Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an optical beam delivery system, comprising an optical fiber including a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable, at least in part, modification of one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam by a perturbation assembly arranged to modify the one or more beam characteristics, the perturbation assembly coupled to the first length of fiber or integral with the first length of fiber, or a combination thereof and a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP formed to preserve at least a portion of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam modified by the perturbation assembly within one or more first confinement regions. The optical beam delivery system may include an optical system coupled to the second length of fiber including one or more free-space optics configured to receive and transmit an optical beam comprising the modified one or more beam characteristics.

A method of processing by controlling one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam may include: launching the optical beam into a first length of fiber having a first refractive-index profile (RIP); coupling the optical beam from the first length of fiber into a second length of fiber having a second RIP and one or more confinement regions; modifying the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam in the first length of fiber, in the second length of fiber, or in the first and second lengths of fiber; confining the modified one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam within the one or more confinement regions of the second length of fiber; and/or generating an output beam, having the modified one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam, from the second length of fiber. The first RIP may differ from the second RIP.

A method of materials processing using an optical beam includes: launching the optical beam into a first length of fiber having a first refractive-index profile (RIP); coupling the optical beam from the first length of fiber into a second length of fiber having a second RIP; modifying one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam in the first length of fiber, in the second length of fiber, or in the first and second lengths of fiber; and/or generating an output beam, having the modified one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam, from the second length of fiber. The first RIP can be the same as or differ from the second RIP. The modifying of the one or more beam characteristics can include changing the one or more beam characteristics from a first state to a second state. The first state can differ from the second state.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an optical beam delivery system, comprising an optical fiber including a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable, at least in part, modification of one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam by a perturbation assembly arranged to modify the one or more beam characteristics, the perturbation assembly coupled to the first length of fiber or integral with the first length of fiber, or a combination thereof and a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP formed to preserve at least a portion of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam modified by the perturbation assembly within one or more first confinement regions. The optical beam delivery system may include an optical system coupled to the second length of fiber including one or more free-space optics configured to receive and transmit an optical beam comprising the modified one or more beam characteristics.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an optical beam delivery system, comprising an optical fiber including a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable, at least in part, modification of one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam by a perturbation assembly arranged to modify the one or more beam characteristics, the perturbation assembly coupled to the first length of fiber or integral with the first length of fiber, or a combination thereof and a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP formed to preserve at least a portion of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam modified by the perturbation assembly within one or more first confinement regions. The optical beam delivery system may include an optical system coupled to the second length of fiber including one or more free-space optics configured to receive and transmit an optical beam comprising the modified one or more beam characteristics.

A method of forming a color-changing fiber that can be incorporated into fabrics and other woven materials. The color changing fibers include an annular wall and a conductive wire axially extending through the annular wall, a core strand surrounded by the annular wall and extending axially through a central portion of the fiber, and an encapsulated electro-optic medium disposed on a surface of the core strand.

An apparatus for heat deposition in additive manufacturing may include: a first optical beam source configured to generate a first optical beam; a second optical beam source configured to generate a second optical beam; and/or an optical system. The optical system may be configured to move the generated first optical beam over a target area. The optical system may be further configured to move the generated second optical beam over the target area so that a path of the second optical beam moving over the target area is dithered about a path of the first optical beam moving over the target area. The optical system may be configured to focus the generated first optical beam at a plane of a target area. The optical system may be further configured to focus the generated second optical beam at the plane of the target area.

Disclosed are an optical beam delivery device, systems, and methods for sequentially adjusting, with respect to members of a set of confinement regions, a propagation path for establishing a controllable, temporally apparent intensity distribution. The disclosed techniques entail applying to a variable beam characteristics (VBC) fiber different states perturbation to change the propagation path and the members of the set of confinement regions through which a confined portion of an adjusted optical beam propagates, thereby establishing at an output end of the VBC fiber the controllable, temporally apparent intensity distribution.

Methods, apparatus, and systems comprising a fiber-coupled laser and time-varying beam characteristics. A laser may generate an optical beam that is launched into one or more lengths of fiber, at least one of which comprises a confinement region that is optically coupled to an output. A perturbation device may modulate, through action upon the one or more lengths of fiber, a beam characteristic over a time period during which the laser is energized. A controller may cause the perturbation device to act upon the one or more lengths of fiber to impart a time-averaged beam characteristic and/or to induce a continuous variation in one or more beam characteristics during system use. A process monitor may sense a metric external to the optical system, and a feedback signal from the process monitor may be coupled into the controller. Dynamic beam characteristics may be modulated based on the feedback signal.

An optical assembly that is designed for positioning in a beam path of a light microscope having means for providing structured illuminating light in a sample plane of the light microscope, so that structured illuminating light can be generated in different orientations. The optical assembly has an adjustable deflector in order to deflect an incident light bundle onto one of several beam paths in a selectable manner. Beam splitting devices are located in the beam paths in order to split the light bundle of the respective beam paths into partial light bundles, which are spatially separated from each other. Beam guides are provided for each of the partial light bundles, and guide the partial light bundles to a pupil plane. The beam guides are arranged in such a way that the partial light bundles that belong to the same beam path form a light spot pattern in the pupil plane; and that the light spot patterns of different beam paths in the pupil plane are different from each other.