Compact laser multi-chip package offers 50-W optical output
The developers have managed to double the optical output of the individual chips, with the result that the new laser module now offers an overall output of 50 W. The result is that professional laser projectors can achieve a brightness level of more than 2000 lumen with one component.
Instead of taking the laborious approach and constructing a light source from individual laser diodes, it is now possible to reduce the complexity of laser projectors.
Osram Opto Semiconductors is strengthening its leading position in light sources for laser projectors with its blue PLPM4 450 multi-chip package. Osram developers are the first to adapt the ‘butterfly’ package for projection applications. The result is an extremely powerful laser module which can be more easily integrated in projectors. The package measures 25.5 by 35 mm and accommodates four copper bars with up to five blue laser chips connected in series and operated at 2.3 A each. The multi-chip product offers a light output of 50 W from a typical electrical input of 165 W, with wavelengths of 440 to 460 nm. The package achieves an efficiency of 30%.
Blue laser diodes in combination with a converter wheel, which converts part of the blue light into the two primary colors of red and green, are used as the light source for laser projectors. Up to now, to achieve sufficient brightness for professional applications more than 20 individual laser diodes had to be combined. With its impressive optical output of 50 W the new laser module offers projection brightness levels of more than 2000 lumen from only one package.
If several modules are installed in a projector brightness levels far in excess of 5000 lumen are then possible – for example for devices in large conference rooms. To achieve the high optical output of the PLPM4 450, developers at Osram Opto Semiconductors optimized the chip parameters to double the single-chip output from 1.6 to 3.2 W and also improved the thermal resistance of the module.
Thanks to the design and the improved optical output power of the individual chip, the price per optical watt could be reduced. Another price benefit comes from the greatly reduced production costs – installation and alignment of a multi-chip package involve less time and lower costs than for a large number of individual TO packages. The radiation from all the laser chips can therefore be collimated with a single lens array.
Volume production of the PLPM4 450 will start at the end of 2014. Samples will be available from the summer. The Osram Specialty Lighting Business Unit will also be integrating the multi-chip package in a new generation of phaser light modules for projection applications. Phaser in this case is a hybrid word formed from phosphor and laser. Phaser light modules based on the multi-chip package will feature a particularly compact design and will be capable of being used in combination, making them easy to integrate in existing projector architectures.
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