Abstract

There is a great number of applications of signal lights in many areas of people’s lives, for instance in industry, traffic, households, etc. All these signal lights contain, in addition to the light source, a focusing element. Such an element has several characteristics: it converts the light intensity distribution of a light source to another distribution; enlarges radiation area; and is usually specified by the major narrow angle intensity distribution, which contains most of the light energy, and the minor intensity distribution which should direct radiation to the rest of the solid angle. These focusing elements are usually produced as reflectors or refractors, and there are advanced technologies developed for their production. However, focusing elements for signal lights can also be a field for the application of diffractive optical elements.

© 1998 Optical Society of America