A device for providing an output beam in a direction, the device including a plate including an exit pupil; a plurality of rows of optical elements disposed substantially in a first plane, each row of optical elements in the first plane including: at least one beam splitter; and a plurality of rows of optical elements disposed substantially in a second plane, the optical elements in the second plane include mirrors, wherein the second plane is disposed between the exit pupil and the first plane, wherein the at least one beam splitter at the first plane is configured to transmit an incident beam to one of a subsequent optical element at the first plane and a subsequent optical element at the second plane before being reflected to exit through the exit pupil.

Optical sensors and particularly gimbaled optical sensors transmit an active signal at a given wavelength(s) and receive passive signals over a range of wavelengths and the active signal in a common aperture. The sensor includes a Tx/Rx Aperture Sharing Element (ASE) configured with an annular region that couples an active signal having a ring-shaped energy distribution to the telescope for transmission and a center region that couples the passive emissions and the returned active signal to the detector. A beam shaping element such as an Axicon lens, LCWG, Risley Prism, Unstable Optical Resonator or MEMS MMA may be used to form or trace the ring-shaped active signal onto the annular region of the ASE. A focusing optic may be used to reduce the divergence of the active signal so that it is collimated or slightly converging when transmitted such that the returned active signal approximates a spot. A filter wheel may be positioned behind the ASE to present separate passive and active images to the detector. These optical sensors may, for example, be used with guided munitions or autonomous vehicles.

Beamformers are formed (e.g., carved) from a stack of transparent sheets. A rear face of each sheet has a reflective coating. The reflectivities of the coatings vary monotonically with sheet position within the stack. The sheets are tilted relative to the intended direction of an input beam and then bonded to form the stack. The carving can include dicing the stack to yield stacklets, and polishing the stacklets to form beamformers. Each beamformer is thus a stack of beamsplitters, including a front beamsplitter in the form of a triangular or trapezoidal prism, and one or more beamsplitters in the form of rhomboid prisms. In use, a beamformer forms an output beam from an input beam. More specifically, the beamformer splits an input beam into plural output beam components that collectively constitute an output beam that differs in cross section from the input beam.

A polarization-based generator of duality modulated electromagnetic radiation, and a related method, by which the duality ratio of the energy-based irradiance and wave-based intensity may be selectively altered. A linearly polarized coherent radiation beam is incident on a polarizer configuration. Relative angular alignment of the beam's polarization and the polarizer configuration selectively provides output beams ranging from totally energy-depleted radiation to significantly energy-enriched radiation.

Systems and methods for etching complex patterns on an interior surface of a hollow object are disclosed. A method generally includes positioning a laser system within the hollow object with a focal point of the laser focused on the interior surface, and operating the laser system to form the complex pattern on the interior surface. Motion of the laser system and the hollow object is controlled by a motion control system configured to provide rotation and/or translation about a longitudinal axis of one or both of the hollow object and the laser system based on the complex pattern, and change a positional relationship between a reflector and a focusing lens of the laser system to accommodate a change in distance between the reflector and the interior surface of the hollow object.

A lens unit with a central axis is provided. The lens unit includes a fixed portion, a movable portion, and a first driving assembly. The fixed portion includes an outer frame and a bottom combined with the outer frame. The outer frame and the bottom are arranged along the central axis. The movable portion is movably connected to the fixed portion, and carries a lens with an optical axis. The central axis is not parallel to the optical axis. The first driving assembly is connected to the movable portion, and drives the movable portion to move relative to the fixed portion. The first driving assembly also includes a biasing element made of a shape memory alloy.

A document, product, or package, such as a banknote, passport or the like comprises structures having dichroic effects that change color with viewing angle in both transmission and reflection. Such structures can be useful as security features that counter the ability to effectively use counterfeit documents, products, packages, etc.

A light-source device includes an excitation light source, an optical member, and a wavelength converter. The excitation light source is configured to emit first color light. The optical member has a reflecting surface configured to reflect the first color light emitted from the excitation light source. The wavelength converter includes a wavelength conversion member on which the first color light reflected by the optical member is incident. The wavelength conversion member is configured to convert at least part of the first color light into second color light having a wavelength different from a wavelength of the first color light and emit the second color light. A center of the first color light on the reflecting surface of the optical member does not intersect with a light flux of the first color light emitted from the wavelength converter.

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.

A laser optical system including: a beam splitter configured to split a laser beam into a first light and a second light by reflecting a portion of the laser beam and transmitting another portion of the laser beam; a first reflective member located in a path of the first light and reflecting the first light; and a second reflective member located in a path of the first light and reflecting the first light toward the beam splitter after the first light is reflected by the first reflective member, wherein a portion of the first light reflected toward the beam splitter is incident on and passes through the beam splitter and at least partially overlaps the second light.