Patents by Inventor Eric R. Hegblom

Eric R. Hegblom has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12388236
    Abstract: In some implementations, an emitter array may include a substrate, an epitaxial structure on the substrate, a plurality of bottom-emitting emitters defined in the epitaxial structure, a first electrical contact positioned at a top side of the epitaxial structure, a second electrical contact positioned at the top side of the epitaxial structure, and a metal layer disposed on a bottom side of the substrate. The metal layer may be electrically connected to the second electrical contact. The metal layer may include one or more openings for light emission of the plurality of bottom-emitting emitters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2024
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2025
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Ajit Vijay Barve, Eric R. Hegblom
  • Publication number: 20250125586
    Abstract: An emitter includes a substrate; a current-blocking distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) arranged on the substrate, wherein the current-blocking DBR includes a plurality of p-n junctions connected vertically in series to form a bidirectional current-blocking structure; a bottom contact layer arranged on the current-blocking DBR; a bottom DBR arranged on the bottom contact layer; a top DBR arranged on the bottom DBR; an active region configured to generate a laser light, wherein the active region is arranged between the bottom DBR and the top DBR; a top contact layer arranged on the top DBR; and an optical output arranged over the top DBR, wherein the emitter is configured to emit the laser light via the optical output.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2023
    Publication date: April 17, 2025
    Inventors: Jun YANG, Guowei ZHAO, Eric R. HEGBLOM, Yeyu ZHU, Yuefa LI, Matthew Glenn PETERS
  • Publication number: 20250079800
    Abstract: A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) may include a first top mirror structure over a cavity region. The VCSEL may include a grating layer over the first top mirror structure. The grating layer may comprise a plurality of oxidized regions that form a grating structure in the grating layer. The grating structure may be associated with polarization of output light emitted by the VCSEL. The surface of the grating layer may be a planar surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2023
    Publication date: March 6, 2025
    Inventors: Eric R. HEGBLOM, Richa DUBEY, Benjamin KESLER
  • Publication number: 20250030224
    Abstract: A bottom-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) chip may include a VCSEL array including plurality of VCSELs and an integrated optical element including a plurality of lens segments. The integrated optical element may direct beams provided by the plurality of VCSELs to a particular range of angles to create a diffusion pattern using the beams provided by the plurality of VCSELs. A surface of a first lens segment may be sloped to cause a beam from a first VCSEL to be steered at a first angle and a surface of a second (adjacent) lens segment may be sloped to cause a beam from a second VCSEL to be steered at a second angle. A direction of the second angle with respect to a surface of the VCSEL array may be opposite to a direction of the first angle with respect to the surface of the VCSEL array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2024
    Publication date: January 23, 2025
    Inventors: Eric R. HEGBLOM, Kevin WANG
  • Publication number: 20250007245
    Abstract: A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) may include a first mirror structure over a cavity region. The VCSEL may include a grating associated with polarizing light emitted by the VCSEL. The grating may be over the first mirror structure. The VCSEL may include a mode filter (MF) structure over the grating. The MF structure may comprise an MF layer in a first region of the MF structure to at least partially suppress a higher order transverse mode (HOM) of the light, the MF layer comprising a dielectric layer. The MF structure may include a second minor structure in at least a second region of the MF structure to increase reflectivity on a side of the VCSEL comprising the first minor structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2023
    Publication date: January 2, 2025
    Inventors: Richa DUBEY, Eric R. HEGBLOM, Benjamin KESLER, Matthew Glenn PETERS
  • Patent number: 12126145
    Abstract: A bottom-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) chip may include a VCSEL array including plurality of VCSELs and an integrated optical element including a plurality of lens segments. The integrated optical element may direct beams provided by the plurality of VCSELs to a particular range of angles to create a diffusion pattern using the beams provided by the plurality of VCSELs. A surface of a first lens segment may be sloped to cause a beam from a first VCSEL to be steered at a first angle and a surface of a second (adjacent) lens segment may be sloped to cause a beam from a second VCSEL to be steered at a second angle. A direction of the second angle with respect to a surface of the VCSEL array may be opposite to a direction of the first angle with respect to the surface of the VCSEL array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Eric R. Hegblom, Kevin Wang
  • Publication number: 20240283218
    Abstract: A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array may include a substrate, a wafer bonding layer over the substrate, and a first metal layer on or within the wafer bonding layer. The first metal layer may include a plurality of first electrodes. The VCSEL array may include an epitaxial region over the first metal layer and the wafer bonding layer. The epitaxial region may be bonded to the wafer bonding layer. The VCSEL array may include a second metal layer over the epitaxial region. The second metal layer may include a plurality of second electrodes. The plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes may form a plurality of matrix addressable subarrays of the VCSEL array, where each matrix addressable subarray of the plurality of matrix addressable subarrays includes one or more emitters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2023
