ev YA fastaxis J I mittr I 7 /v / [ siow axis / .ABSTRACT Fiber-coupling of high-brightness laser diode bars requires shaping and superposition of the images of the individual emitters on the fiber facet. Employment of micro-optical elements together with bulk-optical components enables the design and manufacturing of efficient coupling schemes with small form-factor. In this presentation we describe optical system design, manufacturing of micro-optical elements, system integration and characterization of two coupling schemes: The beam twister approach uses tilted cylindrical mirolens telescopes to rotate the images of the individual emitters by 90° with subsequent beam compression and focusing optics, while a skew ray coupling scheme applies an array of blazed diffractive elements in the pupil plane of a relay optics to superpose the images of the individual emitters. The optics design is based on raytracing procedures, taking into account diffractive effects, which could lower coupling efficiency. Micro-optical components are realized by polymer-on-glass replication of reflow lenses or grating structures manufactured by laser-lithography. System assembly is based on precise glueing with active alignment in the submicrometer range. We realized several optics schemes for coupling of high-power, high-brightness laser diode bars into fibers with 100µm core diameter. The systems are compared with each other with respect to achievable coupling efficiency, adjustment tolerances and pointing stability.

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High power diode lasers (HPDL) have become very attractive as an intelligent tool for direct material processing as well as pump sources for miniaturized solid state lasers and fiber lasers since optical beam transformation systems generate the required beam circularization from the originally highly asymmetric brightness of the output beam. This presentation focuses on reliable microassembling processes to realize micro-optical beam transformation systems for high power diode laser bars and stacks for the efficient coupling of the beam into optical fibers at reasonable costs. The modular semi automatic micro assembly set up realized consists of a six axes alignment system with an accuracy in the submicron range for the three spatial axes as well as microrad for the three rotational axes, a semi-automatic glue dispenser as well as respective grippers and magazines which are necessary for the handling of the micro optical components. The established automation processes for the mounting of the fast axis collimation (FAC) lenses are of particular interest for the assembly of e.g. fiber coupled modules of diode laser stacks whereas more than 20 fast-axis collimations are necessary.

While arrayed DMD and LCD microdisplays are well-established approaches for visualization tasks, image-forming laser scanners are an emerging technology used to build miniaturized projection displays. A directly modulated RGB-laser module consisting of diode lasers for red and blue and a frequency-doubled semiconductor laser for green with color combining optics form the light source for the laser scanner have been developed. Subsequent beam-shaping optics suppresses unwanted stray light and enables optimum illumination of the scanning mirror. The MEMS device features a single scanning mirror oscillating in two directions in resonant mode. This requires appropriate data delivery realized by a custom-made driving logic, which converts the pixel stream originally arranged in rows and columns to the Lissajous-like spot trajectory on the screen. Additionally, the increased image brightness at the vertical and horizontal borders of the field of view (FOV) is also compensated by the modulation of laser power. Theoretical investigations of the resulting maximum achievable system transmission are presented. Different systems, such as an extremely miniaturized monochrome projection head with an integrated diode laser and a full-color projector have been realized. Important problems to be tackled are fast analog modulation of the laser power with high resolution and improved suppression of stray light and speckle

This contribution presents an optical module for projection of still images and video sequences. It consists of a laser source, miniature collimator optics, and a special MEMS device, a two-dimensional resonant micro scanning mirror. The laser beam is focused onto the micro mirror by the collimator optics. The micro mirror reflects the beam onto the desired projection area with a flare angle of up to 15 degrees for both axes. Given the resonant oscillation of the mirror, the beam follows a Lissajous figure. By choosing appropriate oscillation frequencies, it can be ensured that the laser beam hits every pixel of a pre-defined geometrical image resolution at a given frame rate. Limitations result from mechanical stability of the mirror plate that has a typical diameter of 1 mm and the CMOS-compatible fabrication process of the MEMS device. Projection of images and video sequences is achieved by modulating the laser diode. An external electronics receives data and transforms it into necessary modulation signals. Since frequency and amplitude of oscillation of the micro mirror are highly precise, no electrical feedback from the mirror to the modulation electronics has to be implemented. The system can be operated in open-loop modus. Currently, a monochrome demonstrator with VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolution and 50 frames per second has been realized. Because of the compact size of the mirror, integration into mobile devices is fairly easy