LIGHT GUIDE PLATE AND TRANSPARENT ILLUMINATION SYSTEM UTILIZING THE SAME

A transparent illumination system (110) and related light guide plate (24) is provided. The system is configured to facilitate total internal reflection propagation of light through the light guide plate (24) despite low index of refraction differences between the glass material of the light guide layer (24) and the adjacent layer. The system includes a light source (114), such as a laser diode, and an optical element (116) to fan out light from the light source (114) in the plane of the light guide plate (24). The light guide plate (24) includes internal light extraction features (70).