A light guide array for outputting light with improved uniformity and
collimation includes a supporting material and a plurality of light
guides formed in the supporting material. Each of the light guides has an
entrance aperture for receiving light and an exit aperture for outputting
light. The light guides can be solid pipes or hollow tunnels passing
through the supporting material. The supporting material can be a metal,
such as Al, Au, Ni, a semiconductor material, such as silicon,
poly-silicon, SiC, GaAs, or an optically transparent material.
Semiconductor fabrication techniques can be used to build the array. The
array can be incorporated into an optical projection system to improve
performance.