Collimator, LED, Adjustable
Sunday, September 03, 2006
A Laser Diode Collimator has been designed and developed which consists of a slim cylindrical casing (which also serves as a heat sink), a laser diode retention cap at one end, and a specially molded aspheric miniature lens at the other end. The lens gathers 30 percent of divergent light output from the Laser Diode and creates a collimated light beam. The light beam from the Laser Diode is conical in shape with an elliptical cross section. The Collimator overcomes the light beam shape by reshaping it by using a molded aspheric lens. The lens has a highly accurate computer-generated front surface curvature.
For a Laser Diode to be an effective light source in an optical system, it requires that it be part of a Collimator assembly. The light beam axis of the Collimator may not be parallel to the geometric axis of the Laser Diode. To compensate for this, the Laser Diode housing is adjustable for the angular alignment between the Laser Diode holder and the collimating lens.
Adjustment of setscrews allows the angular alignment of the inner cylinder to be varied with respect to the outer cylinder. The collimating lens is held coaxially within the outer cylinder. The outer cylinder containing the Collimator lens is held with a short support post in a manner similar to that used to align the Laser Diode holder. The setscrews are in a continuous groove around the outer cylinder. This arrangement allows the Laser Diode holder and Collimator housing to be rotated within the support post to give the desired rotational orientation of the light beam making the light beam parallel to the Collimator base plate. The position and orientation of the Laser Diode holder and the first cylindrical focusing lens are both adjustable to the Collimator base plate.
Source: Optical Engineering, November 1987 by Chanty and Gouteoulis,
Reference: “Precision Instrument Design”, Los Angeles, CA, l989: Don Henderson, LMSC, CA; B.Seery, TRW, CA; W.Kirkwood, LMSC; F. Ponce, TruveI; A.Hatheway, Alson Hatheway, Inc.; D.Vukobratovich, Raytheon Arizona
Industrial Products
posted by JD52 @ 12:23 AM,
