阅读说明：本技术 用于发光辐射的空间调控的光学器件的多通道腔 (Multi-channel cavity for spatially modulated optics of luminescence radiation ) 是由 C·雅卡尔 P·德比奥勒 B·德诺勒 G·拉布罗伊 O·皮内尔 于 2018-12-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及多通道腔(1),其由平坦支撑台(2)、第一反射光学元件(3)和第二反射光学元件(3’)的组件组成,第一反射光学元件(3)和第二反射光学元件(3’)的每一个具有彼此相对布置的主表面(3a、3’a),至少一个光学元件(3、3’)的主表面(3a、3’a)是微结构化的,以改变入射发光辐射的相位,该入射发光辐射在每个光学元件(3、3’)上被多次反射以形成变换后的辐射,多通道腔(1)的特征在于：多通道腔(1)精确地包括三个组装交界面。(The invention relates to a multi-channel cavity (1) consisting of an assembly of a flat support stage (2), a first reflective optical element (3) and a second reflective optical element (3'), each of the first reflective optical element (3) and the second reflective optical element (3') having a main surface (3a, 3'a) arranged opposite to each other, the main surface (3a, 3' a) of at least one optical element (3, 3') being microstructured for varying the phase of incident luminescence radiation, which is multiply reflected on each optical element (3, 3') to form transformed radiation, the multi-channel cavity (1) being characterized in that: the multi-channel cavity (1) comprises exactly three assembly interfaces.)

1. A multi-channel cavity (1), the multi-channel cavity (1) consisting of an assembly of a flat support stage (2), a calibration component (4), a first reflective optical element (3) and a second reflective optical element (3'), each of the first reflective optical element (3) and the second reflective optical element (3') having a main surface (3a, 3'a) arranged opposite to each other, the main surface (3a, 3' a) of at least one optical element (3, 3') being microstructured to change the phase of incident luminescence radiation, which is reflected multiple times on each optical element (3, 3') to form transformed radiation, the multi-channel cavity (1) being characterized in that: the multi-channel cavity (1) comprises exactly three assembly interfaces between the flat support stage (2), the calibration member (4), the first reflective optical element (3) and the second reflective optical element (3').

2. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the support stage (2) comprises a main surface (2a) bounded by at least one flat edge (2b), wherein the first reflective optical element (3) is assembled to the flat edge (2b) of the support stage (2) at a first assembly interface, and the main surface (3'a) of the second reflective optical element (3') is bounded by at least one flat side edge (3b '), said flat side edge (3b') being assembled to the first flat surface of the calibration member (4) at a second interface, said calibration member (4) having a further flat surface perpendicular to the first flat surface, said further flat surface being assembled to the support stage (2) at a third interface.

3. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the main surface (3a) of the first optical element (3) and the main surface (3'a) of the second optical element (3') are microstructured.

4. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to claim 2, wherein only the main surface (3a) of the first optical element (3) is microstructured.

5. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to claim 2, wherein only the main surface (3'a) of the second optical element (3') is microstructured.

6. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to claim 1, wherein the main surface (3a) of the first optical element (3) or the main surface (3'a) of the second optical element (3') is microstructured, wherein:

-the main surface (3a) of the first reflective optical element (3) is delimited by a longitudinal flat edge (3b), said longitudinal flat edge (3b) being assembled to the flat surface (2a) of the support table (2);

-the main surface (3'a) of the second reflective optical element (3') is delimited by at least one flat side edge (3b '), said flat side edge (3b') being assembled to the first flat surface of the calibration piece (4) at a second interface;

-the calibration member (4) has another flat surface perpendicular to the first flat surface, said other flat surface being assembled to the support table (2) at a third interface.

7. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein only the main surface (3a) of the first optical element (3) or the main surface (3'a) of the second optical element (3') is microstructured.

8. The multi-channel cavity (1) according to claim 6, wherein the main surface (3a) of the first optical element (3) and the main surface (3'a) of the second optical element (3') are microstructured.

