Laser Light Source Lens Bonding for Optical Axis Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laser light sources face misalignment issues between the laser diode chip and the lens, leading to improper orientation of the optical axis and reduced output power due to slight misalignments and bonding member variations.
Innovation Solution
A method of manufacturing a laser light source involves a submount with parallel end surfaces and a bonding surface for the lens, ensuring both are parallel to a reference plane, and using an inorganic bonding member to securely attach the lens to the submount, minimizing misalignment and maintaining accurate optical axis orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a laser diode chip and a lens are housed in a semiconductor laser package, then the laser light can be collimated at an appropriate degree of divergence, but even a slight misalignment between the laser diode chip and the lens may cause the optical axis to be greatly misoriented
Solution Approach 1:
The submount is designed with lens support protrusions that have predetermined positions and orientations. The lens is mounted on these protrusions before final assembly, ensuring that the lens is pre-positioned in the correct location relative to where the laser diode chip will be mounted. This preliminary positioning action prevents misalignment issues that would otherwise require complex adjustment mechanisms during final assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The submount acts as an intermediary component between the laser diode chip and the lens. It includes a mounting surface for the laser diode chip and lens support protrusions for the lens, establishing fixed geometric relationships. This intermediary structure mediates the connection, ensuring precise optical axis alignment without requiring direct adjustment between the chip and lens.
2Volume of moving object
If a small lens is used to collimate laser light, then the device size can be reduced, but misalignment between the laser diode chip and the lens causes greatly misoriented optical axis
Solution Approach 1:
The submount merges multiple functions into a single component: it provides the mounting surface for the laser diode chip, supports the lens through protrusions, and establishes the geometric relationship between these components. By combining these functions, the design achieves compact size while maintaining precise alignment through the integrated structure of the submount itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The lens support protrusions are formed as integral parts of the submount structure, creating predetermined mounting positions. This preliminary structuring ensures that when the lens is mounted on the protrusions and the chip is mounted on the submount, their relative positions are automatically correct, eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures in compact designs.
3Strength
If bonding members are used to attach the lens to the submount, then the lens can be securely fixed, but variations in the bonding member can cause misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The lens support protrusions serve as intermediary structures that mediate between the lens and the submount. Instead of relying solely on bonding members to establish both mechanical attachment and precise positioning, the protrusions provide the geometric reference and support, while the bonding member's role is reduced to simply securing the lens in the pre-positioned location, minimizing alignment sensitivity to bonding variations.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a laser light source includes: providing a submount, the submount having a principal surface on which a laser diode chip is to be fixed, and comprising a pair of lens supports each including an end surface, the end surfaces located at opposite sides with respect to an emission end surface of the laser diode chip; providing a lens having a bonding surface; performing adjustment such that end surfaces of the pair of lens supports of the submount are parallel to a reference plane; performing adjustment such that the bonding surface of the lens is parallel to the reference plane; and while maintaining the end surfaces of the pair of lens supports and the bonding surface of the lens so as to be parallel to the reference plane, bonding the end surfaces with the bonding surface of the lens using an inorganic bonding member.