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Physical aspects of light production

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Outdoor Lighting: Physics, Vision and Perception

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Light can be understood as the aspect of radiant energy which an observer perceives through visual sensation, but also as a physical phenomenon. For this, four different models may be used: Light as a collection of light rays; light as an electromagnetic wave; light as a stream of photons; light as fluid of power. Each model has its own use and its own applications. Light rays are straight and infinite narrow, and do not show any smaller detail. They are the basis of geometric optics. Electromagnetic waves and streams of photons appear in duplicity of light. Waves are essential to describe diffraction phenomena. The corpuscular theories of light are essential to describe photoelectric phenomena.

As regards the generation of light, three principles are useful in light applications:

  • Incandence – the basis for incandescent lamps;

  • Recombination of electrons and ions in a plasma – the basis for gas-discharge lamps;

  • Recombination of electrons and holes in a semiconductor – the basis for semiconductor lamps like LEDs.

In this chapter these three major families and their applications will be discussed in considerable detail.

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(2008). Physical aspects of light production. In: Outdoor Lighting: Physics, Vision and Perception. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8602-1_2

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