Beam combiner

In a system having a repeating sequence of time points each defining a time of occurrence of a radiation pulse in a sequence of radiation pulses each of a finite time duration, a dynamic optical system for providing an angular transformation of said sequence of radiation pulses between a first axis defining a common path of positionally superimposed radiation pulses and a plurality of spatially separate radiation paths each inclined to a central axis and distributed about said central axis, said system comprising:

• an optical element having at least one surface for providing radiation deflection;
• said surface being positioned to intersect said first axis and said central axis;
• means for cylically varying the angle at which said surface of said element intersects said first axis by a bounded angle which is a small fraction of a radian to maintain the transformation between said common path and the corresponding spatially separate path during the finite time duration;
• said central axis and said common path being inclined to and therefor separate from each other;
• means for defining said sequence of time points;
• said cylically varying means including means for synchronizing the cylical variation in the intersection angle of said surface to provide a predetermined angle of intersection for said surface for each of said time points in said sequence of said time points.

A system for combining beams of pulsed radiation comprising:

• a plurality of pulsed radiation sources for providing spatially separate beams of radiation pulses in a time sequence;
• the radiation pulses having a finite time duration;
• the beams of radiation being inclined with respect to and distributed around a central axis so as to lie in a conical surface whose axis is the central axis;
• each of said beams of radiation being inclined from said axis by a predetermined angle which is a small fraction of a radian;
• means for receiving the sequence of spatially separate beams of radiation pulses at substantially their point of intersection with said central axis to deflect the separate beams of radiation pulses onto a common path over said finite time duration;
• each of said beams of radiation being characterized by having an angle of divergence and a predetermined time duration;
• and
• said means for receiving including means for limiting the angular motion of said pulses directed along the common path over each pulse duration to be less than the angle of divergence thereof.

A system for combining beams of pulsed radiation comprising:

• a plurality of pulsed radiation sources for providing spatially separate beams of radiation pulses in a time sequence;
• the radiation pulses having a finite time duration;
• the beams of radiation being inclined with respect to and distributed around a central axis so as to lie in a conical surface whose axis is the central axis;
• each of said beams of radiation being inclined from said axis by a predetermined angle which is a small fraction of a radian;
• means for receiving the sequence of spatially separate beams of radiation pulses at substantially their point of intersection with said central axis to deflect the separate beams of radiation pulses onto a common path over said finite time duration;
• said means for receiving comprising a rotating reflecting surface causing an axis orthogonal to the reflecting surface to follow a conical surface angled about its axis by a small fraction of a radian;
• the apex of the conical distribution of beams lying generally in the plane of the reflective surface and contacting the reflective surface at a point remote from the axis of rotation of the reflective surface.