Obtaining 700nm light wavelength

In summary: This is first-stage research - just fact finding to see what the options and and what the pros and cons will be. My minimum requirement is a fixed wavelength of, say 800nm with an energy output of 80mW/cm2 at 12 inches distance.
  • #1
FredFlintstone
18
1
If I had a white light bulb and covered it with the right colour of film (red-ish) will the resulting wavelength be about 700nm?
 
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  • #2
FredFlintstone said:
If I had a white light bulb and covered it with the right colour of film (red-ish) will the resulting wavelength be about 700nm?
I believe so...

https://sites.google.com/a/coe.edu/.../electromagnetic-spectrum/EMSpectrumcolor.jpg
EMSpectrumcolor.jpg
 

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  • #3
The answer for the question is actually a 'yes', but if you would ask about the know-how requested in the title instead, then I would say it's better to buy a 700nm LED from a reliable source.
 
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  • #5
Rive said:
he answer for the question is actually a 'yes', but if you would ask about the know-how requested in the title instead, then I would say it's better to buy a 700nm LED from a reliable source.

LEDs in the UK tend to be a certain temp but that can be made up of different spectral power distributions. D65 is is defined as is TL84 I don't think the SDC or CIE have made their mind up about what CCT or spectral distribution of LEDs are, there are lots of them.
 
  • #6
pinball1970 said:
LEDs in the UK tend to be a certain temp but that can be made up of different spectral power distributions. D65 is is defined as is TL84 I don't think the SDC or CIE have made their mind up about what CCT or spectral distribution of LEDs are, there are lots of them.
I think he meant discrete 700nm LEDs, not LED Lamp bulbs...

http://www.newark.com/and-optoelect...MI3I3sgvet2gIVkohpCh1Qtwc0EAAYASAAEgK4W_D_BwE
https://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronics/LED-Lighting/LED-Emitters/_/N-8usfd?P=1yzozrw
 
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  • #7
berkeman said:
I think he meant discrete 700nm LEDs, not LED Lamp bulbs...

Ah... ok.
 
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  • #8
pinball1970 said:
LEDs in the UK tend to be a certain temp but that can be made up of different spectral power distributions. D65 is is defined as is TL84 I don't think the SDC or CIE have made their mind up about what CCT or spectral distribution of LEDs are, there are lots of them.
The amount of abbreviations required to correctly describe a simple, careless sentence ... :biggrin:
 
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  • #9
Rive said:
The amount of abbreviations required to correctly describe a simple, careless sentence ... :biggrin:

i love this site- really friendly science meets the community

CIE- - this the body who specify light International Commission on Illumination

CCT- Colour temperature or correlated colour temp (opps there I go again)

SDC - society of dyers & colourists

D65 artifical daylight

D65 power distribution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminant_D65#/media/File:SPD_D65.png

TL84 is a standard light in Europe /stores

 
  • #10
pinball1970 said:
SDC - society of dyers & colourists
I learn something new every day at the PF! :smile:
 
  • #11
Thank you all for your input. I'm not sure if the easy solution is colour films such as http://shopwl.com/lighting/lighting-gel/
Using these with well diffused white light and measuring the wavelength or colour warmth until the right frequency is found.

LEDs are certainly be an option, but I think they might be tricky to source at the right energy output levels (80mW/cm2) needed for photobiomodulation - which is my intended use.
 
  • #12
FredFlintstone said:
Using these with well diffused white light and measuring the wavelength or colour warmth until the right frequency is found.

LEDs are certainly be an option, but I think they might be tricky to source at the right energy output levels (80mW/cm2) needed for photobiomodulation - which is my intended use.
Can you say more about your research? Are you wanting to fine-tune the illumination wavelength(s) in your PhotoBioModulation investigation? Are you wanting to be able to change the illumination wavelength(s) during your investigation? What optical wavelength measurement instrument are you using to document the illumination?
 
  • #13
berkeman said:
Can you say more about your research? Are you wanting to fine-tune the illumination wavelength(s) in your PhotoBioModulation investigation? Are you wanting to be able to change the illumination wavelength(s) during your investigation? What optical wavelength measurement instrument are you using to document the illumination?

