In this contribution we show how spatially incoherent emission from a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser
(BAVCSEL) can be used for low-speckle laser projection. In our projection setup, we use a microlens beam
homogenizer in order to homogenize the intensity distribution and to exploit the low spatial coherence of the VCSEL. In
order to investigate the speckle in a projection setup using a BA-VCSEL as light source, we compare speckle values in
case of modal and nonmodal emission of the BA-VCSEL. Furthermore, the microlens beam homogenizer can either be
illuminated with the laser's near field or far field, leading to comparable results. Speckle contrast values as low as 3.5%
in case of nearfield illumination, and 2.5% in case of farfield illumination, are measured without using any additional or
mechanically moving components to destroy the coherence of the laser beam. The microlens array in the setup is
essential in order to obtain speckle reduction, since it generates an overlap of mutually independent speckle patterns, thus
reducing the overall speckle in the projected image. We successfully model the speckle contrast reduction, taking into
account all contributing speckle reducing factors.
We discuss how the nonmodal emission regime's farfield of a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser
(BAVCSEL) can be used for low-speckle laser projection. More specifically we investigate how the farfield of a BA-VCSEL
in its nonmodal emission regime can be used for low-speckle laser projection. A microlens beam homogenizer is
used to exploit the low spatial coherence of the VCSEL. Speckle contrast values as low as 2.5% are measured without
using any additional or mechanically moving components to destroy the coherence of the laser beam. We explore and
explain the effect on the speckle contrast of the beam's size on the homogenizer. We successfully modeled the speckle
contrast reduction, taking into account all contributing speckle reducing factors.
In many metrological applications speckle can be used to determine surface properties where several complex effects and
parameters are of concern. However, an analytical modelling of the decorrelation of speckle patterns created e.g. by two wavelength
illumination of a surface is possible only for Gaussian-distributed surface height values and in illumination
regimes where the separation of the two illumination wavelengths is much smaller than the mean value of the two
wavelengths. Depending on the fabrication process of the illuminated surface the statistical distribution of the surface
height values can differ significantly from a Gaussian distribution. We present a numerical simulation tool for the
synthetic generation of laser-speckle patterns which a non-imaging observer (e.g. a bare CCD-chip) detects in the farfield
of an illuminated surface. We investigate for which illumination wavelengths separation the analytical model is valid
with a centre wavelength of 650 nm and compare simulated speckle images originating from surfaces with equal- and
Gaussian-distributed height values under two-wavelength illumination. We show which differences from the analytical
model for the correlation of the two emerging speckle images occur and consider the implications for an experimental
situation.
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