Laser-assisted LED for adaptive-driving-beam headlights employing ultra-reliable single crystal phosphor for autonomous vehicles

A novel laser-assisted LED for adaptive-driving-beam (ADB) headlights employing an ultra-reliable Ce3+: YAG-based single crystal phosphor (SCP)-converter layer for use in autonomous vehicles is demonstrated. The SCP fabricated at a high-temperature of 1,940 degrees C exhibited better thermal stability than other phosphor-converter materials, evidenced by a thermal aging test. The high-beam pattern of the ADB is measured at a luminous intensity of 88,436 cd at 0 degrees, 69,393 cd at +/- 2.5 degrees, and 42,942 cd at +/- 5 degrees, which well satisfies the ECE R112 class B regulation. The advantage of introducing the laser-assisted LED system employing the highly reliable SCP is to produce the high intensity for the ADB, which enables the increase of the field of view by 20% and the brightness by 28% for the ADB headlight and results in improving the visibility from +/- 7 degrees to +/- 8.5 degrees and the illumination distance up to 200 m. This proposed advance ADB headlight with the ultra-reliable SCP and the novel laser-assisted LED is favorable as one of the most promising ADB light source candidates for use in the next-generation autonomous vehicle applications. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement