LIGHT COLLECTION AND ILLUMINATION SYSTEMS EMPLOYING PLANAR WAVEGUIDE

• US 20100278480A1
• Filed: 04/21/2010
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SVV Technology Innovations, Inc.
• Original Assignee: SVV Technology Innovations, Inc.
• Inventors: Vasylyev, Sergiy V.
• Granted Patent: US 9,256,007 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/33
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/005 arranged along a single direction only, e.g. lenticular sheets G02B3/0043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0056 arranged along two different directions in a plane, e.g. honeycomb arrangement of lenses G02B3/0043 takes precedence; miniaturised objectives for electronic devices employing wafer level optics G02B13/0085
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0003 the light guides being doped with fluorescent agents
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0038 Linear indentations or grooves, e.g. arc-shaped grooves or meandering grooves, extending over the full length or width of the light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0053 Prismatic sheet or layer; Brightness enhancement element, sheet or layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0055 Reflecting element, sheet or layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0063 for extracting light out both the major surfaces of the light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133605 including specially adapted reflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133607 the light controlling member including light directing or refracting elements, e.g. prisms or lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133628 with cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/2066 Reflectors in illumination beam in projection beam G03B21/28
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/208 Homogenising, shaping of the illumination light
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0547 comprising light concentrating means of the reflecting type, e.g. parabolic mirrors, concentrators using total internal reflection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0549 comprising spectrum splitting means, e.g. dichroic mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/52 PV systems with concentrators

Abstract

An apparatus for distributing light from a waveguide through a collimating array, or collecting light over a given area into a waveguide. Light received within a waveguide is propagated transmissively and retained by total internal reflection, except in response to impinging upon deflector elements which sufficiently redirect the light to escape the waveguide into a collimator array that aligns and distributes the light. In a light collector, a collection array collects and collimates the received light and directs it at the surface of a waveguide, within which deflectors properly positioned in relation to each collector of the collector array, deflect the angle of the light so that it propagates through the waveguide in response to total internal reflection. The apparatus can be fabricated into an efficient and compact form.

Claims

1. An apparatus for light collimation and distribution, comprising:

a planar waveguide having an optically transparent planar material having edges disposed between a first planar surface and a second planar surface;

said planar waveguide is configured to receive light on one edge of said planar material, and to propagate the received light through said planar waveguide in response to optical transmission and total internal reflection;

a plurality of light collimating elements within a collimating array which is disposed in an optical receiving relationship with a planar surface of said planar waveguide; and

a plurality of light deflecting elements optically coupled to said waveguide and configured for deflecting light propagating through said planar waveguide at a sufficiently low angle, below the predetermined critical angle for total internal reflection (TIR), with respect to a surface normal direction of an exterior surface of said planar waveguide to exit said planar waveguide and enter said collimating array;

wherein each of said plurality of light deflecting elements is in a predetermined alignment with each of said plurality of light collimating elements; and

wherein light received on the edge of said planar waveguide is angularly redirected, collimated, and distributed from the surface of said collimating array which is optically coupled to said planar waveguide.

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of light collimating elements comprises a parallel array of elongated lenticular lenses.

3. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of light collimating elements comprises a parallel array of elongated focus mirrors.

4. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises a parallel array of elongated grooves.

5. An apparatus as recited in claim 1:

wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises a parallel array of elongated grooves; and

wherein said grooves are configured at a slope angle θ

₃₀ which is bounded by the relation

6. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises grooves within said planar waveguide configured for redirecting the received light in response to reflection from at least one surface of said groove toward said collimating array.

7. An apparatus as recited in claim 1:

wherein said light deflecting elements comprise grooves; and

wherein said grooves are formed within each of a plurality of blocks that are attached and in optical communication with said planar waveguide, and said grooves are configured for redirecting the received light in response to reflection from at least one surface of said groove toward said collimating array.

8. An apparatus as recited in claim 1:

wherein said light deflecting elements comprise grooves; and

wherein each of said grooves has a transparent surface and a reflective surface, and light received from the planar waveguide passes through the transparent surface of each of said grooves to be reflected from the reflective surface of each of said grooves toward said collimating array.

