DTIRC based optical collimators

Abstract

Non-imaging optical concentrators have been used in the past to increase the power density of incoming radiation in applications such as photovoltaic (PV) solar and optical wireless communications. This paper explores the use of Dielectric Totally Internally Reflecting Concentrators (DTIRC) as collimators and beam shapers to create a more efficient optical emitter for a variety of applications. First, an introduction to optical concentrators is presented in section 1. Section 2 presents a comparison of some of the most important features of common non-imaging concentrators. A description of the main characteristics of DTIRCs is presented in section 3, followed by the experimental evaluation of DTIRCs as collimators in sections 4 and 5. Finally, a summary and conclusions are presented in section 6. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.