Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Optical interferometry proximity sensor with temperature variation compensation
-
Application No.: US16230967Application Date: 2018-12-21
-
Publication No.: US11740071B2Publication Date: 2023-08-29
- Inventor: Mengshu Huang , James J. Dudley
- Applicant: Apple Inc.
- Applicant Address: US CA Cupertino
- Assignee: Apple Inc.
- Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
- Current Assignee Address: US CA Cupertino
- Agency: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
- Main IPC: G01B9/02
- IPC: G01B9/02 ; H01S5/026 ; H01S5/183 ; G01N15/14 ; H01S5/02257 ; G01N15/10

Abstract:
An optical proximity sensor includes a first vertical cavity surface-emitting laser configured for self-mixing interferometry to determine distance to and/or velocity of an object. The optical proximity sensor also includes a second vertical cavity surface-emitting laser configured for self-mixing interferometry to determine whether any variation in a fixed distance has occurred. The optical proximity sensor leverages output from the second vertical cavity surface-emitting laser to calibrate output from the second vertical cavity surface-emitting laser to eliminate and/or mitigate environmental effects, such as temperature changes.
Information query