Technical Field

The invention relates to an optical device for modulating luminescence radiation. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical device comprising a multi-channel cavity configured to modify a lateral phase distribution of luminescent radiation.

Background

US 9250454 and US 2017010463 disclose optical devices denoted by the acronym MPLC (Multi Plane light conversion) which can perform any unitary spatial transformation of the luminescence radiation.

From a theoretical point of view, as published by Morizur et al at volume 27, 11 of j.opt.soc.am.a, 11 of 11/2010, "Programmable spatial mode manipulation," unitary spatial transformations can be effectively decomposed into a series of elementary transformations (transformations), each of which affects the lateral phase distribution of the luminescence radiation. In fact, MPLC assemblies typically employ 3 to 25 elementary transformations without forming any limitation of the technique.

A specific embodiment of an MPLC device is disclosed in the article "Mode Selective 10-Mode multiple based on Multi-Plane light conversion" (OSA abstract (online) (american optical association, 2016), paper th3e.5) published by g.labroile, p.jian, n.barr é, b.denolle, and j.morizur at fiber optic telecommunications conferences. The MPLC device includes: a support stage on which an input stage is arranged so that incident luminescent radiation can be injected into the device; the output stage is for extracting the transformed luminescence radiation from the device; the mirror is arranged opposite the reflective optical element for forming a multi-channel cavity and may project and reflect incident luminescent radiation onto the optical element a plurality of times. The optical element has a microstructured major surface for applying a change in the lateral phase profile of the signal to each reflection of incident radiation.

The components that make up such a device must be positioned and oriented with very high accuracy relative to each other. Such precision is required to ensure that the incident luminescent radiation accurately intercepts the optical element at the microstructured region in order to perform the selected transformation of the incident luminescent radiation. In particular, in the case where the same component can intercept the optical path of the incident radiation a plurality of times (typically 3 to 25 times, as described above), the accuracy of the arrangement of the optical components making up the device is required, and therefore, even a small deviation from the required positioning in positioning or orientation can have a significant effect on the proper operation of the device.

In addition, the optical positioning tolerances (in the precision of microns, with respect to the accuracy of angles in the precision of micro radians) are much smaller than the geometric manufacturing tolerances of the components (at least in the case of seeking components that can be produced at a reasonable cost), and therefore the position of these components in their assembly position cannot generally be predetermined with the necessary accuracy.

To assemble the components onto the support table, in particular to form the multichannel cavity, the input stage, the mirrors and the optical elements are first positioned approximately relative to each other. Incident luminescence radiation is injected into the cavity thus formed and the intensity of the luminescence signal leaving the cavity is detected. The relative positions and orientations of the input stage, mirrors and optical elements are also adjusted as finely as possible within all available degrees of freedom to optimize the detected intensity. The optimum relative positioning and orientation is temporarily fixed, for example by means of adjustable fixing clips.

The input stage, mirrors and optical elements are then fixed in the optimum position on the support table by means of a glue layer or an adhesive layer, using an alignment cube (or more generally an alignment member) having a flat surface and abutting surfaces perpendicular to each other.

The two flat surfaces of the calibration cube are arranged to be in contact with the flat surfaces of the support table and the flat assembly faces of the component to be fixed, respectively. By using relatively many planar contacts, the robustness and stability of the assembly is ensured. Generally, an "assembly interface" is a planar contact between the contacting surfaces of two components assembled together.

When the orientation of the component to be fixed in space is not able to provide a surface that can make planar contact with the support table or with a first calibration cube arranged on the support table, the cubes can be assembled together at their flat surfaces in such a way that: one surface of the assembly may be brought into planar contact with the assembly face of the component to be secured and then the other surface of the assembly may be brought into planar contact with the support table.

Each of the components forming the optical element may be assembled on the support stage using the same method.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a multi-channel cavity 1 consisting of a flat support stage 2 and two reflective optical elements 3, 3' arranged opposite each other. The first optical element 3 has a microstructured main surface 3a, which main surface 3a serves to change the phase of the incident luminescence radiation. The first optical element 3 is assembled on the flat support table by means of a first calibration cube 4, a first surface of the first calibration cube 4 being in planar contact with the support table and the other surface perpendicular to the first surface being in planar contact with the assembly face 3b of the first optical element. A second optical element 3' (which here corresponds to a simple mirror) is arranged on the support table 2 via a second calibration cube 4', one surface of which 4' is in planar contact with the support table 2. The second face of the second cube 4' is in planar contact with the first face of the third cube 4 ". The third cube 4 "itself is in planar contact with the assembly face 3b 'of the mirror 3' at a second surface perpendicular to its first surface. This cubic combination enables the mirror to be angularly oriented precisely along the main axis a and fixed in that orientation (and in two directions perpendicular to axis a) by the assembly interface.

In such a component model, each interface is a potential source of failure. Stresses to which the components may be subjected (e.g., thermally induced) may result in the creation of slight displacements that may affect the proper operation of the device. The same applies to an adhesive or glue layer that is capable of bonding two surfaces together, the properties of which may vary over time and depending on the environmental conditions to which the device is exposed.

The present invention aims to alleviate some or all of the above disadvantages.

Disclosure of Invention

To achieve one of these objects, it is an object of the present invention to propose a multi-channel cavity consisting of an assembly of a flat support stage, a calibration component, a first reflective optical element and a second reflective optical element, each of the first and second reflective optical elements having main surfaces arranged opposite to each other, the main surface of at least one optical element being microstructured to change the phase of incident luminescent radiation which is reflected multiple times on each optical element to form a transformed radiation.

According to the invention, the multi-channel cavity comprises exactly three assembly interfaces between the flat support stage, the calibration member, the first reflective optical element and the second reflective optical element.

By limiting the number of assembly interfaces in the multi-channel cavity to three, the risk of time variation in the relative positioning and orientation of the component parts is limited.

According to other advantageous and non-limiting features of the invention, considered alone or in any technically feasible combination:

-the support table comprises a main surface bounded by at least one flat edge, wherein the first reflective optical element is assembled to the flat edge of the support table at a first assembly interface, and the main surface of the second reflective optical element is bounded by at least one flat side edge assembled to the first flat surface of the calibration part at a second interface, the calibration part having a further flat surface perpendicular to the first flat surface, the further flat surface being assembled to the support table at a third interface;

-the main surface of the first optical element or the main surface of the second optical element is microstructured, the main surface of the first reflective optical element being defined by a longitudinal flat edge assembled to a flat surface of the support table, the main surface of the second reflective optical element being defined by at least one lateral flat edge assembled at a second interface to a first flat surface of the calibration part, the calibration part having a further flat surface perpendicular to the first flat surface, the further flat surface being assembled at a third interface to the support table;

-the major surface of the first optical element and the major surface of the second optical element are microstructured;

-only the major surface of the first optical element is microstructured or only the major surface of the second optical element is microstructured.

Drawings

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a multi-channel chamber according to the prior art;

figure 2 shows a multi-channel chamber according to a first embodiment of the invention;

figure 3 shows a multi-channel chamber according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

To simplify the following description, the same reference numerals will be used for the same elements or elements performing the same function in the prior art or in various presented embodiments of the invention.

For the sake of clarity, the present application defines luminescent radiation as radiation formed by at least one mode of an electromagnetic field, each mode forming a spatial frequency distribution of the amplitude, phase and polarization of the field. Thus, a change, modulation or transformation of the phase of the luminescent radiation refers to a change or transformation of the spatial frequency of at least one mode of radiation.

The "shape" of the radiation shall refer to the lateral distribution of amplitude and phase of the modes, or the combination of the lateral amplitude and phase distribution of the modes forming the radiation.