9. An apparatus as recited in claim 1:

wherein said light deflecting elements comprise grooves; and

wherein each of said grooves comprise a prismatic groove or ridge formed in a surface of said planar waveguide disposed toward said collimating array for refractively deflecting the received light impinging on said prismatic groove to pass through said prismatic groove or ridge to exit the planar waveguide.

10. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of light collimating elements is selected from the group of optical elements consisting of imaging lenses, non-imaging lenses, spherical lenses, aspherical lenses, lens arrays, Fresnel lenses, TIR lenses, gradient index lenses, diffraction lenses, mirrors, Fresnel mirrors, spherical mirrors, parabolic mirrors, mirror arrays, and trough mirrors.

11. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements is selected from the group of optical elements consisting of planar mirrors, curved mirrors, prisms, prism arrays, prismatic grooves, surface relief features, reflective surfaces, refractive surfaces, diffraction gratings, holograms, and light scattering elements.

12. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an optical interface disposed between said planar waveguide and said collimating array;

wherein said optical interface is characterized by a drop in refractive index in the direction of light propagation from said planar waveguide toward said collimating array.

13. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an optical interface layer disposed between said planar waveguide and said collimating array;

wherein said optical interface layer is selected from the group of optical materials consisting of low refractive index monomers, polymers, fluoropolymers, low-n optical adhesives, thin films, and optical waveguide cladding materials.

14. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an optical interface layer disposed between said planar waveguide and said collimating array;

wherein said optical interface layer has a lower refractive index than said planar waveguide.

15. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an optical interface layer disposed between said planar waveguide and said collimating array;

wherein said optical interface layer comprises air.

16. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising at least one illumination source coupled to at least one edge of said planar waveguide.

17. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising at least one illumination source optically coupled to edges of a cutout within said planar waveguide.

18. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein both said collimating array and said planar waveguide have a round or sectorial shape obtainable by a revolution of a cross section of said collimating array and said planar waveguide around an axis.

19. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said collimator array comprises point focus lenses.

20. An apparatus as recited in claim 1:

wherein said collimator array comprises point focus lenses; and

wherein said point focus lenses have a shape selected from the group consisting of round, rectangular, square, and hexagonal.

21. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said collimator array comprises point focus mirrors.

22. An apparatus as recited in claim 1:

wherein said collimator array comprises point focus mirrors; and

wherein said point focus mirrors have a shape selected from the group of shapes consisting of round, rectangular, square, and hexagonal.

23. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface.

24. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a mirrored surface;

wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface; and

wherein said mirrored surface is on one or more of said first terminal edge, said second terminal edge, said first side wall and said second side wall.

25. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a cladding layer;

wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface; and

wherein said a cladding layer is disposed upon one or more of said first terminal edge, said second terminal edge, said first side wall and said second side wall.

26. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said planar waveguide and said collimator array are adapted for being retained in either a planar configuration or in bent and/or rolled configurations.

27. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said planar waveguide and said collimator array are adapted for being retained in a translated, a reversed and/or a rotated orientation relative to each other toward achieving a adjusting the light distribution or collimation pattern.

28. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said planar waveguide and said collimator array are adapted for being retained in a movable relationship with one another toward adjusting the light distribution or collimation pattern.

29. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a coating on the exterior of said planar waveguide and/or said collimator array;

wherein said coating is selected from the group of coatings consisting of anti-reflective, protective, encapsulates, reflective, diffusive, radiation protective, scratch and stain resistant, and light filtering.

