Image display generator for a head-up display

[0002] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Applications Serial No. 60/273,305 (filed on Mar. 2, 2001), Serial No. 60/310,509 (filed on Aug. 7, 2001) and Serial No. 60/332,444 (filed on Nov. 21, 2001).

[0003] 1. Field of the Invention

[0004] The present invention is directed to an image display generator or projector for a head-up display, and more particularly to an image display generator comprised of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are individually selectively activatable to emit light for collectively defining or forming an image.

[0005] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0006] In current implementations of head-up displays, such as those used in advanced aircraft, an image projector—which may, for example, comprise a cathode ray tube to which the image to be projected is electronically fed—outputs a visually-perceptible image. The image output from the projector is then directed through a diffractive optics lens to collimate the image, after which the collimated image is reflected, by one or a series of full or partial reflectors, into the pilot's view or sight path for viewing of the projected image in overlaid concurrency with objects located outside of the cockpit windshield or window. The electrical, mechanical and optical components that form such a head-up display understandably require a not insignificant volume of space in the aircraft, and more particularly in and adjacent the cockpit and instrumentation bays—space which is at a tremendous premium in any aircraft. Such CRTs also generate undue amounts of heat that must be dissipated from the source. Although the use of a flat panel liquid crystal display (LCD) as an image projector, in lieu of a cathode ray tube, will somewhat reduce the space required to implement the head-up display apparatus, it remains necessary to direct the image from the LCD through collimating optics located in the light path from the projector prior to its reflection into the sight path of the pilot or flight crew, thus preventing truly significant reduction in the amount of space required for such apparatus. Collimation of the image is required so that the projected image from the head-up display and manipulated into the sight path of the pilot will appear to the pilot to be focussed at infinity, thus permitting the pilot to concurrently see the projected image and objects outside of the aircraft without having to refocus his or her eyes to view one or the other.

[0007] The present invention is directed to an image display generator which solves the aforementioned problems of the prior art by, inter alia, shrinking the image projector to a unitary construction of the thickness of a relatively thick semiconductor wafer, whereby the wafer directly outputs and projects a collimated image that can accordingly be directly reflected into the sight path of the pilot. As a consequence, the inventive display generator or projector—which may, by way of example, in practice have a thickness of about or less than one-quarter inch (¼″)—can be mounted closely proximate or adjacent a partially-reflective reflector with which the projected image from the wafer is redirected into the sight path of the pilot.

[0008] In accordance with the invention, a unitary display structure is created which incorporates the illuminatable LEDs and a corresponding plurality of lenses for capturing and collimating the light emitted by the actuated LEDs. This is accomplished by providing a sheet of transparent substrate material (such as Sapphire) of substantially uniform thickness and forming or depositing a layer of semiconductor material on one surface of the sheet. LED junctions are formed in the semiconductor layer, and a layer of insulating material is then disposed over the LED-containing semiconductor layer and coated with a layer of reflective material. The opposite or exposed substrate sheet surface is etched or machined or otherwise configured to form in the surface lenses aligned with the LEDs for receiving and collimating light emitted by the LEDs for use in a display.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the reflective layer regions located proximate the LEDs are contoured to direct light from the LEDs by reflection from the reflective surface, to the lenses, wherein each respective lens, LED and contoured reflective region are in alignment with each other.

[0010] In another preferred embodiment, openings are formed in the reflective layer to allow a small portion of the generated light from the LED to be received through the openings by a respective one of a plurality of optical detectors for monitoring the performance of the LEDs.

[0011] Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate and disclose the structures and procedures described herein.

[0012] In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of the inventive image display generator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of another embodiment of the display generator of FIG. 1; and

[0015] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of still another embodiment of a display generator in accordance with the present invention.

