Method of making a wavelength specific light source
A light source is realized in a wall portion and a base portion forming a flexible structure, the wall portion having a plurality of inward facing LEDs, a bottom edge of the wall portion being adjacent to an edge of the wide portion. The resulting well is subsequently filled with a material to form an optical cavity, the height of the resultant optical cavity being matching a top edge of the wall portion. The top surface of the optical cavity is spin coated with a thin layer of quantum dots which serve to shift a wavelength of light emitted from the LEDs. Finally, a protective layer is applied to fix and protect the thin layer of quantum dots. Thus, a light source is realized which can reliably provide light at a specific wavelength defined by the interaction between the LEDs and quantum dots.
1. A method of manufacturing a light source, the method comprising:
disposing a strip comprising a base portion and a wall portion in a mold, the wall portion and the base portion together constituting an integrated structure, the base portion being adjacent to the bottom of the mold, and the wall portion being adjacent to a side of the mold, the integrated structure thereby forming a well;
curing the strip into a rigid form;
forming an optical cavity that is filled in the well; and
depositing a quantum dot layer above the well;
wherein an inward-facing surface of the wall portion is provided with a plurality of LEDs configured to emit photons that encounter the quantum dot layer at an oblique angle of incidence, and
wherein the base portion is free of the LEDs.
2. The method of manufacturing a light source according to claim 1 , wherein curing the strip into the rigid form further comprises:
inserting a dowel into the well;
performing temperature curing while the dowel is inserted into the well; and
removing the dowel from the well.
3. The method of manufacturing a light source according to claim 2 , wherein the forming of the optical cavity comprises:
depositing an amount of a material for forming an optical cavity into the well formed by the integrated structure;
curing the material, thereby forming the optical cavity; and
removing the light source from the mold.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the material is composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein depositing the quantum dot layer comprises spin coating, the spin coating comprising:
depositing a quantum dot bubble on a top surface of the optical cavity; and
spinning the light source to distribute the quantum dot bubble.
6. The method of manufacturing a light source according to claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises disposing a protective layer over the quantum dot layer.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the protective layer is formed of Aluminum Oxide (A 10 ) deposited by atomic layer deposition.
8. The method of claim 2 , wherein electrical contacts are disposed on a bottom surface of the base portion.
9. The method of claim 2 , wherein electrical contacts are disposed on an outside surface of the wall portion.
10. The method of claim 2 , wherein depositing the quantum dot layer comprises sputtering quantum dots onto the optical cavity.
11. The method of claim 2 , wherein the inward-facing surface of the wall portion and the base portion are optically reflective.