Light source modulation using light guide rods

Light guide rods based on multiple total internal reflections provide some powerful design opportunities. Therefore, they are very suitable for producing arbitrary light distributions. Especially for LEDs they work highly efficient due to the use of the whole emitted light flux and the theoretical lossless light propagation by total internal reflection. Frequent applications are color mixing and the creation of a homogeneous luminance distribution at the output surface. However, the capabilities of common light guide rods are under-utilized. Therefore, we demonstrate a new design approach that enhances the performance of light guiding systems and is applicable to illumination problems.