System modeling and material characterization for the design of nonimaging waveguide illumination systems

Many applications exist for optical systems which efficiently and uniformly transport luminous flux from one region of space to another without image formation. Display illumination systems employing thick waveguides are one widely employed example of a nonimaging optical system. The goal of our research is to investigate and quantify nonimaging optical waveguide illumination systems.; In this dissertation, we develop analytical theory of flux transportation in thick waveguide systems. This includes the implementation of recently developed computer modeling techniques and the characterization of new waveguide materials. The findings of this research are brought together in a new highly efficient rapid prototyping waveguide system design procedure.; We employ new computer modeling techniques to study waveguide illumination systems. This includes the examination of typical system sources and the development of analytical models. The accuracy of our computer modeling results are determined by comparison with measured data and by statistical noise evaluation.; We have designed and constructed three computer automated photopic detection systems; the goniophotometer, the translational photometer, and the transrotational photometer. These systems are used to accurately measure the luminous intensity distributions, luminous exitance distributions, and angular distributions of waveguide system output. The measurements from these detection systems, along with the computer modeling, are used to develop analytical flux transport models and design optimized illumination systems.; Active or dye-doped waveguides are new illumination system materials for which we examine the aspects of flux transport. These waveguides act as efficient wavelength converters to tailor the output color properties. Luminous brightness increase and geometrical gain are also possible with active waveguides. Starting with the basic theory of fluorescence and flux trapping we develop the flux transport theory of these waveguides. Experimental measurements are also made to characterize dye-doped waveguides for use in illumination systems.; Stereolithography (SL) is a new rapid prototyping method which has recently become capable of manufacturing optical quality waveguides systems. We perform characterizing measurements on specially fabricated SL waveguide series to determine spectral transmission, attenuation, and any effects on the spatial output distribution. These results allow stereolithography to be efficiently used in analyzing production waveguide systems.; Finally, this research is culminated into a new rapid prototyping design procedure for generating optimized waveguide illumination systems. As an example, this design process is applied to the design of a radio control panel illumination system. The example shows the effectiveness of this design method and its superiority over the industry standard design methods.