Specialized integrated light source using a laser diode

Abstract

The present invention provides a device and method for an integrated white colored electromagnetic radiation source using a combination of laser diode excitation sources based on gallium and nitrogen containing materials and light emitting source based on phosphor materials. In this invention a violet, blue, or other wavelength laser diode source based on gallium and nitrogen materials is closely integrated with phosphor materials, such as yellow phosphors, to form a compact, high-brightness, and highly-efficient, white light source.

1 .- 42 . (canceled) 
     
     
         43 . An integrated white light source for a vehicle or other application using a beam of light, comprising:
 a laser diode device comprising a gallium and nitrogen containing material and configured as an excitation source;   a phosphor member configured as a wavelength converter and an emitter, the phosphor member coupled to the laser diode device;   a common support member configured to support the laser diode device and the phosphor member,   a heat sink coupled to the common support member, the common support member configured to transport thermal energy from the laser diode device and the phosphor member to the heat sink;   a submount member configured with the laser diode device to form a chip on a submount structure,   an output facet of the laser diode device configured to output a laser beam of first electromagnetic radiation from the output facet; the first electromagnetic radiation being substantially coherent and selected from a violet or a blue emission with a first wavelength ranging from 400 nm to 485 nm, the laser beam characterized by a wavelength range, a spectral width, a power, and a spatial configuration:   a free space, within a vicinity of the common support member, with a non-guided characteristic capable of transmitting the laser beam from the laser diode device to a beam spot on an excitation surface of the phosphor member; and the laser beam of the laser diode device being optically coupled to the phosphor member;   an angle of incidence configured between the laser beam and the excitation surface of the phosphor member so that the laser beam has an off-normal incidence to the excitation surface of the phosphor member, the beam spot on the excitation surface being configured for a certain geometrical size and shape based on the angle of incidence and a distance between the output facet of the laser diode device and the excitation surface of the phosphor member;   the phosphor member configured to convert at least a fraction of the first electromagnetic radiation in the laser beam with a first wavelength to a second electromagnetic radiation that is incoherent and characterized by a second wavelength that is longer than the first wavelength;   the phosphor member configured to scatter at least a fraction of the first electromagnetic radiation in the laser beam with the first wavelength to break up a coherence of the first electromagnetic radiation and provide incoherent electromagnetic radiation with the first wavelength;   a reflective mode characterizing the phosphor member such that the laser beam is incident on the excitation surface of the phosphor member and the excitation surface is a primary emission surface of the phosphor member;   a white light emitted from the excitation surface of the phosphor member, the white light emission being comprised of a mixture of wavelengths characterized by at least the incoherent electromagnetic radiation with the first wavelength and the second electromagnetic radiation with the second wavelength;   a transparent lid member coupled to the common support member; and   a form factor characterizing the integrated white light source, the form factor having a length, a width, and a height dimension.   
     
     
         44 . The integrated white light source of  claim 43 , wherein the common support member is configured from the submount member such that the phosphor member and the laser diode device share the submount member and comprise the chip and the phosphor member on the submount structure. 
     
     
         45 . The integrated white light source of  claim 44 , wherein the phosphor member is coupled to the submount member using an intermediate submount or material. 
     
     
         46 . The integrated white light source of  claim 43 , wherein the laser diode device is characterized by a first blue wavelength in the range of 425 nm to 480 nm, the second wavelength from the phosphor member comprises a yellow wavelength range, and wherein the white light emission is comprised of the first blue wavelength and the second yellow wavelength range. 
     
     
         47 . The integrated white light source of  claim 46 , wherein the phosphor member is comprised of a ceramic yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) doped with Ce or a single crystal YAG doped with Ce; and wherein the phosphor member has an optical conversion efficiency of at least 50 lumen per optical watt. 
     
     
         48 . The integrated white light source of  claim 43 , wherein the phosphor member comprises a first phosphor component and a second phosphor component, the first phosphor component configured to emit the second wavelength and the second phosphor component configured to emit a third wavelength, and wherein the laser beam is comprised of the violet emission, the first phosphor component is characterized by a blue emission having the second wavelength, and the second phosphor component is characterized by a yellow emission having the third wavelength, and wherein the white light emission is comprised of at least the second wavelength and the third wavelength, or wherein the laser beam is comprised of the blue emission, the first phosphor component is characterized by a green emission having the second wavelength, and the second phosphor component is characterized by a red emission having the third wavelength, and wherein the white light emission is comprised of at least the first wavelength, the second wavelength, and the third wavelength. 
     
     
         49 . The integrated white light source of  claim 43 , further comprising at least one of or a combination of a passive safety feature including a beam dump configured to absorb laser light and an active safety feature having an integrated photodiode configured to turn the laser diode device off when a change in signal is sensed. 
     
     
         50 . The integrated white light source of  claim 43 , wherein the laser beam is configured for a certain geometrical shape and size upon incidence on the phosphor member; and wherein the laser beam is configured using an integrated free-space optic to collimate and/or shape the laser beam. 
     
     
         51 . An integrated white light source for a vehicle or other application using a beam of light, comprising:
 a laser diode device comprising a gallium and nitrogen containing material, and configured as an excitation source;   a phosphor member comprised of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) and configured as a wavelength converter and an emitter, the phosphor member coupled to the laser diode device;   a common support member configured to support the laser diode device and the phosphor member, the common support member being configured to transport thermal energy from the laser diode device and the phosphor member;   a heat sink coupled to the common support member and configured to receive the thermal energy from the laser diode device and the phosphor member;   a submount configured to the laser diode device to form a chip on the submount;   an output facet of the laser diode device configured to output a laser beam of first electromagnetic radiation from the output facet, the first electromagnetic radiation being substantially coherent and selected from a violet or a blue emission with a first wavelength ranging from 400 nm to 485 nm, the laser beam being characterized by a wavelength range, a spectral width, a power, and a spatial configuration:   a free space, within a vicinity of the common support member, with a non-guided characteristic capable of transmitting the laser beam from the laser diode device to the phosphor member, the laser beam of the laser diode device being optically coupled to the phosphor member;   an angle of incidence configured between the laser beam and the phosphor member, the phosphor member configured to convert at least a fraction of the first electromagnetic radiation in the laser beam with a first wavelength to a second electromagnetic radiation that is incoherent and characterized by a second wavelength that is longer than the first wavelength;   the phosphor member configured to scatter at least a fraction of the first electromagnetic radiation in the laser beam with the first wavelength to break up a coherence of the first electromagnetic radiation and provide incoherent electromagnetic radiation with the first wavelength;   a reflective mode characterizing the phosphor member, the laser beam being incident on a first primary surface of the phosphor member and a white light being emitted from at least an interaction of the electromagnetic radiation with the first primary surface, the white light emission comprising of a mixture of wavelengths characterized by at least the incoherent electromagnetic radiation with the first wavelength and the second electromagnetic radiation with the second wavelength;   a transparent lid member coupled to the common support member; and   a form factor characterizing the integrated white light source and having a length, a width, and a height dimension.   
     
     
         52 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the angle of incidence between the laser beam and the phosphor member is comprised of an incidence angle with respect to a fast-axis of the laser beam and an incidence angle with respect to a slow-axis of the laser beam; wherein at least one of the incidence angle with respect to the fast axis or the incidence angle with respect to the slow axis is an off-normal angle relative to a surface of the phosphor member ranging between 0 degrees and 89 degrees. 
     
     
         53 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , further comprising at least one of or a combination of a reflector material, a spectral filter, a spatial filter, an angular filter, a phosphor roughening, or a phosphor shaping to improve efficiency of the integrated white light source by increasing an amount of useful white light exiting the at least one emission surface of the phosphor member. 
     
