Natwerk Designs

Light guides for Control Panel lighting?

Require Web pages with simple explanation / theory of light guides so I can design my own mouldings.

Public Comments

1. Light guides utilise the refractive differences of materials and the critical refractive index. This is the angle at which light will bounce inside a transparent object instead of passing through it. As the light passes from one material (say air) into another material (say perspex) the angle of refraction changes. At some critical angle the light will bounce backwards and forwards within the perspex instead of exiting the sides until it reaches the end. This is why there is a critical bend radius for optical fibres. If you bend optical fibre too sharply, the light will exit the side of the fibre and be absorbed by the sheathing instead of travelling along the fibre.