Optical Fiber Illumination Systems and Methods
First Claim
1. An illumination system, comprising:
- at least one light source that generates light having at least one wavelength between 200 nm and 2000 nm;
at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber having an input end optically coupled to the at least one light source and having an output end, and configured to provide the light received by the at least one light source to the output end as guided light; and
at least one light-diffusing optical fiber having a glass core, a cladding surrounding the core, and a plurality of nano-sized structures situated within said core or at a core-cladding boundary, and further including an outer surface, and an input end optical coupled to the output end of the at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber, wherein the at least one light-diffusing optical fiber is configured to receive the guided light from the low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber and scatter the guided light via said nano-sized structures away from the glass core and through the outer surface, to form a light-source fiber portion having a length over which the scattered light is continuously emitted.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An illumination system that includes at least one light-diffusing optical fiber is disclosed. The illumination system includes at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber that optically couples the at least one light-diffusing optical fiber to at least one light source. The light-diffusing optical fiber includes a light-source fiber portion having a length over which scattered light is continuously emitted. The light-source fiber portion can be bent, including wound into a coil shape. The light-diffusing optical fiber includes a plurality of nano-sized structures configured to scatter guided light traveling within the light-diffusing optical fiber out of an outer surface of the fiber.
96 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An illumination system, comprising:
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at least one light source that generates light having at least one wavelength between 200 nm and 2000 nm; at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber having an input end optically coupled to the at least one light source and having an output end, and configured to provide the light received by the at least one light source to the output end as guided light; and at least one light-diffusing optical fiber having a glass core, a cladding surrounding the core, and a plurality of nano-sized structures situated within said core or at a core-cladding boundary, and further including an outer surface, and an input end optical coupled to the output end of the at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber, wherein the at least one light-diffusing optical fiber is configured to receive the guided light from the low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber and scatter the guided light via said nano-sized structures away from the glass core and through the outer surface, to form a light-source fiber portion having a length over which the scattered light is continuously emitted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An illumination system, comprising:
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at least one light source that generates light; at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber having an input end optically coupled to the at least one light source and having an output end, and configured to provide the light received by the at least one light source to the output end as guided light; at least one light-diffusing optical fiber having a glass core, a surrounding cladding, and a plurality of nano-sized structures situated within said glass core or at a core-cladding boundary, and further including an outer surface, and an input end optically coupled to the output end of the at least one low-scatter light-conducting optical fiber to receive and guide the guided light therefrom; and wherein the at least one light-diffusing optical fiber is configured to scatter the guided light traveling therein via the nano-sized structures through the outer surface and for a length over which the scattered light is continuously emitted. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of performing illumination from a light source that emits light, comprising:
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conducting the light from the light source to a light-diffusing optical fiber as guided light through a low-scatter light-transmitting optical fiber; and the light-diffusing optical fiber having a length, a glass core, a surrounding cladding that defines a core-cladding boundary, an outer surface, and nano-size structures disposed within the glass core or at the core-cladding boundary and configured to scatter the guided light traveling in the light-diffusing optical fiber from the glass core and out from the outer surface to form continuously emitted guided light over the length of the light-diffusing optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification