Transmissive optical elements including transparent plastic shell having a phosphor dispersed therein, and methods of fabricating same
AssigneeCree, Inc.
InventorsGerald H. Negley, Ban Loh
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Abstract
A transmissive optical element is fabricated by filling a mold with molten liquid that includes a transparent plastic and a phosphor additive, and allowing the molten liquid to solidify to produce the transmissive optical element having phosphor dispersed therein. Accordingly, a separate phosphor coating or phosphor-containing encapsulant need not be used. Transmissive optical elements include a shell made of transparent plastic with a phosphor dispersed therein. The phosphor may be uniformly and/or nonuniformly dispersed in the shell.
Claims9
A method for forming a transmissive optical element comprising:
- filling a dome-shaped mold with a molten liquid that comprises a transparent plastic and a phosphor additive;
- allowing the molten liquid to solidify to produce a solid dome-shaped transmissive optical element having phosphor dispersed therein and including a dome-shaped inner surface and a dome-shaped outer surface;
- and
- forming a solid transparent dome-shaped shell including a dome-shaped inner surface and a dome-shaped outer surface directly on the dome-shaped inner surface and/or directly on the dome-shaped outer surface of the solid dome-shaped transmissive optical element having phosphor disposed therein.
A transmissive optical element comprising:
- a first solid dome-shaped shell that comprises a transparent plastic including a phosphor dispersed therein, the first solid dome-shaped shell including a dome-shaped inner surface and a dome-shaped outer surface;
- and
- a second solid dome-shaped shell including a dome-shaped inner surface and a dome-shaped outer surface directly on the dome-shaped inner and/or outer surface of the first solid dome-shaped shell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.