Introduction to Nonimaging Optics, 2nd Edition

7

Stepped Flow-Line Nonimaging Optics

7.1 Introduction

Typically, optical devices designed using the flow-line method, are quite large in the case of small acceptance angles, and they also need to touch the edges of the receiver. A possible way around this limitation is to consider a step curve along the flow-lines, with some portions of the curve along the flow-lines and others perpendicular to those lines. The portions along the flow-lines are converted to mirrors, and to those perpendicular to the flow-lines, we add optics. This results in a microstructured optic, with many small optical elements combined into one. Different versions of these devices have numerous applications, such as very compact concentrators, concentrators that ...