Illuminance and Starting Distance of the Far Field of LED-Array Luminaire Operated at Short Working Distance

Abstract

A luminaire with a light-emitting diode (LED) array can provide hotspot illumination in a short range. Therefore, a design of a luminaire with the largest central illuminance (LCI) and a high uniformity is warranted. In this paper, we present a study of illuminance variation with respect to the distance of an illumination target of a luminaire with LED array. The emission property of the luminous intensity is characterized by the cosine power law or the divergent angle of full width at half maximum (FWHM). A real LED module is designed to create the simulation for different luminaire types. The occurrence of the LCI and the far-field region are observed. Our results demonstrate that the LCI distance remains shorter than the starting distance of the far field (SDFF). To simplify the simulation, we propose the replacement of the real LED module with a point or flat-extended source. Such light sources must be equipped with the specific cosine power factor corresponding to the divergent angle of the FWHM of the LED module. These light sources are acceptable for describing illumination characteristics, including the SDFF. Our results may facilitate the design of LED-array luminaires operated at short working distances, such as reading lighting or illumination in microscopes.