OMC has introduced a new range of narrow-angle surface-mount LEDs in a variety of package styles and all popular LED wavelengths. The new SMD emitter series features integrated lenses molded into the package, providing a 30-degree beam angle.Applications for visible wavelengths include signaling and indicating, where the beam must be visible at longer distances, while the company's infrared wavelength versions are used to detect and communicate data over greater distances and with greater accuracy than using standard wide-angle SMD components.
Traditional through-hole (non-surface-mount) LEDs are commonly produced with narrow beam angles, as the LED body is typically molded around the lead frame using an optical epoxy or silicone. The LED body then acts as a lens, focusing the light at beam angles as narrow as 5 degrees, with 30 degrees being a common requirement for many sensing and indicating applications. However, with the move to surface-mount components, some design versatility was lost, as the LED body is typically injection-molded from non-optical material that is prefabricated before the LED die is mounted, and therefore does not form a lens in this way. As a result, most SMD packages do not incorporate any lens, emitting light at a wide beam angle that generally exceeds 100°.
By using a proprietary array-mount encapsulation process, OMC can cost-effectively integrate the narrow-angle lens into a range of surface-mount emitters, and can now offer 30-degree beam angles for all standard LED wavelengths, including infrared.
OMC's Commercial Director, William Heath, comments: "Providing a clear human-machine interface is vital, as is ensuring precision and accuracy in a sensing system, so selecting the right light-emitting components is a key design task. Narrow-angle SMD LEDs are in high demand across a wide range of applications, such as sensing and communications, signaling, and indication, but are less common than wide-angle devices, especially for custom wavelengths and CCT/CRI. This new 30-degree surface-mount LED series opens up design possibilities for engineers, and in addition to standard devices, we can customize them to provide the wavelength or other light characteristics that the customer may require.".
