Very high power density IR LEDs

[Stefano]

I don't know how many people could be interested in this, but I recently discovered Luminus makes IR LEDs which are very powerful and very small, which means you can collimate them to have intense and tight beams, or do other interesting things (yes, they can burn stuff, and probably your eyes too).

 

This is one of them.

 

λ_peak: 950 nm;

Output power: 13 W;

Emitting area: 10.24 mm²;

 

This means that the irradiance on the surface of the LED is ~127 W/cm². That's about 10 times the value I can achieve with my 365 nm LED, which can already char paper and burn wood, and about 1/50 of the irradiance (full-spectrum) on the surface of the Sun.

 

That's no joke, you don't want that in your eyes. I think you should never look into an LED this intense, and you should treat it like you would treat a laser pointer.

 

Quote from the datasheet: "Caution must be taken not to stare at the light emitted from these LEDs. Under special circumstances, the high intensity could damage the eye."

 

Other LEDs: https://www.luminus.com/products/ir

 

I have no affiliation with Luminus.

[Andrea B.]

Thanks for the report.