentioned in this disclosure are merely illustrative and not restrictive, and should not be construed as necessarily possessed by each embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the specific details disclosed above are provided for illustrative purposes and to facilitate understanding, rather than as limitations. These details do not limit the present disclosure to necessarily being implemented using these specific details.

[0158] The block diagrams of the devices, devices, equipment, and systems involved in this disclosure are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that they must be connected, arranged, or configured in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, these devices, devices, equipment, and systems can be connected, arranged, or configured in any manner. Words such as "include," "comprise," "have," and the like are open-ended words, meaning "including but not limited to," and can be used interchangeably therewith. The words "or" and "and" used herein refer to the words "and / or" and can be used interchangeably therewith, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The word "such as" used herein refers to the phrase "such as but not limited to," and can be used interchangeably therewith.

[0159] It should also be noted that in the system and method of the present disclosure, each component or each step can be decomposed and / or recombined. Such decomposition and / or recombination should be regarded as equivalent solutions of the present disclosure.

[0160] Various changes, substitutions, and modifications may be made to the technology described herein without departing from the teachings defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the claims of this disclosure is not limited to the specific aspects of the processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of things, means, methods, and actions described above. Currently existing or later developed processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of things, means, methods, or actions that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same results as the corresponding aspects described herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claims include within their scope such processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of things, means, methods, or actions.

[0161] The above description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but rather to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0162] The above description has been provided for the purpose of illustration and description. In addition, this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure to the forms disclosed herein. Although a number of example aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those skilled in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, alterations, additions, and sub-combinations thereof.

Claims

1. A beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer, comprising: A beam splitting element is configured to input M input beams of different wavelengths and split each input beam into N sub-beams to obtain M×N sub-beams; as well as a wavelength division multiplexing element for receiving the M×N sub-beams and forming N output beams, each output beam being synthesized by a sub-beam of each of the M input beams, Wherein, M and N are integers greater than or equal to 2.

2. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 1, wherein: The beam splitting element and the wavelength division multiplexing element each include a prism.

3. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 1, wherein: The beam splitting element includes N beam splitting element interfaces, where N is an integer greater than 2; Each of the first beam splitting element interface to the N-1th beam splitting element interface among the N beam splitting element interfaces is used to transmit M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect M reflected partial light beams; The Nth beam splitting element interface among the N beam splitting element interfaces is used to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams; The M incident beams at the interface of the first beam splitting element are the M input beams; The M reflected partial beams at the interface of the first beam splitting element serve as the M incident beams at the interface of the next beam splitting element, and the M transmitted partial beams serve as the M sub-beams in the M×N sub-beams; as well as The M transmitted partial light beams of each of the remaining beam splitting element interfaces among the N beam splitting element interfaces except the first beam splitting element interface and the Nth beam splitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams of the next beam splitting element interface, and the M reflected partial light beams serve as the M sub-beams of the M×N sub-beams output by the beam splitting element.

4. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 1, wherein: The beam splitting element includes N beam splitting element interfaces, where N is 2; A first beam splitting element interface among the N beam splitting element interfaces is used to transmit M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect M reflected partial light beams, and the M incident light beams of the first beam splitting element interface are the M input light beams, and the M reflected partial light beams of the first beam splitting element interface serve as the M incident light beams of a second beam splitting element interface among the N beam splitting element interfaces, and the M transmitted partial light beams serve as M sub-beams of the M×N sub-beams; The second beam splitting element interface is used to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams.

5. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 1, wherein: The beam splitting element includes N beam splitting element interfaces, where N is an integer greater than 2; Each of the first beam splitting element interface to the N-1th beam splitting element interface among the N beam splitting element interfaces is used to transmit M incident light beams incident thereon into M transmitted partial light beams and reflect M reflected partial light beams; The Nth beam splitting element interface among the N beam splitting element interfaces is used to reflect the M incident light beams incident thereon into M sub-beams among the M×N sub-beams; The M incident beams at the interface of the first beam splitting element are the M input beams; as well as The M transmitted partial beams from the first beam splitting element interface to the N-1th beam splitting element interface serve as the M incident beams for the next beam splitting element interface, and the M reflected partial beams serve as the M sub-beams in the M×N sub-beams.

6. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: The first to N-1th beam splitting element interfaces respectively include a partial reflective film, wherein the partial reflective film is configured to transmit a portion of light and reflect a portion of light; and The Nth beam splitting element interface includes a reflective film.

7. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The beam splitting element is configured to receive the M input light beams, and the M input light beams are input into the beam splitting element in parallel with each other along a first direction; The interfaces of the N beam splitting elements are parallel to each other and distributed along the second direction, so that the M×N sub-beams are emitted in parallel along the first direction; and The second direction is non-parallel to the first direction.

8. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 5, wherein: The beam splitting element is configured to receive the M input light beams, and the M input light beams are input into the beam splitting element in parallel with each other along a first direction; The interfaces of the N beam splitting elements are parallel to each other and distributed along the first direction, so that the M×N sub-beams are emitted in parallel along the second direction; and The second direction is non-parallel to the first direction.

9. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 7, wherein: The second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.

10. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The beam splitting element is configured to receive the M input light beams, and the M input light beams are distributed along the second direction; The wavelength division multiplexing component includes M×N wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces, which include a first group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces to an Nth group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces corresponding to the first beam splitting component interface to the Nth beam splitting component interface, respectively, and each group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces includes M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces; The interfaces of the M×N wavelength division multiplexing components are parallel to each other and distributed along the second direction; The M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces in each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are used to respectively receive the M sub-beams emitted by the corresponding beam splitting element interfaces, and reflect or transmit the M incident sub-beams, so as to combine the M incident sub-beams of different wavelengths into one of the N output beams in a wavelength division multiplexing manner; as well as The M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are configured such that the N output light beams are output from the wavelength division multiplexing element in parallel along the first direction and are distributed along the second direction.

11. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 10, wherein: The wavelengths of the M input light beams are respectively from the first wavelength to the Mth wavelength, where M is an integer greater than 2; For the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces in each group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces: The first wavelength division multiplexing component interface to the M-1 wavelength division multiplexing component interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces are used to respectively reflect the first sub-beam to the M-1 sub-beam incident on the first surface thereof along the second direction to the second surface of the subsequent wavelength division multiplexing component interface; The second wavelength division multiplexing component interface to the M-1th wavelength division multiplexing component interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces are further used to transmit all sub-beams incident on the second surface thereof from the previous wavelength division multiplexing component interface along the second direction to the second surface of the subsequent wavelength division multiplexing component interface, so that the M-1th wavelength division multiplexing component interface transmits the first sub-beam to the M-1th sub-beam to the second surface of the M-th wavelength division multiplexing component interface; and The Mth wavelength division multiplexing element interface is used to transmit the Mth sub-beam incident on its first surface from the corresponding beam splitting element interface, and to reflect the first sub-beam to the M-1th sub-beam incident on its second surface from the M-1th wavelength division multiplexing element interface along the first direction, so as to obtain one output beam among the N output beams of the wavelength division multiplexing element output along the first direction.

12. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 10, wherein: The wavelengths of the M input light beams are respectively from the first wavelength to the second wavelength, and M is 2; For the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces in each group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces: A first wavelength division multiplexing component interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces reflects the first sub-beam incident on the first surface thereof along the second direction to the second surface of the second wavelength division multiplexing component interface; and The second wavelength division multiplexing element interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces transmits the second sub-beam incident on its first surface, and reflects the first sub-beam transmitted from the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface to its second surface along the first direction to obtain one output beam among the N output beams output from the wavelength division multiplexing element along the first direction.

13. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The beam splitting element is configured to receive the M input light beams, and the M input light beams are distributed along a third direction, which is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction; The wavelength division multiplexing component includes M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces that are parallel to each other and distributed along a third direction; Each of the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces is used to input N sub-beams of the M×N sub-beams, and the N sub-beams are composed of one sub-beam of the M sub-beams emitted from each of the N beam splitting element interfaces; The M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces reflect or transmit the incident M×N sub-beams to form the incident M×N sub-beams into the N output beams; and The N output light beams are output from the wavelength division multiplexing element in parallel along the first direction and are distributed along the second direction.

14. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 13, wherein: The wavelengths of the M input light beams are respectively from the first wavelength to the Mth wavelength, where M is an integer greater than 2; The first wavelength division multiplexing component interface to the M-1 wavelength division multiplexing component interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces respectively reflect the N sub-beams with the first wavelength to the N sub-beams with the M-1 wavelength incident on the first surface thereof along the third direction to the second surface of the subsequent wavelength division multiplexing component interface; The second wavelength division multiplexing component interface to the M-1th wavelength division multiplexing component interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces are further used to transmit all sub-beams incident on the second surface thereof from the previous wavelength division multiplexing component interface along the third direction to the second surface of the subsequent wavelength division multiplexing component interface, so that the M-1th wavelength division multiplexing component interface transmits the N sub-beams with the first wavelength to the N sub-beams with the M-1th wavelength to the second surface of the M-th wavelength division multiplexing component interface; and The Mth wavelength division multiplexing element interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces is used to transmit N sub-beams with the Mth wavelength incident from the corresponding beam splitting element interface to its first surface, and to reflect the N sub-beams with the first wavelength transmitted from the M-1th wavelength division multiplexing element interface to the second surface thereof to the N sub-beams with the M-1th wavelength along the first direction, so as to obtain the N output beams output from the wavelength division multiplexing element along the first direction.

15. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 13, wherein: The wavelengths of the M input light beams are respectively a first wavelength and a second wavelength, and M is 2; A first wavelength division multiplexing component interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces reflects the N sub-beams with the first wavelength incident on its first surface along the third direction to a second surface of a second wavelength division multiplexing component interface; and The second wavelength division multiplexing element interface among the M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces transmits the N sub-beams with the second wavelength that are incident on its first surface, and reflects the N sub-beams with the first wavelength that are transmitted from the first wavelength division multiplexing element interface to its second surface along the first direction to obtain the N output beams that are output from the wavelength division multiplexing element along the first direction.

16. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 11, wherein: The first wavelength division multiplexing element interface is formed by a total reflection film; and The interfaces of the wavelength division multiplexing components other than the first wavelength division multiplexing component interface are respectively formed by wavelength selection films, and the wavelength selection films selectively reflect or transmit light of different wavelengths.

17. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 13, further comprising: The light turning element is used to input the N output light beams and turn the N output light beams to be output in parallel along the first direction from the light turning element and distributed along the third direction.

18. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 17, wherein: The light turning element includes N+1 reflective interfaces, where N is an integer greater than 2; The light turning element is configured to allow an Nth output light beam of the N output light beams to pass through the light turning element; The first reflective interface among the N+1 reflective interfaces is used to be incident on the first output beam among the N output beams to the N-1th output beam, and to reflect the first output beam to the N-1th output beam in a direction opposite to the third direction; The second to Nth reflective interfaces among the N+1 reflective interfaces are respectively used to receive the first output light beam emitted by the first reflective interface to the N-1th output light beam, and reflect the first output light beam to the N-1th output light beam along a direction parallel to the second direction and toward the Nth output light beam; and The N+1th reflection interface among the N+1 reflection interfaces is used to receive the first output light beam to the N-1th output light beam emitted from the second reflection interface to the N-1th reflection interface respectively, and reflects the incident first output light beam to the N-1th output light beam to be output parallel to the light turning element along the first direction, and is distributed in a third direction with the N-th output light beam.

19. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 18, wherein: The light turning element is configured such that the Nth output light beam passing through the light turning element is coplanar with the M input light beams.

20. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 18, wherein: The light redirecting element is configured such that the Nth output light beam passing through the light redirecting element has the longest perpendicular distance to the plane of the M input light beams in the second direction compared with other output light beams.

21. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 18, wherein: The N+1 reflection interfaces are respectively formed by total reflection films.

22. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: The interfaces of the N beam splitting elements are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light emitting surface of the beam splitting element.

23. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The wavelength division multiplexing component includes M×N wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces, which include a first group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces to an Nth group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces corresponding to the first beam splitting component interface to the Nth beam splitting component interface, respectively, and each group of wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces includes M wavelength division multiplexing component interfaces; The M wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces in each group of wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces are used to respectively receive the M sub-beams emitted from the corresponding beam splitting element interfaces, and reflect or transmit the incident M sub-beams, so as to combine the incident M sub-beams of different wavelengths into one of the N output beams in a wavelength division multiplexing manner.

24. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 23, wherein: The interfaces of the M×N wavelength division multiplexing components are parallel to each other and are not parallel to or perpendicular to the light incident surface of the interfaces of the wavelength division multiplexing components; and The intersection line between each of the M×N wavelength division multiplexing element interfaces and the light input surface of the wavelength division multiplexing element is parallel to the intersection line between each of the N beam splitting element interfaces and the light output surface of the beam splitting element.

25. The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to claim 1, further comprising: A light deflection element, wherein the light deflection element includes an upstream reflection interface, a plurality of intermediate reflection interfaces, and a downstream reflection interface, wherein the upstream reflective interface is configured to receive a plurality of independent incident light beams and direct them to the plurality of intermediate reflective interfaces respectively; Each of the plurality of intermediate reflective interfaces is configured to receive a light beam from the upstream reflective interface and direct it to the downstream reflective interface; and The downstream reflective interface is configured to receive the light beams from the plurality of intermediate reflective interfaces and reflect them outward.

26. A light deflection element, comprising: upstream reflection interface, multiple intermediate reflection interfaces, and downstream reflection interface, wherein the upstream reflective interface is configured to receive a plurality of independent incident light beams and direct them to the plurality of intermediate reflective interfaces respectively; Each of the plurality of intermediate reflective interfaces is configured to receive a light beam from the upstream reflective interface and direct it to the downstream reflective interface; and The downstream reflective interface is configured to receive the light beams from the plurality of intermediate reflective interfaces and reflect them outward.

27. A laser light source, comprising: The beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer according to any one of claims 1 to 25; as well as M laser generators are used to generate the M input light beams with different wavelengths.

28. The laser light source according to claim 27, further comprising: M optical isolators are respectively connected between the M laser generators and the beam splitting wavelength division multiplexer.

29. The laser light source according to claim 27 or 28, further comprising: M lenses are respectively connected between the M laser generators and the M optical isolators, and are used to collimate the M input light beams.

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