Light source and lighting device
By introducing collimating, diffusing, and converging elements into the laser source, the problem of long, striped light spots caused by the arrangement of laser diodes is solved, and the uniformity and brightness of the light spot are improved, making it suitable for lighting devices with high uniformity and high brightness.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-08-26
- Publication Date
- 2026-03-13
AI Technical Summary
In the prior art, when multiple laser diodes are used to emit excitation light, the light spot incident on the wavelength conversion element is elongated, resulting in insufficient uniformity of the emitted light spot.
A combination of laser elements, collimating elements, diffusing elements, and converging elements is used to collimate, diffuse, and converge the laser beam, making it wider or converge in the vertical direction to form a uniform square spot that is incident on the wavelength conversion element.
This improves the uniformity and brightness of the emitted light spot, ensuring high uniformity and high brightness of the light source output.
Smart Images
Figure CN121654918A_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical Field]
[0001] This invention relates to the field of lighting, and more particularly to a light source and a lighting device. [Background Technology]
[0002] Laser-based remote excitation of fluorescence technology uses excitation light emitted from a laser diode to excite fluorescent materials at a distance. By wavelength conversion, different wavelength ranges of received laser light are obtained. The unconverted excitation light is mixed with the converted received laser light to produce white light. Compared to LED light sources, this technology offers higher brightness and higher energy efficiency. It has been widely applied in the lighting industry.
[0003] In some scenarios, multiple laser diodes are used to emit excitation light. These laser diodes are arranged in a 1xN (N>1) configuration. The excitation light emitted by them is homogenized and then used to excite a wavelength conversion element to achieve higher brightness. However, the excitation light emitted by laser diodes arranged in this way results in a long, strip-shaped light spot incident on the wavelength conversion element, leading to insufficient uniformity of the emitted light spot. [Summary of the Invention]
[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a light source and lighting device that can improve the uniformity of the emitted light spot.
[0005] To achieve the above objectives, in a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a light source, comprising:
[0006] A laser element, comprising at least two laser units arranged along a first direction, the at least two laser units being used to emit at least two laser beams;
[0007] Wavelength conversion element for converting at least partially the at least two laser beams into laser beams with different wavelength ranges; and
[0008] A shaping assembly is disposed between the laser element and the wavelength conversion element, the shaping assembly comprising:
[0009] A collimating element for collimating the at least two laser beams;
[0010] A first diffusion element is disposed between the collimating element and the wavelength conversion element for widening the at least two laser beams in a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.
[0011] In some possible implementations, the first diffusion element includes a body having an incident surface and an exit surface, the incident surface and / or exit surface of the body being provided with a curved surface structure for widening the at least two laser beams in a second direction.
[0012] In some possible implementations, the curved surface structure is configured as a cylindrical structure, wherein the axis of the cylindrical structure is parallel to the first direction and the axis of the cylindrical structure is perpendicular to the second direction.
[0013] In some possible implementations, the cylindrical structure is multiple, and the multiple cylindrical structures are arranged along a second direction on the light-incident surface and / or light-exit surface of the body.
[0014] In some possible implementations, the shaping assembly further includes a second diffusion element disposed between the collimating element and the first diffusion element, the second diffusion element being used to homogenize the at least two laser beams in a first direction and a second direction.
[0015] In some possible implementations, the at least two laser beams have the same fast axis direction and the same slow axis direction.
[0016] In some possible implementations, the slow axis direction of the at least two laser beams is the same as the first direction.
[0017] In some possible implementations, the collimating element is used to collimate the at least two laser beams in the fast axis and slow axis directions.
[0018] In some possible implementations, a converging element is also included, disposed between the shaping element and the wavelength conversion element, for converging the shaped at least two laser beams onto the wavelength conversion element.
[0019] In some possible implementations, the converging element converges the shaped at least two laser beams to a preset convergence point, wherein the wavelength conversion element is relatively offset from the preset convergence point.
[0020] Secondly, embodiments of this application also provide a lighting device including the light source as described above; and a collecting component for collecting the laser emitted by the wavelength conversion element.