[0016] Manufacture of a display generator 10 in accordance with the invention, as depicted in FIG. 1, begins with a sheet of transparent, preferably clear, glass-like material having a relatively high refractive index and a substantially constant and known thickness. A suitable and currently preferred material is Sapphire, and Sapphire sheets are commercially available. A thin layer of semiconductor material 14 such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) is then grown or deposited in a known manner on one surface of the Sapphire sheet 12. LED (light emitting diode) junctions 16, and (in preferred forms of the invention) associated or support circuitry, and interconnects therefor, are diffused into the Gallium Arsenide 14 to form the actuatable LED light emitters. An insulating passivation layer such as of Silicon Dioxide (SiO₂) is then layered or deposited on the Gallium Arsenide layer which contains the LEDs and interconnects and optional support circuitry.

[0017] A thin layer of reflective material 20, such as aluminum, is then sputtered atop the Silicon Dioxide passivation layer to form a reflector so that light emitted by the activated LEDs through the Silicon Dioxide layer 18 is reflected by the aluminum layer 20 and returned back toward the Sapphire sheet 12. Lenses 22 are then formed, such as by known etching or micro-machining techniques, in the other or opposite or exposed surface of the Sapphire sheet in a one-to-one numerical and positional correspondence with the LEDs. In this manner light emitted by the LEDs is directed through the corresponding lenses and thereby output from the inventive image display generator as a collimated beam of light from each corresponding activated LED.

[0018] Specifically, light is emitted by each LED 16 both (i) toward the corresponding micro-machined lens 22 in the immediately adjacent Sapphire sheet, and (ii) in the opposite direction—i.e. through the Silicon Dioxide layer 18 and onto the aluminum layer 20 which reflects the incident light back through the Silicon Dioxide layer toward the corresponding micro machined lens in the Sapphire sheet. In this manner, a very high percentage of the light emitted by each LED is captured and directed through the corresponding lens to form a collimated beam of light from that activated LED, thereby providing a unitary image display generator of unusually high efficiency.

[0019] The inventive image display generator also provides several additional advantages by virtue of its novel structure and arrangement. For one, the construction of the generator 10 enables the realization and inclusion of exceptionally high precision lenses in close proximity to the light generating LEDs. Moreover, the currently preferred substrate material Sapphire exhibits an advantageously high index of refraction, and is also extremely durable. Sapphire is also a highly efficient conductor of heat, and is thereby able to efficiently carry away from the LEDs much of the excess heat that is generated when the LEDs are activated.

[0020] The SiO₂rear passivation layer may also be etched or micro-machined to create contoured or shaped lenses 24, which, when coated with the aluminum 20, from reflectors to further improve the optical efficiency of the resulting display, as shown in FIG. 1. The curvature of each reflector lens or surface 24 should be matched to that of the corresponding Sapphire lens aligned with the same LED to assure a collimated beam. The LED emitting junction should be located at the focal point of the Sapphire lens with the reflector lens shaped and positioned so that its focal point is at or on the LED junction. When the LED emitting junction is located at the focal point of the lens, the light from the LED is collimated (i.e. focused near infinity).

[0021] FIG. 2 depicts an enhanced version of the above-described implementation—which may be implemented, as a matter of design choice, with or without the provision of reflectors micro-machined into the SiO₂layer 18—that utilizes vertical cavity surface emitter laser diodes (VCSELs). Such VCSELs are typically fabricated, as is known in the art, using ion implantation so that the junction is oriented substantially perpendicular to the light-emitting face or surface of the display generator and the emission of light from each actuated diode is likewise perpendicular to the plane of the surface. The passivation layer 18 of SiO₂or similar insulating material is coated with a layer 20 of reflective or reflecting material such as aluminum with the distance from the diode junction to the surface of the aluminum reflective material being adjusted to initiate lasing, so that the diode emission is reflected back from the reflective material into the diode junction in-phase. The light emission cone of this vertical structure is nearly collimated and therefore requires very little correction from the Sapphire lens. The diode structure can be electrically driven at low levels below the lasing threshold or at higher levels at which the spectral distribution is very narrow. A combiner (not shown) can then be tuned to this very narrow spectrum of light. In currently preferred implementations, the wavelength of emission is adjusted to a green color of approximately 541 nanometers. The enhanced embodiment of FIG. 2 thus offers an even more precisely collimated emission and the potential of unusually high brightness as compared to that produced by the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[0022] In a further enhanced embodiment based on either of the arrangements of FIG. 1 or 2, the GaAs layer 14 may be doped or alloyed to provide the desired or correct color of light with still higher efficiency, as for example by using materials such as GaAlAs to form the LEDs 16 or VCSEL diodes 116.

