Non-imaging optics

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Non-imaging optics , and illumination optics , deals with the optimization of light transmission between a source and a destination. The type of illumination of the target is the predominant interest in this field of optics. In contrast to imaging optics , it is not about creating an image of the source. Rays emanating from the same point in the object plane can strike different points on the target surface, which is not an image plane in the actual sense here , as long as they lie within a well-defined area. Only with this condition is it possible to achieve the theoretical maximum concentration of radiation, which is limited solely by the preservation of the étendues . But not only the degree of concentration, but also the most uniform possible illumination of the target area can be a goal of the design of the reflector or the refractive medium.

history

Since the early 1960s, the idea of ​​using non-imaging optics for radiation concentration arose. On the basis of calculations, it was found that only with these optics is it possible to build two-dimensional concentrator shapes, neglecting the disturbance variables, with which the theoretically possible maximum concentration of radiation can be achieved. For the first time, a concentrator composed of two curve shapes, the so-called Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC), was used to concentrate Cherenkov light on a sensor.

Today's use

Today, non-imaging optics are used in many areas. For example, reflectors for office lights and motor vehicle headlights , but also reflectors for the recipients of solar thermal power plants or reflectors and lenses for solar cells are designed with the help of this field of optics. Designs are also used in which both refraction and reflection are combined in such a way that rays that penetrate an object at a certain angle can no longer leave it.

literature

  • J. Chaves, Introduction to Nonimaging Optics . Boca Raton, London, New York: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 2008
  • H. Hinterberger and R. Winston, Efficient Light Coupler for Threshold Čerenkov Counters , Review of Scientific Instruments, 1966, 37, pp. 1094-1095
  • WT Welford and Roland Winston, High Collection Nonimaging Optics , Academic Press, San Diego, New York, Berkeley, 1989, ISBN 0127428852

Web links