[0021] In some possible implementations, the collection component includes:
[0022] A collecting lens is used to reduce the divergence angle of the laser beam;
[0023] A collimating lens for collimating the laser light received from the collecting lens; and
[0024] A focusing lens is used to converge the laser light received from the collimating lens.
[0025] The beneficial effects of this application are:
[0026] In the light source of this application embodiment, the collimating element collimates at least two laser beams emitted by laser units arranged along the first direction, and then the first diffusion element broadens the at least two laser beams in the second direction so that the size of the light spot of at least two laser beams incident on the wavelength conversion element is substantially equal in the first direction and the second direction, thereby improving the uniformity of the emitted light. [Attached Image Description]
[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort, wherein:
[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic illustration of the light source in the first direction according to an embodiment of this application;
[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic illustration of the light source in the second direction according to an embodiment of this application.
Detailed Implementation Methods
[0030] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0031] Please combine Figure 1 and Figure 2 This application provides a light source, including a laser element 10, a wavelength conversion element 20, and a shaping assembly 30. It should be noted that... Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the diagram, the first direction X and the second direction Y are two mutually perpendicular directions.
[0032] The laser element 10 includes at least two laser units 100 arranged along a first direction X, the at least two laser units 100 being used to emit at least two laser beams, the at least two laser beams being incident on a wavelength conversion element 20, the wavelength conversion element 20 being used to convert at least partially the at least two laser beams into laser beams with different wavelength ranges, wherein the laser beams are mixed with the unconverted laser beams to form white light.
[0033] At least two laser units 100 can be integrated and packaged in the same housing. Each of the at least two laser units 100 is configured to emit laser beams in the same direction, for example, both emitting laser beams in the second direction Y. Within the spot area formed by the at least two laser beams, the size of the spot in the first direction X is larger than the size of the spot in the second direction Y, resulting in a long strip-shaped laser spot incident on the wavelength conversion element 20, leading to insufficient uniformity of the output light.
[0034] Based on this, a shaping component 30 is provided between the laser element 10 and the wavelength conversion element 20. The shaping component 30 is used to widen the at least two laser beams in the second direction Y so that the size of the light spots formed by the at least two laser beams incident on the wavelength conversion element 20 is substantially the same in the first direction X and the second direction Y.
[0035] According to some embodiments of this application, the shaping component 30 includes a collimating element 300 and a first diffusion element 310. The collimating element 300 is used to collimate the at least two laser beams. The first diffusion element 310 is disposed between the collimating element 300 and the wavelength conversion element 20, and is used to broaden the at least two laser beams in the second direction Y. By collimating the at least two laser beams, the collimating element 300 can reduce the expansion of the at least two laser beams during their spatial propagation, thereby reducing the size of the light spot. By broadening the at least two laser beams in the second direction Y, the first diffusion element 310 can make the sizes of the at least two laser beams substantially the same in the first direction X and the second direction Y, that is, the light spot of the at least two laser beams incident on the wavelength conversion element 20 is a square light spot.
[0036] According to some embodiments of this application, the first diffusion element 310 includes a body 3100, which has an incident light surface 3101 and an exit light surface 3102. At least two laser beams are incident on the body 3100 via the incident light surface 3101, guided by the body 3100, and exit from the exit light surface 3102 of the body 3100. Figure 2 As shown, the light-emitting surface 3102 of the main body 3100 is provided with a curved surface structure 3103, which is used to broaden at least two laser beams in the second direction Y. Of course, this application is not limited to... Figure 2 In some different embodiments, the illustrated embodiment may also be configured to have a curved structure 3103 on the light-incident surface 3101 of the main body 3100 or to have a curved structure 3103 on both the light-incident surface 3101 and the light-exit surface 3102 of the main body 3100.
[0037] like Figure 2The curved structure 3103 expands the divergence angle of at least two laser beams in the second direction Y, thereby widening the at least two laser beams as they travel, and gradually making their size in the second direction Y approach their size in the first direction X. It can be understood that by reasonably setting the distance between the wavelength conversion element 20 and the first diffusion element 30, the light spot formed on the wavelength conversion element 20 can be made to have essentially the same size in the first direction X and the second direction Y, thus obtaining a square incident light spot.