The present description relates generally to an optical device for conditioning incident luminescence radiation to form converted luminescence radiation. Advantageously, the shape of the incident luminescence radiation and the shape of the converted luminescence radiation are different from each other. The regulation of incident luminescence radiation involves a controlled change in the lateral phase distribution of this radiation during a plurality of elementary transformations which combine to perform a particular optical function. This may involve spatial multiplexing or demultiplexing of the incident radiation, or any other mode (mode) transformation in the spatial domain. For example, 4 or more elementary transformations may be involved, such as 8, 10, 12, 14 or even 20 or more elementary transformations.

The optical device comprises a multi-channel cavity 1 on a support 2 for converting incident luminescence radiation into converted luminescence radiation. When these radiations are not simply injected into the device 1 and/or extracted from the device 1 by simple transmission in free space, the optical device may optionally comprise an input stage and an output stage for guiding the injection of the incident luminescent radiation and the extraction of the transformed luminescent radiation from the cavity 1, respectively.

In order to simplify the drawings showing various embodiments of the present invention, the input stage and the output stage have been omitted from these drawings.

Figure 2 shows a multi-channel chamber 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention.

The multi-channel cavity 1 consists of an assembly of a flat support stage 2, an alignment part 4 and two reflective optical elements 3, 3' arranged opposite each other. No other components are required to form the multi-channel cavity 1, i.e. no other components are required to assemble the support stage 2, the calibration component and the two reflective optical elements together in relative position and orientation to make the cavity functional.

The first optical element 3 has a microstructured main surface 3a, which main surface 3a faces the interior of the cavity 1. The microstructure is configured to change the phase of incident luminescent radiation, which is reflected multiple times during its transmission in the cavity 1 substantially along the direction P.

The term "microstructured face or surface" shall mean, for example, that the face or surface may have "pixels" with dimensions ranging from a few micrometers to hundreds of micrometers. Each pixel has a height, with respect to the average plane defining the face or surface in question, of at most a few micrometers or at most a few hundred micrometers.

As is clearly shown in fig. 2, the main surface 3a of the first optical element 3 comprises a plurality of microstructured regions 6, each microstructured region 6 being arranged on the main surface 3a so as to accurately receive incident luminescent radiation and apply an elementary phase transformation thereto.

It is possible to refer to the various cited prior art documents to understand how repeated application of these elementary transformations enables a selected transformation of the incident luminescence radiation, and how the optical element 3 can be designed to implement such a transformation. Reference is also made to these documents for an example of a digital design method for microstructuring on the main surface 3a of the optical element 3. Digital models of these microstructures can be used to produce optical elements, for example, by machining, molding, and/or etching of optical blanks.

In the case of the example shown in fig. 2, the first optical element 3 is a reflective phase plate and the second optical element 3' is a simple mirror, i.e. the main surface 3' a of the second optical element 3' is oriented towards the interior of the cavity 1, not microstructured.

It should be noted that here the microstructured regions 6 of the main surface 3a of the first optical element 3 are separate from each other, but this property is not essential, as any other microstructured configuration may be applicable as long as a determined transformation of the incident radiation can be applied.

The support table 2 comprises a main surface 2a delimited by at least one flat edge 2b, said flat edge 2b being perpendicular to the main surface 2a of the support table 2. The main surface 3a of the first optical element 3 is assembled to the flat edge 2b of the support stage 2 at a first assembly interface. In this configuration, the angular position of the first optical element can be adjusted about a rotation axis perpendicular to the main surface 3a of the first optical element. Thus, the relative angular position of the first optical element 3 with respect to the second optical element 3' can be adjusted about an axis orthogonal to the main surface 3a of the first element 3. This adjustment is particularly advantageous when both optical elements 3, 3' are microstructured.

The mirror 3 'is arranged such that its main reflecting surface 3' a faces the interior of the cavity 1, opposite to the main surface 3a of the first optical element 3.

