Etendue maintained white solid-state light generation by light emitting diodes pumped green aluminate green-yellow phosphor

We propose a technique to generate etendue maintained white light. The proposed technique uses three high-power blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) with identical characteristics to pump green aluminate (GAL) green-yellow phosphor coated on the inner channel of a waveguide. The technique offers two methods of generation of white light. Standalone partial conversion of blue to green and yellow light by GAL phosphor, combined with unconverted blue light, produces white light homogenized within the light guide. Complete conversion of blue to green and yellow light with the further addition of blue and red wavelengths from additional LED sources multiplexed with the output is also possible to further increase total white light output. Following design and optical modeling to prove the concept, the proposed technique is demonstrated, which shows white light emissions from the waveguide with no increase in aperture size while the original LED etendue is maintained. The proposed technique offers an alternative to low-lifetime, low-efficiency xenon lamps for light sources in etendue critical applications such as endoscopy.