[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the curved surface structure 3103 can be configured to not change the divergence angle of at least two laser beams in the first direction X, so that at least two laser beams can maintain their original divergence angle and continue to travel after passing through the first diffusion element 310.
[0039] According to some embodiments of this application, the curved surface structure 3103 can be configured as a cylindrical surface structure, combined with... Figure 1 and Figure 2 The axis of the cylindrical structure (the central axis of the cylindrical structure) is parallel to the first direction X, and the axis of the cylindrical structure is perpendicular to the second direction Y. Therefore, when at least two laser beams pass through the cylindrical structure, the divergence angle in the second direction Y is changed and widened, while the divergence angle in the first direction X remains unchanged. As they continue to travel in space, the sizes of at least two laser beams in the first direction X and the second direction Y gradually become closer. Thus, by reasonably setting the distance between the wavelength conversion element 20 and the first diffusion element 310, the spot of the incident laser beam can be made into a square spot, thereby improving the uniformity of the output light.
[0040] According to some embodiments of this application, such as Figure 2 The curved structure 3103 can be selected as a convex structure disposed on the light-emitting surface 3102 of the main body 3100. However, this application is not limited to this. For example, the curved structure 3103 can also be selected as a concave structure disposed on the light-emitting surface 3102 of the main body 3100. It can be understood that when at least two laser beams pass through the concave structure, their divergence angle in the second direction Y will decrease, or in other words, they will converge. However, after traveling a sufficient distance in space, the at least two laser beams will pass through the convergence point, change into diverging beams, and continuously widen their size in the second direction Y during their continued travel. Similarly, the curved structure 3103 can also be selected as a convex or concave structure disposed on the light-incident surface 3101 of the main body 3100. It should be noted that... Figure 2 In the example shown, the curved structure 3103 is set as an outwardly convex structure of the light-emitting surface 3102 of the main body 3100, which is advantageous for reducing the overall volume.
[0041] According to some embodiments of this application, such as Figure 2 As shown, there are multiple cylindrical structures arranged along the second direction Y on the light-emitting surface 3102 of the main body 3100. The multiple cylindrical structures respectively change the divergence angle of a portion of at least two laser beams in the second direction Y, thereby causing these partially divergence-angle-changed beams to mix and improving the overall uniformity of the at least two laser beams in the second direction Y. Optionally, the multiple cylindrical structures can be arranged continuously in the second direction Y of the light-emitting surface 3102. It is understood that in different embodiments, the multiple cylindrical structures can also be selectively disposed on the light-incident surface 3101 of the main body 3100, or in some embodiments, they can be simultaneously disposed on both the light-incident surface 3101 and the light-emitting surface 3102 of the main body 3100.
[0042] According to some embodiments of this application, the shaping element 30 further includes a second diffusion element 320, which is disposed between the collimating element 300 and the first diffusion element 310. The second diffusion element 320 is used to homogenize at least the two laser beams in the first direction X and the second direction Y. It can be understood that, due to the separation of the emission positions, the light distribution of at least two laser beams emitted by at least two laser units 100 is prone to be uneven across the entire spot area in the first direction X. The arrangement of the second diffusion element 320 is beneficial to compensate for the unevenness of the spot by diffusing the at least two laser beams. Optionally, the second diffusion element 320 can be configured as an angle diffuser, for example. When the at least two laser beams pass through the angle diffuser, the divergence angle of each laser beam is expanded, so that the light distribution of each laser beam in the first direction X compensates for each other before reaching the first diffusion element 30, thereby achieving a uniform effect. At the same time, the light distribution of each laser beam in the second direction Y is also compensated accordingly, achieving a uniform effect.