     
         54 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , further comprising at least one of or a combination of a passive safety feature including a beam dump configured to absorb laser light and an active safety feature having an integrated photodiode configured to turn the laser diode device off when a change in signal is sensed. 
     
     
         55 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the laser beam is configured for a certain geometrical shape and size upon incidence on the phosphor member; and wherein the laser beam is configured using an integrated free-space optic to collimate and/or shape the laser beam, and wherein the laser beam is configured using at least one of or a combination of selecting a designed distance between the output facet and the phosphor member, a tilting of the phosphor member with respect to the laser beam, and a tilting of the laser diode device with respect to the phosphor member. 
     
     
         56 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the height dimension is less than 25 mm and greater than 1 mm. 
     
     
         57 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the common support member comprises a material selected from copper, copper tungsten, aluminum, silicon, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, diamond, and a combination of any of the foregoing, or wherein the submount comprises a material selected from silicon carbide, aluminum nitride, beryllium oxide, composite diamond, diamond, and a combination of any of the foregoing. 
     
     
         58 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the submount and the common support member are characterized by a thermal conductivity of at least 200 W/(m·K). 
     
     
         59 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the white light emission is comprised of at least 50 lumens. 
     
     
         60 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the integrated white light source is configured in a package; wherein the package is characterized by a sealing selected from an open environment sealing, an environmental sealing, or a hermetic sealing, or wherein the package is selected from a can type, a flat package type, a surface mount type, a butterfly type, a C-mount type, or a Q-mount type. 
     
     
         61 . The integrated white light source of  claim 51 , wherein the white light emission is collimated using optics to project the white light emission into a beam shape; and wherein the optics are comprised of a reflector or a lens. 
     
     
         62 . An integrated white light source for a vehicle or other application using a beam of light, comprising:
 a laser diode device, comprising a gallium and a nitrogen containing material, configured as an excitation source;   a phosphor member configured as a wavelength converter and an emitter, the phosphor member coupled to the laser diode device;   a common support member configured to support the laser diode device and the phosphor member, the common support member being configured to transport thermal energy from the laser diode device and the phosphor member;   a heat sink coupled to the common support member to receive the transported thermal energy, the laser diode device being configured on a submount to form a chip on the submount,   an output facet of the laser diode device configured to output a laser beam of first electromagnetic radiation from the output facet; the first electromagnetic radiation being substantially coherent and selected from a violet or a blue emission with a first wavelength ranging from 390 nm to 485 nm, the laser beam being characterized by a wavelength range, a spectral width, a power, and a spatial configuration;   a free space, within a vicinity of the common support member, with a non-guided characteristic capable of transmitting the laser beam from the laser diode device to the phosphor member, the laser beam of the laser diode device optically coupled to the phosphor member;   an angle of incidence configured between the laser beam and the phosphor member, the phosphor member being configured to convert at least a fraction of the first electromagnetic radiation in the laser beam with a first wavelength to a second electromagnetic radiation that is incoherent and characterized by a second wavelength that is longer than the first wavelength;   the phosphor member configured to scatter at least a fraction of the first electromagnetic radiation in the laser beam with the first wavelength to break up a coherence of the first electromagnetic radiation and provide incoherent electromagnetic radiation with the first wavelength;   a phosphor material comprising at least a polycrystalline material or single crystal YAG:Ce material characterizing the phosphor member, the phosphor material comprising a 3-dimensional geometry with the laser beam being directed from the output facet of the laser diode device directly to an excitation surface of the phosphor material;   a white light emission derived from a plurality of sides of the 3-dimensional geometry, the white light emission being comprised of a mixture of wavelengths characterized by at least the incoherent electromagnetic radiation with the first wavelength and the second electromagnetic radiation with the second wavelength;   a transparent lid member coupled to the common support member; and   a form factor characterizing the integrated white light source, and having a length, a width, and a height dimension.