[0023] A yet further modification of a display generator in accordance with the invention, is shown in FIG. 3. The generator of FIG. 3 is provided with a second or additional array of photodiodes 32 for use in monitoring the light emissions from the primary array of LEDs 16 or VCSEL diodes 116. Although this further modification may be applied to any of the forms of the inventive image generator hereinabove described by way of now contemplated example, the currently preferred implementations utilize a primary array of vertically-arranged light emitting diodes and, most preferably, the general arrangement of FIG. 2 in which the primary array of light-emitting diodes is implemented using VCSELs 116.

[0024] Specifically, after deposit of the aluminum reflective layer 20 on or over the SiO₂passivation layer 18, the reflective layer is etched to provide a multiplicity of openings or holes or throughbores 26 defined in and through the reflective layer 20; the holes 26 are aligned in one-to-one correspondence with the VCSELs 116 of the primary array. In this manner a very small amount of the light emitted by each activated VCSEL diode is permitted to pass through the corresponding hole in the aluminum reflective layer 20 (with the remainder emitted toward the layer 20 being reflected by the layer 20 back to the VCSEL diode 116 as described above). A second passivation layer of SiO₂28 is deposited or disposed atop the reflective material 20 and a layer 30 of silicon is deposited on the SiO₂layer to thereby insulate the silicon layer 30 from the aluminum reflective layer 20. An array of photodiodes 32 is then formed in the layer of silicon 30, with each photodiode being located in one-to-one alignment with a corresponding hole 26 (in the aluminum reflective layer 20) for receipt by the photodiode of the VCSEL diode light that passes through the aligned hole when the laser diode is activated. In this manner each photodiode detects or “reads” the small amount of light that passes through the corresponding hole in the reflective layer when the corresponding VCSEL diode is activated, and thereby monitors the operation of that corresponding VCSEL diode.

[0025] In use, the photodiodes 32 may be scanned synchronously with the VCSELs 116. As currently contemplated, the VCSEL diodes are activated or excited by applying a drive voltage sequentially to each column of the array and grounding the appropriate VCSEL selecting row through a current limiter to thereby control the flow of current through each VCSEL, as is known in the art. The photodiodes 32 are synchronously “read” in a similar fashion by monitoring or detecting the current flow in the array rows; the flow of current through each photodiode 32 is a function of the light that is incident on the photodiode from the corresponding VCSEL diode 116 through the reflective layer hole that is located between them. This arrangement accordingly provides the advantageous capability of readily and automatically monitoring the image that is being (or that is intended or expected to be) created by the inventive display generator through selective actuation of the plurality of VCSEL diodes or LEDs that form the primary array.

[0026] It is also contemplated that, instead of etching or otherwise defining small holes 26 in and through the reflective material 20 for carrying a small amount of emitted light from the VCSEL diodes to the corresponding photodiodes, the reflective layer may be selectively etched or the like to suitably thin the layer in the region between each VCSEL 116 and photodiode 32 to an extent sufficient to define a partially reflective area or region between each VCSEL diode and its corresponding photodiode. By suitably thinning the reflective layer 20 in each such region instead of defining an unobstructed throughbore or opening 26, a first (and preferably substantially greater) proportion of the light emitted toward the reflective layer from the corresponding photodiode will be reflected and a second (and preferably much smaller) proportion of the VCSEL diode emitted light will pass through the thinned reflective layer region for receipt and detection by the corresponding photodiode.