    Publication date: August 22, 2024
    Inventors: Yeyu ZHU, Eric R. HEGBLOM, Slava KHASSINE
  • Patent number: 12034273
    Abstract: An emitter may include a substrate, a conductive layer on at least a bottom surface of a trench, and a first metal layer to provide a first electrical contact of the emitter on an epitaxial side of the substrate. The first metal layer may be within the trench such that the first metal layer contacts the conductive layer within the trench. The emitter may further include a second metal layer to provide a second electrical contact of the emitter on the epitaxial side of the substrate, and an isolation implant to block lateral current flow between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2024
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Eric R. Hegblom, Albert Yuen
  • Publication number: 20240195145
    Abstract: In some implementations, an emitter assembly includes a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) chip including a plurality of VCSELs respectively associated with a plurality of first electrical contacts. A first spacing of the plurality of first electrical contacts may define a first pitch. The emitter assembly may include a redistribution layer, disposed on the VCSEL chip, to increase the first pitch of the plurality of first electrical contacts. The emitter assembly may include a carrier having a plurality of second electrical contacts. A second spacing of the plurality of second electrical contacts may define a second pitch greater than the first pitch. The emitter assembly may include a plurality of conductive pillars that electrically connect the plurality of first electrical contacts and the plurality of second electrical contacts via the redistribution layer. The plurality of conductive pillars may be arranged according to the second spacing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2023
    Publication date: June 13, 2024
    Inventors: Wei SHI, Joseph LEIGH, Eric R. HEGBLOM, Suhit Ranjan DAS, Huanlin ZHU, Raman SRINIVASAN, Gianluca BACCHIN, Yuefa LI, Jacob U. LOPEZ RUVALCABA, Lijun ZHU, Qianhuan YU
  • Patent number: 12003076
    Abstract: A method for fabricating an array of emitters may include providing a first metallization layer for a first set of emitters of a first channel, wherein the first metallization layer comprises a first interchannel portion positioned between the first set of emitters and a second set of emitters of a second channel. The method may include depositing a dielectric layer on the first interchannel portion of the first metallization layer. The method may include providing a second metallization layer for the second set of emitters, wherein the second metallization layer comprises a second interchannel portion positioned between the first set of emitters and the second set of emitters, and wherein the second interchannel portion of the second metallization layer at least partially overlaps the first interchannel portion of the first metallization layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Ajit Vijay Barve, Matthew Glenn Peters, Eric R. Hegblom
  • Publication number: 20240170927
    Abstract: In some implementations, an emitter array may include a substrate, an epitaxial structure on the substrate, a plurality of bottom-emitting emitters defined in the epitaxial structure, a first electrical contact positioned at a top side of the epitaxial structure, a second electrical contact positioned at the top side of the epitaxial structure, and a metal layer disposed on a bottom side of the substrate. The metal layer may be electrically connected to the second electrical contact. The metal layer may include one or more openings for light emission of the plurality of bottom-emitting emitters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2024
    Publication date: May 23, 2024
    Inventors: Ajit Vijay BARVE, Eric R. HEGBLOM
  • Publication number: 20240146027
    Abstract: A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array may include an n-type substrate layer and an n-type metal on a bottom surface of the n-type substrate layer. The n-type metal may form a common anode for a group of VCSEL. The VCSEL array may include a bottom mirror structure on a top surface of the n-type substrate layer. The bottom mirror structure may include one or more bottom mirror sections and a tunnel junction to reverse a carrier type within the bottom mirror structure. The VCSEL array may include an active region on the bottom mirror structure and an oxidation layer to provide optical and electrical confinement. The VCSEL array may include an n-type top mirror on the active region, a top contact layer over the n-type top mirror, and a top metal on the top contact layer. The top metal may form an isolated cathode for the VCSEL array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2023
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Inventors: Guowei ZHAO, Matthew Glenn PETERS, Jun YANG, Eric R. HEGBLOM
  • Patent number: 11888293
    Abstract: In some implementations, an emitter array may include a substrate, an epitaxial structure on the substrate, a plurality of bottom-emitting emitters defined in the epitaxial structure, a first electrical contact positioned at a top side of the epitaxial structure, a second electrical contact positioned at the top side of the epitaxial structure, and a metal layer disposed on a bottom side of the substrate. The metal layer may be electrically connected to the second electrical contact. The metal layer may include one or more openings for light emission of the plurality of bottom-emitting emitters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Ajit Vijay Barve, Eric R. Hegblom
  • Publication number: 20240019551
    Abstract: In some implementations, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system includes a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) array including a plurality of VCSELs. The VCSEL array may have a first aspect ratio. The LIDAR system may include a set of transmission optics configured to receive light from the VCSEL array and to illuminate a field of view having a second aspect ratio that is greater than the first aspect ratio. The LIDAR system may include an image sensor array configured for line readout. The image sensor array may have a third aspect ratio that is different from the first aspect ratio. The LIDAR system may include a set of reception optics configured to image light reflected from objects in the field of view, having the second aspect ratio, onto the image sensor array having the third aspect ratio.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2022
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Inventors: James CHEN, Michael MILLER, Eric R. HEGBLOM, Lijun ZHU, Paul COLBOURNE
  • Patent number: 11855413
    Abstract: A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array may include an n-type substrate layer and an n-type metal on a bottom surface of the n-type substrate layer. The n-type metal may form a common anode for a group of VCSEL. The VCSEL array may include a bottom mirror structure on a top surface of the n-type substrate layer. The bottom mirror structure may include one or more bottom mirror sections and a tunnel junction to reverse a carrier type within the bottom mirror structure. The VCSEL array may include an active region on the bottom mirror structure and an oxidation layer to provide optical and electrical confinement. The VCSEL array may include an n-type top mirror on the active region, a top contact layer over the n-type top mirror, and a top metal on the top contact layer. The top metal may form an isolated cathode for the VCSEL array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventors: Guowei Zhao, Matthew Glenn Peters, Jun Yang, Eric R. Hegblom
  • Publication number: 20230344198
    Abstract: In some implementations, an emitter device includes a substrate layer and epitaxial layers on the substrate layer. The epitaxial layers may include a first mirror, a second mirror, and an active layer between the first mirror and the second mirror. The epitaxial layers may include at least one oxidation layer including a first oxidized region and a second oxidized region separate from the first oxidized region. The first oxidized region and the second oxidized region may be configured to provide a strain on the epitaxial layers that is radially asymmetric. The epitaxial layers may include a set of oxidation trenches in the set of epitaxial layers to expose the at least one oxidation layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2022
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Inventors: Eric R. HEGBLOM, Yeyu ZHU
  • Publication number: 20230258774
    Abstract: In some implementations, an optical system includes an emitter array including a plurality of emitters. The plurality of emitters are arranged in a plurality of channels and the emitter array is configured to illuminate on a per-channel basis. Respective positions of emitters, of the plurality of emitters, of a channel, of the plurality of channels, vary across a width of the channel. The optical system includes a lens to receive light from the emitter array and a diffuser to receive light from the lens. The diffuser is configured to diffuse light along a length of the plurality of channels of the emitter array. The optical system includes a corrective optical element to receive light from the diffuser.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2022
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Inventors: Barrie P. KEYWORTH, Eric R. HEGBLOM, John Michael MILLER
  • Publication number: 20230238775
    Abstract: A multi junction vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) may comprise a substrate, a top contact, and a stack comprising a set of layers formed between the substrate and the top contact. In some implementations, the set of layers formed between the substrate and the top contact may comprise a cavity comprising a first active region, a second active region, and a tunnel junction connecting the first active region and the second active region, a first distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) pair comprising a high-contrast p-type DBR (p-DBR) and a low-contrast p-DBR between the cavity and the top contact, and a second DBR pair comprising a high-contrast n-type DBR (n-DBR) and a low-contrast n-DBR between the cavity and the substrate. The low-contrast p-DBR and the low-contrast n-DBR are located on an inner side of the stack, and the high-contrast p-DBR and the high-contrast n-DBR are located on an outer side of the stack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2022
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Inventors: Jun YANG, Matthew Glenn PETERS, Guowei ZHAO, Benjamin KESLER, Eric R. HEGBLOM
  • Patent number: 11698411
    Abstract: A testing device may include a stage associated with holding an emitter wafer during testing of an emitter. The stage may be arranged such that light emitted by the emitter passes through the stage. The testing device may include a heat sink arranged such that the light emitted by the emitter during the testing is emitted in a direction away from the heat sink, and such that a first surface of the heat sink is near a surface of the emitter wafer during the testing but does not contact the surface of the emitter wafer. The testing device may include a probe card, associated with performing the testing of the emitter, that is arranged over a second surface of the heat sink such that, during the testing of the emitter, a probe of the probe card contacts a probe pad for the emitter through an opening in the heat sink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: Lumentum Operations LLC
    Inventor: Eric R. Hegblom
  • Publication number: 20230187905
    Abstract: An emitter may include a substrate, a conductive layer on at least a bottom surface of a trench, and a first metal layer to provide a first electrical contact of the emitter on an epitaxial side of the substrate. The first metal layer may be within the trench such that the first metal layer contacts the conductive layer within the trench. The emitter may further include a second metal layer to provide a second electrical contact of the emitter on the epitaxial side of the substrate, and an isolation implant to block lateral current flow between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2023
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Inventors: Eric R. HEGBLOM, Albert YUEN