The main reflecting surface 3' a of the mirror 3' is delimited by at least one flat side edge 3b ', i.e. by a flat surface whose normal is oriented substantially in the direction P. This flat side edge 3b' is assembled to a first flat surface of the calibration part 4 (here the cube 4) at a second interface. The calibration member 4 has another flat surface perpendicular to the first flat surface, which is assembled to the support table 2 at a third interface.

It should be noted that this embodiment takes advantage of the degrees of freedom provided in the positioning and orientation of the second optical element when the second optical element comprises a mirror 3' (i.e. a non-microstructured reflective surface). In fact, the mirror can be translated to some extent in the direction P and rotated about an axis perpendicular to its main reflecting surface 3' a, without affecting the normal operation of the optical device. The alignment member 4 assembled to the flat side edge of the mirror enables the orientation of the mirror about the axis of rotation of the direction P to be fixed in the working position. The mirror 3' is normally not in planar contact with the support table 2 and therefore there is no assembly interface between the two parts.

In order to enable the alignment part 4 to be in planar contact with the support table 2 and the side flat edge 3b ' of the mirror, it is necessary to set the angle of the mirror around the axis of rotation perpendicular to its main surface 3' a such that the side flat edge 3b ' is perpendicular to the flat surface 2a of the support table 2.

The assembly configuration just described is particularly advantageous because it limits the number of assembly interfaces to three, which significantly improves the robustness of the cavity and the ease of assembly thereof, without imposing restrictions on the geometric tolerances of the components that make up the cavity. Nor does it alter the general assembly process presented when introducing the present application, so that it can be configured with the same existing equipment and methods. These three interfaces enable precise adjustment of the three degrees of freedom, which is absolutely necessary only for correct assembly of the device.

In a variant of this embodiment of the invention, the main surface 3a of the first optical element 3 and the main surface 3'a of the second optical element 3' are microstructured. Thus, the second optical element 3' is not a simple mirror, but may be formed by a reflective phase plate, similar to the first optical element.

In another variant, only the main surface 3'a of the second optical element 3' is structured, whereas the first optical element 3 is formed by a simple mirror.

Figure 3 shows an example of a second embodiment of a multi-channel chamber 1 according to the invention.

In this embodiment, the second optical element 3' is assembled to the support stage 2 at two interfaces in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, the description will not be repeated.

The main surface 3a of the first optical element 3 is delimited by a longitudinal flat edge 3b perpendicular to the main surface. This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the longitudinal flat edge 3b is assembled to the flat surface 2a of the support table 2, constituting a third interface.

In this second embodiment, contrary to the first embodiment, it is not possible to adjust the relative angular position of the first optical element 3 with respect to the second optical element 3' about an axis orthogonal to the main surface 3 a. This embodiment is also more particularly suitable for configurations in which only the main surface 3a of the first optical element 3 or only the main surface 3'a of the second optical element 3' is microstructured. In other words, the microstructured region may be carried by either of the major surfaces 3a, 3'a of the optical elements 3, 3', but preferably not both, without completely excluding this option.

Regardless of the chosen embodiment and the chosen variant, the multi-channel chamber according to the invention comprises exactly three assembly interfaces between the support table, the calibration member and the optical element. These three interfaces are necessary and sufficient for the relative positioning of the parts 3, 3' to be precise in micrometers, and to be precise in micro radians with respect to the accuracy of the angles. By limiting the potential sources of failure, limiting the number of interfaces to three makes the device particularly robust over time.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the described embodiments and variations of the embodiments may be added without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Thus, while it has been shown that the assembly interface is formed by bringing two planar members into planar contact with each other, the present invention enhances their adhesion by adding an adhesive or adhesive layer, which may be formed prior to the assembly step or may be introduced between the two contacting surfaces after assembly.

Advantageously, the materials making up the different parts forming the cavity are identical, so as to limit the thermal stresses that may be applied at the assembly interface. In particular, these materials may be silicon, glass or quartz.