This is first-stage research - just fact finding to see what the options and and what the pros and cons will be. My minimum requirement is a fixed wavelength of, say 800nm with an energy output of 80mW/cm2 at 12 inches distance. LEDs might be the best option for this simple goal. It would be nice to be able to alter the wavelength by adding or subtracting colour films - but I might not be able to tune as I don't want to spend too much time on this project, and I don't own a photo spectrum meter. It's a personal project idea so I can't budget in that kind of hardware.. but I might be able to get use of one.
 
  • #14
FredFlintstone said:
Thank you all for your input. I'm not sure if the easy solution is colour films such as http://shopwl.com/lighting/lighting-gel/
Using these with well diffused white light and measuring the wavelength or colour warmth until the right frequency is found.
I could not find any details on the products what would guarantee that they are some kind of wavelength filters. More likely they are some kind of color filters instead and produces mixed colors, matching with the approach of @pinball1970.

I don't know exactly how biomodulation works, but if it works with mixed colors too, then the it would be OK with a simple LCD monitor.
Somehow I doubt it would work like that, so you might want to search for some wavelength filters (with detailed datasheet, stating the transparency and the wavelength) instead of some basic lighting products :sorry:
 
  • #15
FredFlintstone said:
This is first-stage research - just fact finding to see what the options and and what the pros and cons will be. My minimum requirement is a fixed wavelength of, say 800nm...
How fixed and how wide? Your title says 700nm...

Your best bet may be a narrow-band astronomical hydrogen alpha filter, centered at 656 nm.
 
  • #16
Rive said:
I could not find any details on the products what would guarantee that they are some kind of wavelength filters. More likely they are some kind of color filters instead and produces mixed colors, matching with the approach of @pinball1970.

I don't know exactly how biomodulation works, but if it works with mixed colors too, then the it would be OK with a simple LCD monitor.
Somehow I doubt it would work like that, so you might want to search for some wavelength filters (with detailed datasheet, stating the transparency and the wavelength) instead of some basic lighting products :sorry:

The LCD monitor was not a bad idea but they are not able to put out the amount of energy needed - which is a good thing normally! Yes optical wavelength filters would be better but way more expensive.
 
  • #17
russ_watters said:
How fixed and how wide? Your title says 700nm...

Your best bet may be a narrow-band astronomical hydrogen alpha filter, centered at 656 nm.

I have a few specific wavelengths I'm looking at, but the feasibility of getting one will hopefully apply to others. Right now I'm also looking at 810-850nm. Thing is, it has to be within a limited budget. I will look into your solution but it sounds like it might be out of my reach. Thanks.
 
  • #18
russ_watters said:
How fixed and how wide? Your title says 700nm...

Your best bet may be a narrow-band astronomical hydrogen alpha filter, centered at 656 nm.

Actually, this type of filter looks really good, but costly in the quantity I want it. If only I could get that tech on a continuous length of acrylic or perspex.
 
  • #19
I have a bad feeling about this project.

Could you please enlighten us if you need a specific color or a specific wavelenght?
 
  • #20
Rive said:
I have a bad feeling about this project.

Could you please enlighten us if you need a specific color or a specific wavelenght?

I have been trying to determine the feasibility of producing ANY given wavelength within the near infrared which between 700nm and 900nm. I asked to start with about 700nm (which I referred to as "red-ish") just to narrow the enquiry, presuming that whatever is true of it should be true of other specific wavelengths. I'm not trying to reproduce an exact colour (that's too vague) but as these wavelengths are near infrared I think is OK to use the term colour as a rough approximation when they are in the visible spectrum. So if I have a "red-ish" filter this is approximately 700nm.

I think it would be fairly easy to just get LEDs that are specified at a wavelength - as you already suggested - but the advantage of using film "filters" would be that the wavelength could be changed at will. So. Maybe I just need to do some tests.
 
  • #21
What you are describing as "a specific color of filter" is common practice. Contact a local theatrical supply house or stage equipment retailer. Lighting designers often use Gels to filter the light. The suppliers have swatchbooks very similar to a paint chip book that gives the light spectrum by percentage at a specific Nm that is passed. They use these to design interactions on the stage. It would not be terribly difficult to do a two stage filter. The first gel would filter a color very rich in your desired wavelength. This would also be a composite light that creates a pleasing color. The second filter would then filter the undesirables.
Keep in mind that all of that light that is "filtered" is actually energy that must be absorbed and diffused in the gel. Take too high of a percentage at one time and you can melt your gel.
 
