Dusty TIR optic?

kramer5150

Flashaholic
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
6,328
Location
Palo Alto, CA
Curious... if the back side of a TIR optic (the conical shaped side) gets dirty, dusty or fingerprint-smudged does it decrease the optical efficiency of the lens?
 

computernut

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
647
Location
Canada, eh?
If a TIR optic works like a fiber-optic cable, it doesn't matter what's on the outside of the material as the light is trapped inside (refraction).
 

Th232

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 25, 2008
Messages
1,064
Location
Sydney, Australia
Quite possibly. You're replacing the plastic-air interface with a plastic-grease/dust/whatever interface, so the angle for total internal reflection to occur would change. For better or worse I'm not too sure, but I suspect it'd be worse.
 
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