Edmund Optics has introduced its new illumination delivery technology, EOS, designed to increase illumination brightness in LEDs. The new EOS technology will create new opportunities for the use of LEDs in automotive headlamps, scientific instrument lighting, infrared military illuminators, surgical headlamps, and portable projector systems, to name a few.The illumination and lighting industries have struggled to harness the output of LED energy into useful illumination. While an LED delivers a longer illumination lifetime and is more energy efficient than quartz halogen – it has never delivered the brightness required in the manufacturing, medical, military or machine vision environments. Quartz halogen is a brighter source and therefore continues to dominate many of these applications. LED technologists have continued to address the brightness issue by optimising materials and the manufacturing process. These approaches still fall short of the rigorous brightness requirements, and therefore end-users persist in driving the chip harder, increasing power to achieve a better result. Unfortunately, this method decreases the lifetime of the LED, one of its primary advantages over quartz halogen.
Recognising this problematic balance between driving the chip and LED lifetime, Edmund Optics sought an unconventional approach to the brightness problem. EO developed a patent-pending, optical technology that when used in conjunction with an LED more effectively directs light into a tightly focused and manageable bundle of light, minimising any thermal concerns that impact the life of the chip. For the first time, the drawback of using an LED has been eliminated, allowing LEDs to compete at a favourable price at the same brightness as quartz halogen or other alternatives.