LIGHTING APPARATUS FOR INFRARED CAMERA SYSTEM COMPRISING ARRAY OF VERTICAL -CAVITY SURFACE - EMITTING LASERS

摘要

The invention relates to a lighting apparatus (1) comprising an array (2) of light sources (3) emitting emission cones (4) with edges (5) which intersect in an intersection plane and a lens unit (7) for homogenizing the intensity distribution in the far field. The array of the light sources and the lens unit are arranged such that i) the emission cones traverse the lens unit and ii) the distance ( s ) between the array of the light sources and the lens unit deviates from the sum of or the difference between a) the focal length f of the lens unit and b) the distance t between the intersection plane and the array (2) of the light sources (3) by 20 percent or less. This configuration leads to an intermixture of the emission cones in the far field such that the intensity distribution in the far field is substantially homogeneous.