[0027] Any of the embodiments or implementations of the inventive display generator may also be further modified to facilitate selective or predetermined reorientation of the projected image, e.g. projection of the image onto or into alignment with oblique (i.e. angled) and/or curved (i.e. non-flat) surfaces, such as an aircraft or vehicle windshield. This may, for example, be accomplished by adjusting some or all of the lenses 20 that are defined in the Sapphire (or other substrate material) layer 12 to selectively vary the direction or angle of emission of the diode-generated light from the light-emitting face or surface of the display generator. One way to accomplish or facilitate this adjustment is that, prior to the forming of each lens on the Sapphire layer, the Sapphire surface at that location may be angled or inclined in a predetermined direction and to a predetermined degree to form a prism that selectively steers the emitted light without changing the focal length of the resulting image. The lens is then formed in the Sapphire material at this surface-angled or inclined location, thus providing both redirection or steering (via the prism) and focusing or collimation (via the lens) of the emitted light that is operatively output by the inventive display generator. Where further focusing or collimation of the laser diode emission is not required, a steering or redirecting or otherwise emission modifying prism or angled surface or the like can be provided in the Sapphire material without then additionally forming a lens at that surface location of the Sapphire material.

[0028] The present invention thus advantageous provides an image display generator or projector of high efficiency and unusually compact form. The display generator is formed in its entirety in a unitary fashion on a sheet-like substrate that minimizes, to an extent not heretofore attainable, the spatial volume required to provide its image generating and projection capabilities and facilitates selective placement of the generator in unusually confined environments—such as the cockpit or instrumentation bay of an aircraft—for interaction with other image directing or redirecting components to form, for example, a head-up display in an aircraft pilot's normal field of view. The preferred forms of construction of the inventive unitary display generator additionally provide highly efficient projection of the illumination generated by the plurality of light generating LEDs or VCSELs and the like to yield projected images of unusual brightness, focus and clarity while avoiding detrimental accumulation in the display structure of heat from the operating diode structures.

[0029] Although the inventive display generator finds particular utility in the implementation of a head-up display for high-performance or commercial or military aircraft, it may also be employed as a part of a head-up display in spacecraft or automobiles or any other vehicles or devices or articles or environments. Indeed, the inventive generator may be employed in any situation or environment in which it is desired to display a projected image, for which purpose it may be desirable or determined to vary the orientation and/or curvatures, etc. of the lenses formed on the projection surface of the Saphire or other substrate material to adjust the focal length of the lenses so that the projected image is focused at a predetermined distance (other than infinity) from the generator.

[0030] It is also contemplated that, in implementing the inventive image display generator using any one or combination of the embodiments herein described and disclosed by way of currently preferred example, additional layers and/or structural and operating features may be added to the disclosed combination(s) of layers carried on the base (e.g. Saphire) substrate as a general matter of design choice and within the scope of the invention. The invention is also fully intended to include the use of different but otherwise generally equivalent, in constituent(s) and/or function and/or characteristics, materials than those herein expressly mentioned or described by way of currently preferred illustration.

[0031] The illustrative implementations of the invention herein described generally contemplate the generation and projection of a monotone or single color image of a particular, predetermined wavelength primarily determined by the emission spectra of the LEDs or VCSELS. These arrangements may be readily modified to provide multi-color images by placing, at each position or location at which a single LED or VCSEL is indicated in the above-described embodiments, a plurality of LEDs or VCSELS each operable to generate light at a respectively different wavelength, as for example red, green and blue for a full-color or multiple color display projector. In such a modification the multiple LEDs or VCSELS for each position should be placed in close and tightly compacted proximity so that the light generated by the multiple LEDs or VCSELs at that position is projected outward through and collimated and/or directed by the same lens that is aligned with and defined for that position in the projection surface of the base substrate material. Alternatively, an individual lens may be defined in the based substrate surface for each of the multiple LEDs or VCSELS at each position, with the multiple lenses for each position tightly grouped together for outward projection and collimation of the multiple-color light generated at that position. Thus, for LEDs or VCSELS operable to respectively generate red, green and blue light for a particular position, the lenses may be formed as a triad aligned with the similarly disposed LEDs or VCSELs of that position.

[0032] Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the methods described and devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.