In the interests of boosting the power of blue-emitting laser sources for projection while at the same time reducing their complexity, Osram Opto Semiconductors (Sunnyvale, CA) has unveiled a small laser module containing 20 blue-laser chips that in combination have a 50 W optical output at a package temperature of 50°C. The butterfly-package module is 25.5 × 35 mm in overall size and has a 16 × 16.5 mm emission surface (the light from all the laser chips in the Osram module can be collimated using a single lens array).
The multichip module achieves an electrical-to-optical efficiency of 30% at wavelengths from 440 to 460 nm. For projection, blue-laser diodes can be used in combination with a phosphor wheel that converts part of the blue (B) light into the two primary colors of red and green (R, G). The new laser module has an output of greater than 2000 lumens; combining more than one in a projector leads to multiples of this output for uses in large conference rooms. Volume production of the PLPM4 450 module will start at the end of 2014; samples will be available this summer. Another division of Osram, the Specialty Lighting Business Unit, is developing the phosphor-wheel-based RGB laser-projector module, which Osram has termed the Phaser (phosphor/laser). The Phaser light modules based on the blue-multichip package will also be quite compact and can also be used in combination, making it a straightforward task to integrate them into existing projector architectures. For more info, seewww.osram-os.com.