# US 11,442,285 B2 · Diffractive optical element and preparation method

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- Number: US 11,442,285 B2
- Document ID: US11442285B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/510,446
- Filed: 2019-07-12
- Published: 2019-11-07
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2017-09-08
- Assignees: Orbbec Inc.
- Applicants: Orbbec Inc.
- Inventors: Xing Xu; Xu Chen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11442285B2

## CPC

- G02B 27/48: Laser speckle optics
- G02B 27/4205: {having a diffractive optical element [DOE] contributing to image formation, e.g. whereby modulation transfer function MTF or optical aberrations are relevant}
- G02B 27/425: {in illumination systems (mask illumination systems in photolithographic systems G03F7/70158)}
- G02B 27/4266: {Diffraction theory; Mathematical models}
- G03B 35/00: Stereoscopic photography
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G03B: APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR (optical parts of such apparatus G02B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; apparatus for processing exposed photographic materials G03D)

## Abstract

A diffractive optical element for a structured light projection module and a method of using the diffractive optical element are described herein. The diffractive optical element is configured to: receive two-dimensional patterned beams and generate multi-order diffractive beams, wherein the two-dimensional patterned beams are emitted from a structured light projection module, the structured light projection module includes a light source comprising a plurality of sub-light sources arranged in a two-dimensional array, and the two-dimensional patterned beams correspond to the two-dimensional array; and project a plurality of two-dimensional patterned beams, wherein each of the plurality of two-dimensional patterned beams creates a corresponding duplicated pattern, and the duplicated patterns form a speckle pattern having uniform speckle density. The two-dimensional patterned beams can overlap with each other, or not overlap with each other.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A diffractive optical element, configured to:
receive two-dimensional pattern beams and generate multi-order diffractive beams, wherein the two-dimensional pattern beams are emitted from a structured light projection module, the structured light projection module includes a light source comprising a plurality of sub-light sources arranged in a two-dimensional array, and the two-dimensional pattern beams correspond to the two-dimensional array; and
project the multi-order diffractive beams to form a speckle pattern on a projection surface, the speckle pattern comprising a plurality of duplicated spot patterns, wherein each of the plurality of duplicated spot patterns comprises diffractive speckles at a same diffraction order, centers of the duplicated spot patterns are respectively placed at positions of diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element, speckles in each of the plurality of duplicated spot patterns are irregularly arranged, and when the duplicated spot patterns do not overlap with each other and the duplicated spot patterns satisfy the following formula such that the speckle pattern has a uniform speckle density:
Mϵ[(1−Δ1)(s+n)D/d,(1+Δ2)(s+n)D/d],
where M is an average spacing between every two adjacent diffractive speckles generated by a sub-light source, D is a distance between the diffractive optical element and the projection surface where the speckle pattern is formed, d is a distance between the light source and the diffractive optical element, s is a size of an area formed by the plurality of sub-light sources, n is an average spacing between every two adjacent sub light sources, and both Δ1 and Δ2 are specified error percentages of 20%.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The diffractive optical element according to claim 1, wherein a pitch between adjacent duplicated spot patterns is approximately equal to an average spacing between every two adjacent speckles of the diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The diffractive optical element according to claim 1, wherein the diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element are generated by projecting a single beam from a sub-light source to the projection surface.

### Claim 4

A diffractive optical element, configured to:
receive two-dimensional pattern beams and generate multi-order diffractive beams, wherein the two-dimensional pattern beams are emitted from a structured light projection module, the structured light projection module includes a light source comprising a plurality of sub-light sources irregularly arranged in a two-dimensional array, and the two-dimensional pattern beams correspond to the two-dimensional array; and
project the multi-order diffractive beams to form a speckle pattern on a projection surface, the speckle pattern comprising a plurality of duplicated spot patterns, wherein each of the plurality of duplicated spot patterns comprises diffractive speckles at a same diffraction order, centers of the duplicated spot patterns are respectively placed at positions of diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element, speckles in each of the plurality of duplicated spot patterns are irregularly arranged, and when the duplicated spot patterns overlap with each other and the duplicated spot patterns satisfy the following formula such that the speckle pattern has a uniform speckle density:
Mϵ[(1−Δ1)(s/k±n)D/d,(1+Δ2)(s/k±n)D/d],
where M is an average spacing between every two adjacent diffractive speckles generated by a sub-light source, D is a distance between the diffractive optical element and the projection surface where the speckle pattern is formed, d is a distance between the light source and the diffractive optical element, s is a size of an area formed by the plurality of sub-light sources, n is an average spacing between every two adjacent sub-light sources, both Δ1 and Δ2 are specified error percentages of 20%, and k is a positive integer greater than 1.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The diffractive optical element according to claim 4, wherein the diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element are generated by projecting a single beam from a sub-light source to the projection surface.

### Claim 6

A method comprising:
receiving two-dimensional pattern beams on a diffractive optical element, wherein the two-dimensional pattern beams are emitted from a structured light projection module, the structured light projection module includes a light source comprising a plurality of sub-light sources arranged in a two-dimensional array, and the two-dimensional pattern beams correspond to the two-dimensional array; and
projecting the multi-order diffractive beams to form a speckle pattern on a projection surface, the speckle pattern comprising a plurality of duplicated spot patterns by the diffractive optical element, wherein each of the plurality of duplicated spot patterns comprises diffractive speckles at a same diffraction order, centers of the duplicated spot patterns are respectively placed at positions of diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element, speckles in each of the plurality of duplicated spot patterns are irregularly arranged, and when the duplicated spot patterns do not overlap with each other and satisfy a first formula or when the duplicated spot patterns overlap with each other and satisfy a second formula, such that the speckle pattern has a uniform speckle density,
wherein the first formula is:
Mϵ[(1−Δ1)(s+n)D/d,(1+Δ2)(s+n)D/d],
where M is an average spacing between every two adjacent diffractive speckles generated by a sub-light source, D is a distance between the diffractive optical element and the projection surface where the speckle pattern is formed, d is a distance between the light source and the diffractive optical element, s is a size of an area formed by the plurality of sub-light sources, n is an average spacing between every two adjacent sub light sources, and both Δ1 and Δ2 are specified error percentages of 20%, and
wherein the second formula is:
Mϵ[(1−Δ1)(s/k±n)D/d,(1+Δ2)(s/k±n)D/d],
where k is a positive integer greater than 1.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein a pitch between adjacent duplicated spot patterns is approximately equal to an average spacing between every two adjacent speckles of the diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the diffractive speckles of the diffractive optical element are generated by projecting a single beam from a sub-light source to the projection surface.