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  • #22
Here is a scan of some common CINE color filters. These happen to peak around 625nm. Many of them are down to 10% out-of-band
 

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  • #23
FredFlintstone said:
I think is OK to use the term colour as a rough approximation when they are in the visible spectrum. So if I have a "red-ish" filter this is approximately 700nm.
The problem with this is that the term usually defines the required area of expertise. That's why there is that confusion at the start of the topic.

For example, here is a spectrum taken from an LCD monitor:
p14s.png

(source: http://psy1.psych.arizona.edu/~jforster/dmdx/help/lcd-parameters.html )
In terms of 'color', you can get a decent yellow from this monitor without any problems.
But in terms of wavelength, whatever you do you can never, ever get anything around 600nm, for example.

If you need the wavelength, then you need materials with well defined spectrum in the (existing, available) datasheet and no more 'color' please :sorry:
 

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  • #24
Tom.G said:
Here is a scan of some common CINE color filters. These happen to peak around 625nm. Many of them are down to 10% out-of-band
Thank you. I'll take a closer look at this.
 
  • #25
Ketch22 said:
What you are describing as "a specific color of filter" is common practice. Contact a local theatrical supply house or stage equipment retailer. Lighting designers often use Gels to filter the light. The suppliers have swatchbooks very similar to a paint chip book that gives the light spectrum by percentage at a specific Nm that is passed. They use these to design interactions on the stage. It would not be terribly difficult to do a two stage filter. The first gel would filter a color very rich in your desired wavelength. This would also be a composite light that creates a pleasing color. The second filter would then filter the undesirables.
Keep in mind that all of that light that is "filtered" is actually energy that must be absorbed and diffused in the gel. Take too high of a percentage at one time and you can melt your gel.
I understand the white lamp could be hot but I'm not sure I understand your last sentence about "take too high a percentage"... how does this relate to heat?
 
  • #26
Rive said:
I have a bad feeling about this project.

Could you please enlighten us if you need a specific color or a specific wavelenght?
The right answer to this question depends on the specific requirement. This point really should have been brought up within the first few posts on the thread.
FredFlintstone said:
feasibility of producing ANY given wavelength
I suspect that you do not need a specific wavelength (laser source?) but a particular range of wavelengths. You need to be more specific about your requirement. (I am not just been picky here)
I imagine there has been previous work on PhotoBioModulation and those experiments would give an idea of what bandwidth and power flux you need. Have you a good reference for PF to get an idea of what you need? An LED may seem to have a very low power but, once you have passed a 'bright' light source through a narrow filter, you could end up with even less. For high intensity light sources, it's common to use an array of LEDs these days.
 
  • #27
Rive said:
The problem with this is that the term usually defines the required area of expertise. That's why there is that confusion at the start of the topic.

For example, here is a spectrum taken from an LCD monitor:
View attachment 223805
(source: http://psy1.psych.arizona.edu/~jforster/dmdx/help/lcd-parameters.html )
In terms of 'color', you can get a decent yellow from this monitor without any problems.
But in terms of wavelength, whatever you do you can never, ever get anything around 600nm, for example.

If you need the wavelength, then you need materials with well defined spectrum in the (existing, available) datasheet and no more 'color' please :sorry:

I'm trying to understand you, but if you mix light from a red LED and a green LED will you not get yellow light which has a wavelength of approx 600nm, even from an LCD monitor?
 
  • #28
FredFlintstone said:
I understand the white lamp could be hot but I'm not sure I understand your last sentence about "take too high a percentage"... how does this relate to heat?
You need 80mW/cm2. If your filter eliminates 90% of the incoming light and let's through 10% of it at a specific wavelength (range) then you'll have to deal with 720mW/cm2 dissipation on your filter.
If your source has high IR radiation then it's even worse. You might need air cooling for the filters and maybe multiple layers of filtering to keep the dissipation on one layer manageable.

FredFlintstone said:
I'm trying to understand you, but if you mix light from a red LED and a green LED will you not get yellow light which has a wavelength of approx 600nm, even from an LCD monitor?
You will see yellow, which will exist as the mixture of some red and green, but if your source has no 600nm then it'll be absolutely without any 600nm.