[0043] According to some embodiments of this application, the collimating element 300 collimates both the fast axis and slow axis directions of at least two laser beams; that is, after at least two laser beams pass through the collimating element 300, both the fast axis and slow axis directions of at least two laser beams are collimated. For example... Figure 1 and Figure 2 The collimating element 300 can be selected as an aspherical lens 3000. The aspherical lens 3000 has different curvatures in the fast axis and slow axis directions of at least two laser beams, thus enabling simultaneous collimation of at least two laser beams in both directions. Optionally, such as... Figure 1 The collimating element 300 may include at least two aspherical lenses 3000, which are configured, for example, to correspond one-to-one with at least two laser units 100, i.e., each aspherical lens 3000 is used to collimate the laser beam emitted by the corresponding laser 100. Wherein, in Figure 1In the example shown, multiple aspherical lenses 3000 can be integrated onto the same carrier 3001. Optionally, at least two laser units 100 are integrated and packaged in the same housing, and at least two aspherical lenses 3000 are integrated onto the same carrier 3001. This allows the laser element 10 and the collimating element 300 to be positioned as a whole, which is beneficial for improving system progress and simplifying the positioning process. In addition, the integrated design helps reduce system cost. In some different embodiments, the collimating element 300 can also be selected as a cascaded combination of different lenses. For example, the collimating element 300 can be selected as a combination of a fast-axis collimating lens and a slow-axis collimating lens arranged in the optical paths of at least two laser beams.
[0044] According to some embodiments of this application, at least two laser units 100 are configured to emit laser beams in the same fast axis and slow axis directions. Therefore, at least two aspherical lenses 3000 can have the same optical parameters, such as curvature.
[0045] Furthermore, the fast axis direction of at least two laser units 100 can be set parallel to the second direction Y, and the slow axis direction can be set parallel to the first direction X. That is, at least two laser units 100 are arranged sequentially along their slow axis directions. It can be understood that during the propagation of the laser beam emitted by the laser unit 100, the fast axis direction expands faster, resulting in a larger spot size in the fast axis direction, while the slow axis direction expands more slowly, resulting in a smaller spot size in the slow axis direction. Therefore, setting at least two laser units 100 along their slow axis directions can, to a certain extent, reduce the difference in spot size between the overall spot size of the at least two emitted laser beams in the first direction X and the second direction Y, which is beneficial for the shaping element 30 to shape the overall spot size of the at least two laser beams into a square spot.
[0046] According to some embodiments of this application, the light source further includes a converging element 40, which is disposed between the shaping element 30 and the wavelength conversion element 20, for converging at least two shaped laser beams onto the wavelength conversion element 20. The converging element 40 is used to reduce the spot size of the laser beams incident on the wavelength conversion element 20, thereby increasing the center brightness of the white light output by the wavelength conversion element 20. It can be understood that the converging element 40 can be configured as an imaging optical element to image the overall spot shape of at least two laser beams output from the first diffusion element 310 onto the wavelength conversion element 20. By reasonably setting the position of the wavelength conversion element 20 relative to the converging element 40, the spot size incident on the wavelength conversion element 20 can be reduced. Specifically, the converging element 40 converges the shaped at least two laser beams to a preset convergence point 400, and the wavelength conversion element 20 is disposed near the preset convergence point 400 to compress the spot incident on the wavelength conversion element 20 to the smallest possible size. Optionally, the wavelength conversion element 20 is positioned in front of or behind the preset convergence point 400, that is, the position of the wavelength conversion element 20 is slightly offset from the preset convergence point 400. This makes the light spot incident on the wavelength conversion element 20 relatively small and avoids focusing the light spot onto the wavelength conversion element 20, so as to avoid the problem of excessive heat accumulation caused by excessive power density at the conversion point of the wavelength conversion element 20.
