Design and fabrication of polymer lightguides for optical sensing and illumination

We present an example of design, tolerancing and fabrication of freeform plastic lightguides for optical sensing applications. The design of the lightguides relies on Nonimaging Optics principles and uses raytracing simulations for analysis and optimization. We examine the influence of fabrication parameters on the simulated performance and show ways to minimize their impact. The presented lightguides have been fabricated at the Photonics Innovation Center of VUB – B-PHOT.