Holographic glass light-shaping diffusers (GLSDs) are optical components for use in special-purpose illumination systems (see figure). When properly positioned with respect to lamps and areas to be illuminated, holographic GLSDs efficiently channel light from the lamps onto specified areas with specified distributions of illumination — for example, uniform or nearly uniform irradiance can be concentrated with intensity confined to a peak a few degrees wide about normal incidence, over a circular or elliptical area.

The Holographic GLSD in this lighting system concentrates and diffuses light from four lamps onto the framed area below. This lighting system is designed specifically for illumination experiments on growing plants under controlled conditions.

Holographic light diffusers were developed during the 1990s. The development of the present holographic GLSDs extends the prior development to incorporate sol-gel optical glass. To fabricate a holographic GLSD, one records a hologram on a sol-gel silica film formulated specially for this purpose. The hologram is a quasi-random, micro-sculpted pattern of smoothly varying changes in the index of refraction of the glass. The structures in this pattern act as an array of numerous miniature lenses that refract light passing through the GLSD, such that the transmitted light beam exhibits a precisely tailored energy distribution.

In comparison with other light diffusers, holographic GLSDs function with remarkably high efficiency: they typically transmit 90 percent or more of the incident lamp light onto the designated areas. In addition, they can withstand temperatures in excess of 1,000 °C. These characteristics make holographic GLSDs attractive for use in diverse lighting applications that involve high temperatures and/or requirements for high transmission efficiency for ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared light. Examples include projectors, automobile headlights, aircraft landing lights, high-power laser illuminators, and industrial and scientific illuminators.

This work was done by Kevin Yu, Kang Lee, Gajendra Savant, and Khin Swe (Lillian) Yin of Physical Optics Corp. for Kennedy Space Center.

In accordance with Public Law 96-517, the contractor has elected to retain title to this invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its commercial use should be addressed to:

Kevin Yu
Physical Optics Corp., Electro-Optics
Holography Division
20600 Gramercy Place, Building 100
Torrance, CA 90501-1821
Phone No. (310) 320-3088 X117

Refer to KSC-12436, volume and number of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the page number.