Example embodiments relate to beam homogenization for occlusion avoidance. One embodiment includes a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device. The LIDAR device includes a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter includes a light emitter. The light emitter emits light that diverges along a fast-axis and a slow-axis. The transmitter also includes a fast-axis collimation (FAC) lens optically coupled to the light emitter. The FAC lens is configured to receive light emitted by the light emitter and reduce a divergence of the received light along the fast-axis of the light emitter to provide reduced-divergence light. The transmitter further includes a transmit lens optically coupled to the FAC lens. The transmit lens is configured to receive the reduced-divergence light from the FAC lens and provide transmit light. The FAC lens is positioned relative to the light emitter such that the reduced-divergence light is expanded at the transmit lens.

A light source unit includes: a first light emission point from which a first beam is emitted; a second light emission point from which a second beam is emitted and which is disposed apart from the first light emission point in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction; a deflection element that deflects the first and/or second beam; and a first condensing optical element that focuses, on a light collection surface, the first and second beams. The first beam at the first light emission point overlaps the second beam at the second light emission point in a third direction, and on the light collection surface, the first and second beams overlap each other in the second direction and are separate from each other in the third direction.

Beam steering devices include a laser and a metasurface for dynamic beam shaping of laser light. A steering actuator may adjust a metasurface with respect to a laser to dynamically shape the beam. Lasers in a plurality of lasers may be selectively activated to generate a desired beam shape.

Apparatus and methods for controlling heating of an objective in a linescanning sequencing system to improve resolution are disclosed. In accordance with a first implementation, an apparatus includes or comprises a beam source for providing input radiation and a beam shaping group including or comprising one or more optical elements positioned to receive the input radiation from the beam source, and to perform beam shaping on the input radiation to form a shaped beam. The apparatus further including or comprising an objective positioned to receive the shaped beam and to transform the shaped beam into a probe beam and configured to provide the probe beam to a focal plane of the objective for optically probing a sample. The beam shaping group is configured to adjust one or more properties of the shaped beam over time to generally uniformly heat the objective over a region of incidence for the shaped beam.

A semiconductor laser shaping device includes, along the light path of a semiconductor laser, a fast axis collimating lens, slow axis collimating lens, the half wave plate, a polarization beam combining prism, and a crawling prism group. The laser emitted by the semiconductor laser is collimated by a fast-axis collimating lens and then by a slow-axis collimating lens, and subsequently injected into a half wave plate and polarization beam combining prism, which compresses its spot size along the slow axis while keeping the spot size unchanged along the fast axis. The laser beam then passes through the crawling prism group, which shifts a portion of the light in the slow-axis direction to the fast-axis direction, which again compresses the light beam in the slow-axis direction. The device can reduce the beam size of a semiconductor laser in the slow-axis direction, reducing its beam parameter product and improving beam quality.

The optical module disclosed herein has a first lens, a second lens and an array lens arranged sequentially along the main optical axis. The first lens shapes a beam along the first direction of the main optical axis. The second lens shapes the beam along the second direction of the main optical axis. The array of array lenses is arranged along the second direction. A laser beam enters the second lens after passing through the first lens. The second lens diffuses the laser beam along the second direction. After the laser beam is converted from a Gaussian distribution to a flat-top distribution in the second direction, the laser beam is emitted through the array lens. The first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.

Metasurface elements, integrated systems incorporating such metasurface elements with light sources and/or detectors, and methods of the manufacture and operation of such optical arrangements and integrated systems are provided. Systems and methods for integrating transmissive metasurfaces with other semiconductor devices or additional metasurface elements, and more particularly to the integration of such metasurfaces with substrates, illumination sources and sensors are also provided. The metasurface elements provided may be used to shape output light from an illumination source or collect light reflected from a scene to form two unique patterns using the polarization of light. In such embodiments, shaped-emission and collection may be combined into a single co-designed probing and sensing optical system.

Materials containing picocrystalline quantum dots that form artificial atoms are disclosed. The picocrystalline quantum dots (in the form of born icosahedra with a nearly-symmetrical nuclear configuration) can replace corner silicon atoms in a structure that demonstrates both short range and long-range order as determined by x-ray diffraction of actual samples. A novel class of boron-rich compositions that self-assemble from boron, silicon, hydrogen and, optionally, oxygen is also disclosed. The preferred stoichiometric range for the compositions is (B.sub.12H.sub.w).sub.xSi.sub.yO.sub.z with 3≤w≤5, 2≤x≤4, 2≤y≤5 and 0≤z≤3. By varying oxygen content and the presence or absence of a significant impurity such as gold, unique electrical devices can be constructed that improve upon and are compatible with current semiconductor technology.

A packaged integrated white light source configured for illumination and communication or sensing comprises one or more laser diode devices. An output facet configured on the laser diode device outputs a laser beam of first electromagnetic radiation with a first peak wavelength. The first wavelength from the laser diode provides at least a first carrier channel for a data or sensing signal.

An antenna structure for directing light is disclosed. The antenna structure includes a reflector having a reflective surface and a ring-shaped dielectric grating arranged at the reflective surface and extending concentrically along a center axis perpendicular to the reflective surface and forming an omnidirectional reflector surrounding a low-index center portion of the ring-shaped dielectric grating. The antenna structure is configured to outcouple light emitted inside the low-index center portion through an upper end of the dielectric grating along the center axis with a Gaussian beam profile projection efficiency η of at least 65%. A light emitting device and a method for designing an antenna structure are also disclosed.