Colors does add, subtract and mix, but wavelengths does not.
 
  • #29
sophiecentaur said:
The right answer to this question depends on the specific requirement. This point really should have been brought up within the first few posts on the thread.

I suspect that you do not need a specific wavelength (laser source?) but a particular range of wavelengths. You need to be more specific about your requirement. (I am not just been picky here)

I imagine there has been previous work on PhotoBioModulation and those experiments would give an idea of what bandwidth and power flux you need. Have you a good reference for PF to get an idea of what you need? An LED may seem to have a very low power but, once you have passed a 'bright' light source through a narrow filter, you could end up with even less. For high intensity light sources, it's common to use an array of LEDs these days.

In my second post of this thread I gave the power requirement, around 80mW/cm2.
The wavelength range and power can be obtained from LEDs - this is how most devices in biophotomodulation field are made. But I was hoping it could be obtained by using a white light source and filtered because this would give more flexibility and allow for more wavelength ranges from the same device.
 
  • #30
Rive said:
You need 80mW/cm2. If your filter eliminates 90% of the incoming light and let's through 10% of it at a specific wavelength (range) then you'll have to deal with 720mW/cm2 dissipation on your filter.
If your source has high IR radiation then it's even worse. You might need air cooling for the filters and maybe multiple layers of filtering to keep the dissipation on one layer manageable.
Right - got you. Thanks.

You will see yellow, which will exist as the mixture of some red and green, but if your source has no 600nm then it'll be absolutely without any 600nm.
Colors does add, subtract and mix, but wavelengths does not.
Ah, now the lights are coming on, lol. That clears it up for me.
 
  • #31
Rive said:
You will see yellow, which will exist as the mixture of some red and green, but if your source has no 600nm then it'll be absolutely without any 600nm.
If I pick up "warm white" light LED bulb (array) from the shop, and the colour warmth is defined as 3000 kelvin (yellow-ish), am I right to think it will most likely have 600nm wavelength in it?
 
  • #32
FredFlintstone said:
If I pick up "warm white" light LED bulb (array) from the shop, and the colour warmth is defined as 3000 kelvin (yellow-ish), am I right to think it will most likely have 600nm wavelength in it?

No.

Zz.
 
  • #33
FredFlintstone said:
If I pick up "warm white" light LED bulb (array) from the shop, and the colour warmth is defined as 3000 kelvin (yellow-ish), am I right to think it will most likely have 600nm wavelength in it?
dT3mv.jpg

From here: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q...trum-of-a-light-bulb-and-investigate-how-clos

So, with a warm white LED you have luck on 600nm, but the same time it just won't work for 700nm and longer.

But the actual spectrum will be different for specific products.

Ps.: just one more picture, from one manufacturer: http://www.mightexsystems.com/images/Image/Mightex_LED_wavelength_portfolio_current.jpg
 

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  • #34
FredFlintstone said:
If I pick up "warm white" light LED bulb (array) from the shop, and the colour warmth is defined as 3000 kelvin (yellow-ish), am I right to think it will most likely have 600nm wavelength in it?
Most LEDs used for lighting have fairly continuous spectra so there should be some of everything in there. So they are better sources for biological experiments which work on wavelength and not 'colours' (a strictly human quantity).
FredFlintstone said:
I gave the power requirement, around 80mW/cm2.
Oh yes, but what is the wavelength interval needed? That is very relevant, particularly if you are using a filter to select the bandwidth. You need 10 times the power for a filter that's 1/10 of the bandwidth with the same centre wavelength. If you can't think of a reason to find the bandwidth worth considering then just re read the previous sentence. If it doesn't matter then a cheapo (theatrical lighting?) filter would do. 600nm is 'Orange-ish'. Please be more specific about your requirements or you can't get a useful answer.

PS You could always try an under-run filament lamp so that it just glows 'orange hot'. A few Ohms of power resistor in series may well be the cheapest solution.
 
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  • #35
sophiecentaur said:
Oh yes, but what is the wavelength interval needed?
Is this the same thing as frequency? I'm probably looking for 10hz and 40hz
You need 10 times the power for a filter that's 1/10 of the bandwidth with the same centre wavelength.
So if I need 80mW/cm2 in the bandwidth of 810nm to 850nm, with a 10% filter I need 800mW/cm2
 

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