Light Guide Specification Sheet
Spectral Transmission Curves
Specific Properties
Series |
Dia. |
Properties |
Recommended Light Sources |
Applications |
Temp Range |
300 |
2,3,5 |
Superior transmission of up to 5W of UV radiation. Suitable for rugged environments |
Hg and Xe short arc, Tungsten Halogen |
UV Epoxy curing and fluorescence inspection, at lengths up to 20 meters. |
-5 to +35 C |
380 |
2,3,5 |
Excellent transmission from NUV to far red, at lengths to 30 meters. Suitable for rugged environments |
Xe short arc, Tungsten Halogen, Metal Halide |
Outstanding white light illumination |
-5 to +35 C |
2000 |
2,3,5 |
Transmission of high power NIR in the multi-watt range. Protection required from high power radiation below 420nm. Integrated long pass dichroic filters available |
Xe short arc, Tungsten Halogen, Nd-YAG or diode lasers |
Visible or NIR illumination at lengths to 10 meters |
+5 to +35 C |
800 |
5 |
Enhanced flexibility, no losses even with small bend radius. Protection required from high-powered radiation below 420 nm. Integrated long pass dichroic filters available |
Tungsten Halogen, Xe short arc |
Very High NA white light illumination, excitation of HPD in medicine. |
+5 to +35 C |
Mechanical Dimensional Information
| Core Dia. |
D1 |
D2 |
D3 |
L1 |
L2 |
2 mm |
4 mm |
8 mm |
5.5 mm |
6.7 mm |
20 mm |
3 mm |
5 mm |
9 mm |
7 mm |
20 mm |
24 mm |
5 mm |
7 mm |
10 mm |
9.5 mm |
20 mm |
24 mm |
A Reference Guide to Light Guides
Liquid Light Guides
Liquid Light Guides (LLGs) are becoming more and more popular for light collection and delivery roles. They are less expensive than glass, transmit well into the UV similar to quartz, and have a better acceptance angle than any optical fiber. Their downside is that they absorb the light that they do not transmit, and that can damage the liquid medium that they are filled with at high energy levels. Proper optical pre-filtering can eliminate this problem, however.
Back Reflection
Typically, approximately 4% of the light striking a fiber is back reflected at the entrance and exit face of the fiber. This value can be reduced, over a fairly narrow bandwidth, to about .5% with the help of Anti-Reflection coatings.
Attenuation
The transmission characteristics of a fiber are usually given in terms of attenuation for a given wavelength (or range), over a given distance
(or length). You will probably read a specification that looks like this:
10.25dB/Km @ 0800 nm.
This reads as:
10.25 decibels per kilometer at 800 nanometers of wavelength.
There are three things you need to remember about attenuation:
- Attenuation is a loss per unit length.
- Attenuation can be converted to percent transmission for a given length.
- Attenuation is wavelength specific.
To convert attenuation to transmission is simple. As an example, we will convert an attenuation specification of 10 dB/Km @ 500 nm to percent transmission over 1 meter.
We start by finding the attenuation in 1 meter.
10 [dB/Km] x1/1000 [Km/m] = .01 dB/m
Now, the definition of a decibel of attenuation is:
dB - 10log(p2/p1) |
Hardware
Specifications
