Apple Inc.

Arnaud Laflaquière

Marc A Drader

Fei Tan

Gennadiy A Agranov

Anup K Sharma

Shingo Mandai

Weiping Li

Gershon Rosenblum

Christophe Vérove

Xiaolong Fang

Tong Chen

Jae Y Park

Keith Lyon

Chinhan Lin

Optical sensing apparatus () includes an array () of emitters (), which emit pulses of optical radiation at different, respective times in response to a control input applied to the array. A receiver () includes a plurality of detectors (), which output signals indicative of times of arrival of photons at the detectors. Optics () project the optical radiation from the emitters onto respective locations in a scene and image the respective locations onto corresponding pixels of the receiver. A controller () controls the emitters to emit the output pulses in a predefined spatio-temporal sequence, and collects and processes the signals output by corresponding pixels in synchronization with the spatio-temporal sequence so as to measure respective times of flight of the pulses to and from the respective locations in the scene.

Time-of-flight sensing using an addressable array of emitters

An electro-optical device includes a radiation source, which is configured to emit multiple beams of light. A scanner includes an array of cells. Each cell is positioned to receive one or more of the beams of light and includes transparent entrance and exit faces, at least one of the faces comprising a flexible membrane. A volume of a transparent fluid is contained between the entrance and exit faces, so that the one or more of the beams enter the volume through the entrance face and exit the volume through the exit face. At least one actuator is coupled to the flexible membrane, and configured, responsively to an applied electrical signal, to apply an asymmetrical deformation to the flexible membrane, thereby deflecting the beams by refraction in the transparent fluid. A controller is configured to vary the electrical signal so as to scan the beams of light over respective angular ranges.

Increasing VCSEL projector spatial resolution

An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate and an optically-active structure, including epitaxial layers defining a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack, a quantum well structure with P- and N-doped layers disposed respectively on opposing sides of the quantum well structure, and an upper DBR stack. Electrodes are coupled to apply a bias voltage between the P- and N-doped layers. Control circuitry, disposed on the substrate, is configured to apply a forward bias voltage between the electrodes so as to cause the optically-active structure to emit an optical pulse through the upper DBR stack, and then to reverse the bias voltage between the electrodes so as to cause the optically-active structure to output an electrical pulse to the control circuitry in response to incidence of one or more of the photons, due to reflection of the optical pulse, on the quantum well structure through the upper DBR stack.

Integrated device for optical time-of-flight measurement

A sensing device includes a first array of sensing elements, which output a signal indicative of a time of incidence of a single photon on the sensing element. A second array of processing circuits are coupled respectively to the sensing elements and comprise a gating generator, which variably sets a start time of the gating interval for each sensing element within each acquisition period, and a memory, which records the time of incidence of the single photon on each sensing element in each acquisition period. A controller sets, in each of at least some of the acquisition periods, different, respective gating intervals for different ones of the sensing elements.

SPAD array with gated histogram construction

An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate. A first set of thin-film layers is disposed on the substrate and defines a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack. A second set of thin-film layers is disposed over the lower DBR stack and defines an optical emission region, which is contained in a mesa defined by multiple trenches, which are disposed around the optical emission region without fully surrounding the optical emission region. A third set of thin-film layers is disposed over the optical emission region and defines an upper DBR stack. Electrodes are disposed around the mesa in gaps between the trenches and are configured to apply an excitation current to the optical emission region.

VCSEL array with tight pitch and high efficiency

An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate with a first set of epitaxial layers formed on an area of the substrate defining a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack. A second set of epitaxial layers formed over the first set defines a quantum well structure, and a third set of epitaxial layers, formed over the second set, defines an upper DBR stack. At least the third set of epitaxial layers is contained in a mesa having sides that are perpendicular to the epitaxial layers. A dielectric coating extends over the sides of at least a part of the mesa that contains the third set of epitaxial layers. Electrodes are coupled to the epitaxial layers so as to apply an excitation current to the quantum well structure.

VCSELs with improved optical and electrical confinement

An optoelectronic device includes a carrier substrate, with a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack disposed on an area of the substrate and including alternating first dielectric and semiconductor layers. A set of epitaxial layers is disposed over the lower DBR, wherein the set of epitaxial layers includes one or more III-V semiconductor materials and defines a quantum well structure and a confinement layer. An upper DBR stack is disposed over the set of epitaxial layers and includes alternating second dielectric and semiconductor layers. Electrodes are coupled to apply an excitation current to the quantum well structure.

Indium-phosphide VCSEL with dielectric DBR

An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate and a first stack of epitaxial layers, which are disposed over the semiconductor substrate and are configured to function as a photodetector, which emits a photocurrent in response to infrared radiation in a range of wavelengths greater than 940 nm. A second stack of epitaxial layers is disposed over the first stack and configured to function as an optical transmitter with an emission wavelength in the range of wavelengths greater than 940 nm.

Monolithic infrared transceiver

An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate and a monolithic array of light-emitting elements formed on the substrate. The light-emitting elements include a first plurality of first emitters, configured to emit respective first beams of light with a first angular divergence, at respective first positions in the array, and a second plurality of second emitters, configured to emit respective second beams of light with a second angular divergence that is at least 50% greater than the first angular divergence, at respective second positions in the array.

Combining light-emitting elements of differing divergence on the same substrate

A sensing device includes a first array of sensing elements, which output a signal indicative of a time of incidence of a single photon on the sensing element. A second array of processing circuits are coupled respectively to the sensing elements and comprise a gating generator, which variably sets a start time of the gating interval for each sensing element within each acquisition period, and a memory, which records the time of incidence of the single photon on each sensing element in each acquisition period. A controller controls the gating generator during a first sequence of the acquisition periods so as to sweep the gating interval over the acquisition periods and to identify a respective detection window for the sensing element, and during a second sequence of the acquisition periods, to fix the gating interval for each sensing element to coincide with the respective detection window.

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Singapore, Singapore

Arnaud Laflaquière