PHOTOLUMINESCENT INFRARED SOURCE

摘要

A photoluminescent radiation source, particularly for generating infrared radiation. The source is made from a layer of semiconducting material which, when optically pumped, emits radiation in a desired wavelength range, and an output array of micro-lenses attached to an output surface of the semiconducting layer. The output surface of the semiconducting layer is optically immersed by the output array of microlenses. In the preferred embodiment a further, input microlens array is attached to an input surface of the semiconducting layer to focus pump laser irradiation on to the semiconducting layer. The source has many applications, for example in gas sensing, active thermal imaging and infrared spectrometry.