Semiconductor Light Emitter With Cylindrical Lens Beam Shaping
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Solution Overview
Problem
The light emitted from a semiconductor multilayer structure has characteristics of a plane wave in the longitudinal direction and a spherical wave in the lateral direction, resulting in luminous flux that is not effectively usable unless shaped into parallel light, with different light characteristics between oblique and perpendicular directions.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor light emitter with a substrate and a semiconductor multilayer structure that emits light in an oblique direction, using a cylindrical lens with specific positional and focal length relationships to shape the luminous flux into parallel light, and a shaping optical system that includes a cylindrical lens with positive power in the lateral direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If light is emitted from a semiconductor multilayer structure in an oblique direction, then the light emission efficiency is improved, but the light characteristics become asymmetric between longitudinal and lateral directions making the luminous flux difficult to use effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a shaping optical system with cylindrical lenses that operate in the lateral direction to transform the asymmetric luminous flux into symmetric parallel light. By adding this optical dimension, the system converts diffused lateral light into controlled parallel beams, making the obliquely emitted light effectively usable while maintaining emission efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaping optical system acts as an intermediary between the semiconductor multilayer structure and the external environment. The cylindrical lenses in this intermediary system transform the problematic asymmetric luminous flux into useful parallel light, enabling effective utilization of the obliquely emitted light without changing the emission characteristics of the light source itself.
2Ease of operation
If a shaping optical system is added to transform luminous flux into parallel light, then the usability of light is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shaping optical system is segmented into multiple cylindrical lenses with specific orientations (one with generatrix in longitudinal direction, another in lateral direction). This segmentation allows each lens to handle specific directional transformations, achieving parallel light formation through a modular approach that manages complexity by dividing the optical transformation into discrete functional elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes specific parameters of the cylindrical lenses including focal lengths (f1, f2), distances (D1, D2, G), and orientations to achieve parallel light output. By carefully controlling these parameters, the system achieves effective light shaping with a relatively compact and manageable optical configuration, balancing usability improvement against device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively shapes the luminous flux into parallel light, improving its usability and reducing stray light, while maintaining high energy density and uniform aspect ratio.
Implementation Method 1
a lens closest to the light emission unit in the shaping optical system is a cylindrical lens having positive power in the lateral direction
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor light emitter includes a substrate, a semiconductor multilayer structure including a light emission unit that emits light in an oblique direction with respect to the substrate in an emission region in a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and a shaping optical system that shapes a luminous flux emitted from the light emission unit, in which a lens closest to the light emission unit in the shaping optical system is a cylindrical lens having positive power in the lateral direction, a front major plane of the cylindrical lens is parallel to the light emission unit and a generatrix direction of the cylindrical lens is parallel to the longitudinal direction, and the following conditional equation (1) is satisfied in a case where a distance from the light emission unit to a light incident surface of the cylindrical lens is D, a distance from the light incident surface to the front major plane of the cylindrical lens is HA, and a focal length of the cylindrical lens is f,D<f−HA (1).