Fiber-Optic Lines Satisfy Many Illumination Needs

Sept. 29, 2003

OptiLine fiber-optic lines are ideal for use as splash and function lighting in small, inaccessible areas as well as for backlighting a variety of products such as bezels in consumer electronic items, medical and data equipment, automotive radio, and HVAC controls. They're available in assemblies with 50,000-hour super-bright LED light sources. These assemblies can be used for multilayered illumination employing a mixture of fiber-optic layers for multicolored lighting effects, different degrees of brightness, and a variety of appearances from a neon glow to soft, diffuse accent lighting. They consume only 30 mA and feature an average thickness of about 0.053 in. for a single layer, typically using styrene as the stiffener. Pricing ranges from $0.80 to $1.50/in.²

Poly-Optical Products Inc.www.poly-optical.com; (949) 250-8557

About the Author

Roger Allan

Roger Allan is an electronics journalism veteran, and served as Electronic Design's Executive Editor for 15 of those years. He has covered just about every technology beat from semiconductors, components, packaging and power devices, to communications, test and measurement, automotive electronics, robotics, medical electronics, military electronics, robotics, and industrial electronics. His specialties include MEMS and nanoelectronics technologies. He is a contributor to the McGraw Hill Annual Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. He is also a Life Senior Member of the IEEE and holds a BSEE from New York University's School of Engineering and Science. Roger has worked for major electronics magazines besides Electronic Design, including the IEEE Spectrum, Electronics, EDN, Electronic Products, and the British New Scientist. He also has working experience in the electronics industry as a design engineer in filters, power supplies and control systems.

After his retirement from Electronic Design Magazine, He has been extensively contributing articles for Penton’s Electronic Design, Power Electronics Technology, Energy Efficiency and Technology (EE&T) and Microwaves RF Magazine, covering all of the aforementioned electronics segments as well as energy efficiency, harvesting and related technologies. He has also contributed articles to other electronics technology magazines worldwide.

He is a “jack of all trades and a master in leading-edge technologies” like MEMS, nanolectronics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, military electronics, biometrics, implantable medical devices, and energy harvesting and related technologies.