Method and apparatus for reducing laser speckle

Details Method and apparatus for reducing laser speckle Method and apparatus for reducing laser speckle

2008-05-27

2008-05-27

Wells, Nikita (Department: 2881)

Optical waveguides

Noncyclindrical or nonplanar shaped waveguide

C372S093000, C372S099000

Reexamination Certificate

active

11232310

ABSTRACT:
An apparatus and method for reducing speckle of a laser beam is disclosed. The apparatus includes a light guide, a highly reflective mirror at the input face of the light guide and a partially reflective mirror at the exit face of the light guide. A coherent laser beam is introduced into the light guide through a clear aperture in the highly reflective mirror. Within the light guide, the laser beam gets separated into plural, successive beamlets having different phase shifts, different polarization states and/or path length differences equal to or greater than the coherence length of the laser beam. The beamlets exit the light guide through the partially reflective mirror to provide output laser light with reduced speckle. The light guide can be either a solid light pipe of transmissive material or a hollow tunnel with reflective interior sidewalls.

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B. Dingle, “Speckle-Free Image in a Laser-Diode Microscope by Using the Optical Feedback Effect”, Optics Letters, vol. 18, No. 7, Apr. 1993, pp. 549-551, Optical Soc. of Amer.

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