Eye Safety Assessment of VCSELs Part 2: Practical examples

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are perfectly suited to fulfilling the requirements for present and future 3D-sensing applications. However, prior to operating VCSEL-based devices in public, manufacturers must ensure safe operation compliant to the IEC 60825-1 standard or national equivalents. In this article, we present a step-by-step analysis of how to assess the laser safety of (1) typical pulsed VCSELs and (2) VCSEL arrays as often used in consumer electronics and automotive LiDAR applications. We offer two examples that represent typical challenges when dealing with VCSEL sources.