APPARATUS FOR REDUCING SPACING OF BEAMS DELIVERED BY STACKED DIODE-LASER BARS

摘要

Apparatus for reducing spacing between a plurality of parallel, spaced apart planepolarized laser-radiation beams delivered by a stack of laser-diode bars includes a ninety degree polarization rotator, and a compound prism including a total reflecting surface and an internal polarization-selective surface parallel to each other. The polarization-selective surface is highly transmissive for radiation plane-polarized in one polarization orientation and highly reflective for radiation plane-polarized at ninety degrees to that orientation. The polarization rotator rotates the polarization of a portion of the beams. The beams are transmitted through the compound prism with the portion of polarization-rotated beams following a different path through the prism from that of the beams that are not polarization rotated. The beams exit the prism with spacing therebetween one-half of the spacing between beams entering the prism.