Emitting light using multiple phosphors
First Claim
1. A light emitting apparatus comprising:
- a light emitting device to emit light at a wavelength;
a first phosphor to emit light with a first spectral characteristic when irradiated by the light at the wavelength;
a second phosphor to emit light with a second spectral characteristic when irradiated by the light at the wavelength; and
an optical coupling mechanism configured to;
optically couple the light emitting device to the first phosphor and to optically decouple the light emitting device from the second phosphor in a first operating mode; and
optically couple the light emitting device to the second phosphor in a second operating mode;
wherein the light emitting apparatus is configured to radiate the light emitted from the first phosphor in the first operating mode, and the light emitted from the second phosphor in the second operating mode,wherein the light emitting device is fixedly situated at a first position, the first phosphor is fixedly situated at a second position, and the second phosphor is fixedly situated at a third position; and
wherein the first, second, and third positions are three different positions that are fixed with respect to each other in both the first operating mode and the second operating mode.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for generating different spectral compositions of light is disclosed. The method comprises generating light at a wavelength, using an LED in some embodiments, and optically coupling the generated light to a first phosphor in a first operating mode and optically coupling the generated light to a second phosphor in a second operating mode. Several different embodiments of optically coupling the phosphors to the light source are disclosed. The first phosphor emits light with a first spectral characteristic when irradiated by the light at the wavelength and the second phosphor emits light with a second spectral characteristic when irradiated by the light at the wavelength.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A light emitting apparatus comprising:
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a light emitting device to emit light at a wavelength; a first phosphor to emit light with a first spectral characteristic when irradiated by the light at the wavelength; a second phosphor to emit light with a second spectral characteristic when irradiated by the light at the wavelength; and an optical coupling mechanism configured to; optically couple the light emitting device to the first phosphor and to optically decouple the light emitting device from the second phosphor in a first operating mode; and optically couple the light emitting device to the second phosphor in a second operating mode; wherein the light emitting apparatus is configured to radiate the light emitted from the first phosphor in the first operating mode, and the light emitted from the second phosphor in the second operating mode, wherein the light emitting device is fixedly situated at a first position, the first phosphor is fixedly situated at a second position, and the second phosphor is fixedly situated at a third position; and wherein the first, second, and third positions are three different positions that are fixed with respect to each other in both the first operating mode and the second operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for generating different spectral compositions of light, the method comprising:
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choosing an operating mode from a plurality of operating modes; generating light at a wavelength from a source at a first fixed position within a lighting apparatus; optically coupling the generated light to a first phosphor at a second fixed position within the lighting apparatus to emit light with a first spectral characteristic and optically decoupling the generated light to a second phosphor at a third fixed position within the lighting apparatus, in response to the choosing of a first operating mode; and optically coupling the generated light to the second phosphor to emit light with a second spectral characteristic in response to the choosing of a second operating mode; wherein the first, second, and third fixed positions are three different positions that are fixed with respect to each other in both the first operating mode and the second operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification