LIGHT SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING LIGHT

Abstract

A light system having a light supply arrangement, a Homogenizing Light Pipe (HLP) and a fiber bundle is disclosed. The light supply arrangement comprises a light source and is arranged to supply light to an input end of the HLP. The HLP is configured for scrambling the received light and for delivering a beam of light to a common packed input end of the fiber bundle.

Claims

1. A light system comprising a light supply arrangement, a Homogenizing Light Pipe (HLP) and a fiber bundle, said light supply arrangement comprises a light source and is arranged to supply light to be received by an input end of said HLP, said HLP being configured for scrambling said received light and for delivering a beam of light to a common packed input end of said fiber bundle.

2. The light system of claim 1, wherein said light supply arrangement comprises a beam conditioner arranged for conditioning the light, beam, said beam conditioner is arranged for conditioning the light for delivery to the HLP, preferably said conditioner being arranged to deliver said light to the input end of the HLP, such that the light at the input end of the HLP has a beam diameter which is at least about 20% of an entrance aperture diameter of the HLP, such as at least about 50% of the entrance aperture diameter of the HLP, such as at least about 75% of the entrance aperture diameter of the HLP, such as least about 90% of the entrance aperture diameter of the HLP.

3. The light system of any one of the preceding claims wherein said fiber bundle comprises at least 50 optical fibers, preferably each of at least a plurality of said fibers of said fiber bundle has a core and a cladding at the common packed input end, preferably all of the fibers of said fiber bundle has a core and a cladding at the common packed input end.

4. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said fiber bundle is an N branched fiber bundle comprising N output sub-fiber bundles, each output sub-fiber bundle comprises at least two fibers, such as at least 10 fibers, such as from 20 to 50 fibers.

5. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement comprises a light source selected from a fiber laser, a light emitting diode (LED), a solid-state laser, a semiconductor laser or any combinations thereof, said light supply arrangement optionally comprises two or more lasers and/or LEDs.

6. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement comprises a light source spanning over at least about 100 nm, such as at least about 500 nm, such as a supercontinuum light source.

7. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement comprises a wavelength filter, such as an Acousto Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF), said wavelength filter preferably being wavelength tunable and preferably being configured for filtering off two or more wavelength ranges from an input light beam and/or the light supply arrangement comprises at least two wavelength filters for filtering off two or more wavelength ranges from an input light beam.

8. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement comprises a wavelength combiner, such as a Wavelength Division Multiplexer (WDM), optionally the wavelength combiner is configured for combining light from one or more wavelength filters and/or unfiltered light from one or more light sources.

9. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement is configured for supplying said light to the input end of the HLP directly from the light source, directly from the wavelength filter or directly from the wavelength combiner.

10. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement comprises an output fiber arranged for supplying said light to the input end of the HLP, said output fiber preferably has a numerical aperture of at least about 0.10, such as at least about 0.15, such as at least about 0.2, such as at least about 0.3, such as at least about 0.4, such as at least about 0.5.

11. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light supply arrangement is arranged relative to the input end of the HLP, such that the light from the light supply arrangement is diverging, optionally to have a beam diameter at the input end of the HLP which is at least about 20% of an entrance aperture diameter of the HLP, such as at least about 50% of the entrance aperture diameter of the HLP, such as at least about 75% of the entrance aperture diameter of the HLP, such as least about 90% of the entrance aperture diameter of the HLP.

12. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said beam conditioner preferably being configured for beam shaping the light and preferably comprises a diffuser, a diverging lens, a piano-concave lens, a gradient index lens and/or a micro lens array.

13. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP has a reflecting boundary with an entrance aperture diameter and preferably a cross sectional rotationally asymmetrical shape, said reflecting boundary preferably has a cross-sectional polygonal shape, such as hexagonal, pentagonal, quadrangular or triangular shape.

14. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP comprises a rod of material capable of transmitting at least a portion of the light supplied from said light supply arrangement.

15. The light system of claim 14, wherein said rod comprises a glass rod, such as a silica rod.

16. The light system of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the sides or reflecting boundaries of said HLP are coated with a reflective coating, such as a metal coating.

17. The light system of any one of claims 13-16, wherein said HLP is guiding light by total internal reflection.

18. The light system of any one of the preceding claims 1-13, wherein said HLP comprises a hollow tubular body with an inner reflective surface, said inner reflective surface preferably has a cross-sectional rotationally asymmetrical shape.

19. The light system of claim 18, wherein said hollow tubular body comprises a glass body, a metal body, a ceramic body or any combinations thereof, optionally said body optionally comprises a reflective coating providing at least partly its inner reflecting surface.

20. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP has an entrance aperture, said entrance aperture has a minimal cross-sectional dimension of at least about 0.01 mm, such as at least about 0.1 mm, such as from about 1 to about 20 mm.

21. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP has an exit aperture, said exit aperture has a minimal cross-sectional dimension of at least about 0.01 mm, such as at least about 0.1 mm, such as from about 1 to about 20 mm.

22. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP has a length of at least about 2 cm, such as from about 2.5 to about 30 cm.

23. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP at its input end and/or at its output end comprises a facet comprising an anti-reflective coating.

24. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light beam delivered from the HLP is cross-sectional substantially light intensity homogeneous.

25. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light beam received by said common packed input end of said fiber bundle is cross-sectional substantially light intensity homogeneous.

26. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP is configured for supplying said light beam to the common packed input end of said fiber bundle, preferably without any intermediate optical elements, such as by a butt coupling.

27. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said HLP is configured for scrambling the light from the light supply arrangement to provide that the light beam at the output end of the HLP has a substantially cross-sectional uniformity, preferably to provide that the light beam at the output end of the HLP has a uniform modal power distribution.

28. The light system of any one of the preceding claims wherein said fiber bundle comprises from about 100 to about 2000 optical fibers, such as from about 200 to about 1000 optical fibers.

29. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said fibers of said fiber bundle are substantially identical, said optical fibers preferably comprise or consist of multimode fibers.

30. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein said fiber bundle at its common input end has a core fill factor of at least about 0.5, such as from about 0.5 to about 0.6, such as at least about 0.75, such as at least about 0.8.

31. The light system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the fibers of said fiber bundle are bundled over a bundling length from said common input end, said fiber bundle preferably comprises an input fiber enclosure which encloses said bundled fibers at least over a part of said bundle length.

32. The light system of claim 31, wherein one or more of the fibers of said fiber bundle are uncoated over at least a length section of said bundling length, said fibers optionally being fused over at least a part of said length section of said bundling length.

33. The light system of claim 31 or claim 32, wherein one or more of the fibers of said fiber bundle are uncoated over at least a part of the longitudinal extension of said enclosure.

34. The light system of claim 4, wherein the N is at least 2, preferably at least 4, such as from 8 to 30, such as from 10 to 20.

35. The light system of claim 4 or claim 34, wherein the optical fibers of the fiber bundle are arranged such that each of the N output sub-fiber bundles comprises randomly selected fibers relative to their position at the common packed input end of said fiber.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS AND ELEMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0121] The above and/or additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be further elucidated by the following illustrative and non-limiting description of embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings.

[0122] The figures are schematic and are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for clarity. Throughout, the same reference numerals are used for identical or corresponding parts.

[0123] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a light system of the invention comprising two light sources and a non-branched fiber bundle.

[0124] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a light system of the invention comprising an N-branched fiber bundle.

[0125] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a coupling between the HLP and the fiber bundle of an embodiment of a light system of the invention.

[0126] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a light system of the invention comprising a light supply arrangement with a broad band light source, a wavelength filter, a wavelength combiner and a beam expander.

[0127] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a light system of the invention where the light supply arrangement is arranged relative to the input end of the HLP to provide that the light from the light supply arrangement is diverging to have a relative large beam diameter at the input end of the HLP.

[0128] FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a light system of the invention comprising an N-branched fiber bundle configured for supplying light at spatially discrete sites for illumination and/or sensing purpose.

[0129] FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a light system of the invention comprising an N-branched fiber bundle configured for supplying light at spatially discrete sites for illumination.

[0130] The light system illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a light supply arrangement 1, a HLP 2 and a fiber bundle 3. The light supply arrangement 1 comprises two light sources 1a, 1a and a combiner 1b. The light sources 1a, 1a may be substantially identical or different. In an embodiment where the light sources are substantially identical the light power supplied to the HLP 2 may be increased relative to using just one light source. Preferably the two or more light sources are emitting light beams L1, L2 having different wavelength spectra. L1 and L2 are for example, independently of each other, light beams spanning up to about 50 nm, such as up to about 25 nm, such as up to about 10 nm. Preferably, L1 has peak power at a first wavelength and L2 has peak power at a second wavelength different from the first wavelength. For example, L1 may have peak power within the range of about 200 to about 600 nm and L2 may have peak power within the range about 600 to about 1100; L1 may have peak power within the range of about 400 to about 500 nm and L2 may have peak power within the range about 600 to about 800 or L1 may have peak power within the range of about 450 to about 700 nm and L2 may have peak power within the range about 800 to about 1000. Such a light system may, e.g., be used for supplying light to microscopy, e.g. to fluorescence microscopy. The light sources 1, 1a may e.g. be pulsed or non-pulsed light sources. The light beams L1, L2 are sent to the combiner 1b which is advantageously a wavelength combiner e.g. as described above. From the combiner 1b the light is supplied to the input end 2a of the HLP 2 e.g. via free space and/or via a not shown optical fiber. In the HLP 2 the light is scrambled to increase the uniformity of the modal power distribution at the exit end 2b of the HLP 2. The light L3 having the increased uniformity modal power distribution is transmitted directly to the common packed input end 3a of the fiber bundle 3. As disclosed above the fiber bundle may advantageously comprise many optical fibers, such as at least 50 optical fibers. The light beam L3 supplied to the common packed input end 3a is evenly distributed in the optical fibers of the fiber bundle 3 and is guided along the fibers to the exit end 3b of the fibers of the fiber bundle. In this embodiment the fibers are not branched from the fiber bundle but have a common exit end. The bundled fibers may be arranged with a different configuration at the exit end 3b than at the common packed input end 3a of the fiber bundle 3. For example the fibers may be arranged to provide that the periphery of the fiber bundle 3 at the exit end 3b has a characteristic shape, such as moon shaped, square or letter shaped e.g. for a car head light or for a light advertisement.

[0131] In a variation of the example shown in FIG. 1, the light supply arrangement has only one single light source.

[0132] The light system illustrated in FIG. 2 comprises a light supply arrangement 11, a HLP 12 and an N-branched fiber bundle 13. The light supply arrangement 11 may be as described above and is arranged for supplying at least one light beam to the input end 12a of the HLP 12 e.g. via free space and/or via a not shown optical fiber. In the HLP 12 the light is scrambled to increase the uniformity of the modal power distribution at the exit end 12b of the HLP 12. The exit end 12b of the HLP 12 is butt coupled to the HLP 13 to ensure that the power homogenized light is transmitted directly to the common packed input end 13a of the fiber bundle 13. The N-branched fiber bundle comprises N output sub-fiber bundles 13c, each output sub-fiber bundle comprises at least two fibers, such as at least 10 fibers, such as from 20 to 50 fibers. In the shown embodiment the fiber bundle 13 comprises a branching section 13d where the N output sub-fiber bundles are branched from the bundling length section.

[0133] FIG. 3 illustrates a coupling between the HLP 22 and the fiber bundle 23 of an embodiment of a light system. The HLP 22 has an exit end 22b and it can be seen that the HLP 22 has a reflecting boundary 22c with a cross-sectional polygonal shape. The fiber bundle 23 has a bundling length 23e and a common packed input end 23a shaped to have a periphery corresponding to the exit aperture of the exit end 22b of the HLP 22. In the shown embodiment the common packed input end 23a of the fiber bundle 23 is illustrated to be at a distance to the exit end 22b of the HLP 22, however, it is preferred that the common packed input end 23a of the fiber bundle 23 is butt coupled to the exit end 23b of the HLP 22. The N-branched fiber bundle 23 comprises N output sub-fiber bundles 23c. Each output sub-fiber bundle comprises a number of optical fibers 23f, which may e.g. be twisted. The fiber bundle 23 comprises an input fiber enclosure 23d, which encloses the bundled fibers over the bundle length 23e and ensures that the fibers are held firmly together. As disclosed above the fibers may be uncoated and optionally fused at the bundling length section 23e.

[0134] The light system illustrated in FIG. 4 comprises a light supply arrangement 31, a HLP 32 and an N-branched fiber bundle 33. The light supply arrangement 31 comprises a broadband light source 31a, such as a supercontinuum light source, a wavelength filter 31b, a wavelength combiner 31c and a beam expander 31d. The broadband light source 31a is fiber coupled to the wavelength filter 31b as illustrated. The wavelength filter 31, e.g. an AOTF, filters off two light beams with different wavelength spectra e.g. having wavelength spectra as described for L1 and L2 in FIG. 1 above. The filtered beams are guided, e.g. by fibers, as illustrated to the wavelength combiner 31c where they are combined and from the combiner 31c the light beam is guided to the beam expander 31d, e.g. a GRIN lens, which is directly coupled to the HLP 32 for delivering the expanded light beam. The HLP 32 and an N-branched fiber bundle 33 may be as disclosed above e.g. in FIG. 2.

[0135] In a variation of the example shown in FIG. 4 the wavelength filter 31b is replaced with two wavelength filters, each of them filtering off one of the two light beams with different wavelength spectra.

[0136] The light system illustrated in FIG. 5a comprises a light supply arrangement 41, a HLP 42 and an N-branched fiber bundle 43. The light supply arrangement 41 is arranged relative to the input end 42a of the HLP 42 to provide that the light beam L3 from the light supply arrangement 41 is diverging to have a relatively large beam diameter at the input end 42a of the HLP 42.

[0137] In the variation of the light system illustrated in FIG. 5a shown in FIG. 5b only the light supply arrangement 41 and the HLP 42 are shown and the light supply arrangement 41 is arranged relative to the input end 42a of the HLP 42 to provide that the light beam L3 from the light supply arrangement 41 is diverging to have a relatively large beam diameter at the input end 42a of the HLP 42 such that the beam is further diverging to impinging on the reflective boundary of the HLP a short distance D into the HLP.

[0138] The light system illustrated in FIG. 6 is arranged for illumination and sensing of pellets 54b in sensing chambers 54. The light system comprises a light supply arrangement 51, a HLP 52 and an N-branched fiber bundle 53. The light supply arrangement 51 comprises a light source 51a and a beam conditioner 51b. The light source 51a supplies light e.g. pulsed light to the beam conditioner where the light optionally is filtered, combined and/or beam expanded and the final light beam or beams is/are delivered to the HLP 52. In the HLP 52 the light is scrambled by multiple reflections off the sides of the HLP to have a more uniform modal power distribution at the exit end 52b of the HLP 52 and the uniform light beam is delivered to the common packed input end of the fiber bundle 53. The light beam supplied to the common packed input end of the fiber bundle 53 is evenly distributed in the optical fibers of the fiber bundle 53 and is guided along the N sub-fiber bundles 53c to the N exit ends 53b. The N exit ends 53b are arranged for supplying light at the spatially discreetly arranged sensing chambers 54 for projecting illuminating beams 54a towards the pellets 54b for sensing one or more characteristics of the pellets, such as color, content, structure, etc.

[0139] A light sensor, such as a camera 55 is arranged in each sensing chamber 54 to image light reflected from the pellets 54b and the image data from the respective light sensors 55 are transmitted via wires 56 to a data analyzer 57. The light system may e.g. be arranged for supplying illumination for hyperspectral sensing as described in the PhD thesis by Otto Abildgaard Broadband optical characterization of material properties. DTU Compute PHD-2014; No. 334). DOI: 10.11581/DTU:00000009.

[0140] In an embodiment, the sensing chambers 54 are pill coaters and the detector system is arranged for detecting if the coating fulfills one or more quality parameters.

[0141] In FIG. 7 the light system is configured for supplying light at spatially discrete sites for illumination, e.g. for vehicle lights. The light system comprises a light supply arrangement 61, a HLP 62 and an N-branched fiber bundle 63. The light supply arrangement 61 comprises a light source 61a and an optical fiber 61b projecting the light beam L4 towards the input end of the HLP 62 such that the light beam L4 is beam expanding to a beam size not larger than the entrance aperture of the HLP 62. In the HLP 62 the light is scrambled by multiple reflections off the sides of the HLP to have a more uniform modal power distribution at the exit end of the HLP 62 and the more uniform light beam is delivered to the common packed input end of the fiber bundle 63. The light beam supplied to the common packed input end of the HLP 63 is evenly distributed in the optical fibers of the fiber bundle 63 and is guided along the N sub-fiber bundles 63c to the N exit ends. The N exit ends 53b are arranged for supplying light at spatially discrete lights 64a, 64b, 64c which may e.g. include left headlight, right head light, left rear light, etc.