[0047] The following is combined Figure 1 and Figure 2The example further explains the working principle of the light source in the embodiments of this application. At least two laser units 100 are arranged along a first direction X, and each of the at least two laser units 100 emits a laser beam. The at least two laser beams emitted by the at least two laser units 100 can be configured to have the same fast axis direction and slow axis direction, and the slow axis direction of the at least two laser beams can be configured to be the same as the arrangement direction of the at least two laser units. Collimating element 300 collimates the fast and slow axes of at least two laser beams, obtaining at least two collimated laser beams. Then, a second diffusion element 320 diffuses the at least two laser beams to improve their uniformity. The at least two laser beams, after being diffused and homogenized by the second diffusion element 320, geometrically combine, forming a uniform and complete light spot. This light spot still exhibits an elongated shape. The resulting mixed laser beam is then incident on a first diffusion element 310, which broadens the laser beam in the second direction Y while maintaining its shape in the first direction X, thus shaping the laser beam into a square light spot. Simultaneously, the first diffusion element 310 also homogenizes the laser beam, further homogenizing it. Therefore, a square light spot with a very uniform light distribution is ultimately formed on the incident surface of the wavelength conversion element 20, resulting in high brightness and highly uniform output light from the wavelength conversion element 20.
[0048] Based on the light source in the above embodiments, this application also provides a lighting device, such as... Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the lighting device includes a light source as described above, and also includes a collecting component 50 for collecting the output light of the wavelength conversion element 20. The output light can be white light, and in some embodiments, a filter can be selected to filter light in a portion of its wavelength range to obtain monochromatic emitted light.
[0049] The collecting assembly 50 includes a collecting lens 500, a collimating lens 510, and a condensing lens 520. The collecting lens 500 is used to collect the laser light received from the wavelength conversion element 20 and reduce the divergence angle of the laser light. The collimating lens 510 is used to collimate the laser light received from the collecting lens 500. The condensing lens 520 is used to converge the laser light received from the collimating lens 510.
[0050] The lighting device of this application embodiment can output a white light spot with high brightness and high uniformity, and can be widely used in uniform lighting scenarios.
[0051] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make improvements without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, but these improvements all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A light source, characterized in that, include: A laser element, comprising at least two laser units arranged along a first direction, the at least two laser units being used to emit at least two laser beams; A wavelength conversion element for converting at least two laser beams into laser beams with different wavelength ranges; as well as A shaping assembly is disposed between the laser element and the wavelength conversion element, the shaping assembly comprising: A collimating element for collimating the at least two laser beams; A first diffusion element is disposed between the collimating element and the wavelength conversion element for widening the at least two laser beams in a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.
2. The light source according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first diffusion element includes a body having an incident surface and an exit surface. The incident surface and / or exit surface of the body are provided with a curved surface structure, which is used to broaden the at least two laser beams in a second direction.
3. The light source according to claim 2, characterized in that, The curved surface structure is configured as a cylindrical structure, wherein the axis of the cylindrical structure is parallel to the first direction and the axis of the cylindrical structure is perpendicular to the second direction.
4. The light source according to claim 3, characterized in that, The cylindrical structure is multiple, and the multiple cylindrical structures are arranged along the second direction on the light-incident surface and / or light-exit surface of the main body.
5. The light source according to claim 1, characterized in that, The shaping assembly further includes a second diffusion element disposed between the collimating element and the first diffusion element, the second diffusion element being used to homogenize the at least two laser beams in a first direction and a second direction.
6. The light source according to claim 1, characterized in that, The at least two laser beams have the same fast axis direction and the same slow axis direction.
7. The light source according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slow axis direction of the at least two laser beams is the same as the first direction.
8. The light source according to claim 1, characterized in that, The collimating element is used to collimate the at least two laser beams in the fast axis and slow axis directions.
9. The light source according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a converging element disposed between the shaping element and the wavelength conversion element, for converging the at least two shaped laser beams onto the wavelength conversion element.
10. The light source according to claim 9, characterized in that, The converging element converges the at least two shaped laser beams to a preset convergence point, wherein the wavelength conversion element is relatively offset from the preset convergence point.
11. A lighting device, characterized in that, include: The light source as described in any one of claims 1 to 10; as well as, A collection component for collecting the laser emitted by the wavelength conversion element.
12. The lighting device according to claim 11, characterized in that, The collection component includes: A collecting lens is used to reduce the divergence angle of the laser beam; A collimating lens for collimating the laser light received from the collecting lens; and A focusing lens is used to converge the laser light received from the collimating lens.