30. An apparatus for light collimation and distribution, comprising:

a planar waveguide having an optically transparent planar material configured to receive light on one edge of said planar material, and to propagate the received light through said planar waveguide in response to optical transmission and total internal reflection;

a parallel collimating array having a plurality of elongated light collimating lenses disposed in an optical receiving relationship with a planar surface of said planar waveguide; and

a parallel deflecting array having a plurality of elongated light deflecting grooves within said planar waveguide which are configured for deflecting light propagating through said waveguide at a sufficiently low angle, below the predetermined critical angle for total internal reflection (TIR), with respect to a surface normal direction of an exterior surface of said planar waveguide to exit said planar waveguide and enter said parallel collimating array;

wherein each of said plurality of elongated light deflecting grooves is in a predetermined alignment with each of said plurality of elongated light collimating lenses; and

wherein light received on the edge of said planar waveguide is angularly redirected, collimated, and distributed from the surface of said parallel collimating array which is optically coupled to said planar waveguide.

31. A method for distributing radiant energy comprising:

receiving radiant energy into an edge of an optical waveguide having edges disposed between a first planar surface and a second planar surface;

propagating the radiant energy by optical transmission and total internal reflection in an optical material disposed between the first planar surface and the second planar surface along the length of the optical waveguide;

deflecting the radiant energy at a plurality of deflecting elements distributed along the first planar surface and/or second planar surface of the optical waveguide to a sufficiently low angle, below the predetermined critical angle for total internal reflection (TIR) which is with respect to a surface normal direction of the first planar surface or second planar surface of the optical waveguide, causing the radiant energy to exit the surface of the optical waveguide through the first planar surface and/or the second planar surface; and

collimating the radiant energy exiting the optical waveguide at a plurality of focal zones in response to the radiant energy passing through a plurality of radiation collimating elements.

32. An apparatus for collecting light, comprising:

a plurality of light collecting elements within a collector array configured for collecting received light;

a planar waveguide having edges disposed between a first planar surface and a second planar surface;

said planar waveguide is disposed in an optical receiving relationship with said collector array and configured to propagate the received light by optical transmission and total internal reflection; and

a plurality of light deflecting elements optically coupled to said planar waveguide with each of said plurality of light deflecting elements disposed in energy receiving relationship within said planar waveguide to at least one of said plurality of light collecting elements;

wherein each of said plurality of light deflecting elements is configured to redirect incident light at a sufficiently high angle, above the predetermined critical angle for total internal reflection (TIR) with respect to a surface normal direction with respect to the first planar surface or the second planar surface of said planar waveguide, to redirect and propagate the received light within said planar waveguide by optical transmission and TIR.

33. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light collecting elements comprises a parallel array of elongated focus mirrors.

34. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light collecting elements comprises a parallel array of elongated lenticular lenses.

35. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises a parallel array of elongated grooves.

36. An apparatus as recited in claim 32:

wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises a parallel array of elongated grooves; and

wherein said grooves are configured at a slope angle θ

₃₀ which is bounded by the relation

37. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises grooves within said planar waveguide configured for redirecting the received light in response to reflection from at least one surface of said groove into the plane of the planar waveguide.

38. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements comprises grooves formed within each of a plurality of blocks that are attached and in optical communication with said planar waveguide, and said grooves are configured for redirecting the received light in response to reflection from at least one surface of said groove into the plane of the planar waveguide.

39. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light deflecting elements is selected from the group of optical elements consisting of planar mirrors, curved mirrors, prisms, prism arrays, prismatic grooves, surface relief features, reflective surfaces, refractive surfaces, diffraction gratings, holograms, and light scattering elements.

40. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said plurality of light collecting elements is selected from the group of optical elements consisting of imaging lenses, non-imaging lenses, spherical lenses, aspherical lenses, lens arrays, Fresnel lenses, TIR lenses, gradient index lenses, diffraction lenses, mirrors, Fresnel mirrors, spherical mirrors, parabolic mirrors, mirror arrays, and trough mirrors.

41. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

an optical interface disposed between said planar waveguide and said collector array;

wherein said optical interface is characterized by a drop in refractive index in the direction of light propagation from said planar waveguide toward said collimating array.

42. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

an optical interface layer disposed between said planar waveguide and said collector array;

wherein said optical interface layer is selected from the group of optical materials consisting of low refractive index monomers, polymers, fluoropolymers, low-n optical adhesives, thin films, and optical waveguide cladding materials.

43. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

an optical interface layer disposed between said planar waveguide and said collector array;

wherein said optical interface layer has a lower refractive index than said planar waveguide.

44. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

an optical interface layer disposed between said planar waveguide and said collector array;

wherein said optical interface layer comprises air.

45. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface.

46. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

a mirrored surface;

wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface; and

wherein said mirrored surface is on one or more of said first terminal edge, said second terminal edge, said first side wall and said second side wall.

47. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

a cladding layer;

wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface; and

wherein said cladding layer is disposed on one or more of said first terminal edge, said second terminal edge, said first side wall and said second side wall.

48. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

at least one optically responsive electronic device;

wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface; and

wherein said at least one optically responsive electronic device coupled to at least one of said first terminal edge and said second terminal edge of said planar waveguide.

49. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

at least one photovoltaic cell;

wherein said planar waveguide comprises a rectangular plate having a first terminal edge, a second terminal edge, a first side wall, a second side wall, said first planar surface and said second planar surface; and

wherein said at least one photovoltaic cell is coupled to at least one of said first terminal edge and said second terminal edge of said planar waveguide.

50. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising at least one optically responsive electronic device coupled to edges of a cutout within said planar waveguide.

51. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

at least one light harvesting area configured for outputting collected received light;

wherein the area of said light harvesting area is smaller than the area of the collector array.

52. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein both said collector array and said planar waveguide have a round or sectorial shape obtainable by a revolution of a cross section of said collector array and said planar waveguide around an axis.

53. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said collector array comprises point focus lenses.

54. An apparatus as recited in claim 32:

wherein said collector array comprises point focus lenses; and

wherein said point focus lenses have a shape selected from the group consisting of round, rectangular, square, and hexagonal.

55. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said collector array comprises point focus mirrors.

56. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said planar waveguide and said collector array are adapted for being retained in either a planar configuration or in bent and/or rolled configurations.

57. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said planar waveguide and said collector array are adapted for being retained in a translated, a reversed and/or a rotated orientation relative to each other toward adjusting the acceptance angle or for tracking the source of light.

58. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein said planar waveguide and said collector array are adapted for being retained in a movable relationship with one another toward adjusting acceptance angle or for tracking the source of light.

59. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising:

a coating on said planar waveguide and/or said collector array;

wherein said coating is selected from the group of coatings consisting of anti-reflective, protective, encapsulates, reflective, diffusive, radiation protective, scratch and stain resistant, and light filtering.

60. An apparatus for collecting light, comprising:

a parallel collecting array having a plurality of elongated light collecting structures configured for collecting received light;

a planar waveguide having edges disposed between a first planar surface and a second planar surface;

said planar waveguide is disposed in an optical receiving relationship with said collector array and configured to propagate the received light by elements of optical transmission and total internal reflection; and

a parallel deflecting array having a plurality of light deflecting groove structures optically coupled to said planar waveguide with each of said plurality of light deflecting groove structures disposed in light receiving relationship within said planar waveguide to at least one of said light collecting structures;

wherein each of said plurality of light deflecting groove structures is configured to redirect incident light at a sufficiently high angle, above the predetermined critical angle for total internal reflection (TIR) with respect to a surface normal direction of an exterior surface of said planar waveguide, to redirect and propagate the received light within said planar waveguide by optical transmission and TIR.

61. A method for collecting radiant energy comprising:

concentrating a radiant energy received upon a plurality of focal zones in response to a plurality of radiation concentrator elements;

directing the radiant energy from said plurality of focal zones through a first planar surface into an optical waveguide having edges disposed between a first planar surface and a second planar surface;

deflecting the radiant energy at a plurality of deflecting elements positioned to received the radiant energy from the focal zones, and to deflect the radiant energy into the planar waveguide at angles exceeding the critical angle of total internal reflection in said waveguide, which is with respect to a surface normal direction of the first planar surface or second planar surface of the optical waveguide; and

propagating said radiant energy through said optical waveguide by optical transmission and total internal reflection.