Patent ID: 8205998

Claim:
A lighting system, comprising: a first source configured to emit electromagnetic energy of a first spectrum, the first source comprising a first semiconductor chip and a first enclosure about the first chip; a first optical element positioned outside the first enclosure of the first source and arranged to receive electromagnetic energy from the first source; a first phosphor remotely deployed in the first optical element at a location for excitation by the electromagnetic energy from the first source, the first phosphor being of a type excitable by electromagnetic energy of the first spectrum and when excited for emitting visible light of a second spectrum different from the first spectrum, the first optical element comprising a first container having a material bearing the first phosphor dispersed therein; a second source configured to emit electromagnetic energy of said first spectrum, the second source comprising a second semiconductor chip and a second enclosure about the second chip; a second optical element positioned outside the second enclosure of the second source and arranged to receive electromagnetic energy from the second source but to receive little or no electromagnetic energy from the first source, wherein the first optical element is arranged to receive little or no electromagnetic energy from the second source; a second phosphor remotely deployed in the second optical element at a location for excitation by the electromagnetic energy from the second source, the second phosphor being of a type excitable by electromagnetic energy of the first spectrum and when excited for emitting visible light of a third spectrum different from the first spectrum, the third spectrum also being different from the second spectrum, the second optical element comprising a second container having a material bearing the second phosphor dispersed therein, wherein a visible light output of the lighting system includes a combination of light emitted by the first and second phosphors when excited, from the first and second optical elements; and a controller coupled to the first and second sources configured to enable adjustment of respective intensities of the electromagnetic energy of the first spectrum emitted by the first and second sources to adjust relative levels of excitations of the first and second phosphors to control a spectral characteristic of the visible light output of the lighting system.