Microoptical Structures for Semiconductor Light Sources

Abstract

Semiconductor light sources like light-emitting diodes (LEDs), infrared emitting diodes (IREDs), and laser diodes have in the last years made a great step forward with regard to efficiency, reliability, and yield because of improvements in epitaxy, chip, and assembling technology. They cover the optical spectrum from blue up to the middle infrared and they are key components in the information and communication technology, the entertainment technology, in the automotive industry, and plenty of other applications. They work as simple indicator lamps, light sources for backlighting displays and sensors, transmitters in optical links, and many other functions. Their importance in the optical technologies will grow further in the future because of their high efficiency and low power consumption, small size and simple modulation of the intensity, low cost, and possibility of assembling them on printed-circuit (PC) boards together with electronic devices.