Range imaging devices and methods

摘要

An array of laser diode emitters is used as an illumination source for a range imaging system. The laser diode emitters are disposed on a common substrate. When one of the emitters fails, the remaining emitters emit enough light to meet the output optical power specification. The emitters can be disposed with a tight spacing. The tight spacing facilitates packaging of the entire array into a compact single package on a common heat sink.

主权项

1. An apparatus for range imaging, comprising:
an illuminator for providing pulsed or modulated illumination of an object, and an optical camera for time-gated or phase-sensitive imaging of the object illuminated with the illuminator, wherein the illuminator comprises a laser diode array including a plurality of laser diode emitters on a common semiconductor substrate, and wherein the laser diode emitters have a non-uniform emitter spacing along the laser diode array, the emitter spacing decreasing from a middle of the laser diode array to edges thereof, to reduce thermal gradients and associated emitter-to-emitter wavelength spread during operation of the laser diode array.