Claims
- 1. An optical system comprising:
- an object region having a light source which emits light in a plurality of optical beams which extend at different angles from said light source, each of said optical beams representing the emission of a different optical mode; and
- a first lens having means for collimating said optical beams so as to propagate parallel to an axis of said first lens, said means comprising a spherical aberration and being substantially responsible for said collimation.
- 2. The optical system recited in claim 1, further comprising a second lens for receiving said optical beams from said first lens and focussing said optical beams into a single spot of light.
- 3. The optical system recited in claim 2, wherein said first lens and said second lens are combined into a single lens.
- 4. The optical system recited in claim 2, wherein said first lens is integrated to said light source.
- 5. The optical system recited in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of said systems.
- 6. The optical system recited in claim 1 wherein said spherical aberration is equal to or greater than one half of an optical wavelength of the optical beam.
- 7. An optical system comprising;
- an axis;
- an object region having a light source which emits light in a plurality of optical beams which extend at different angles from said light source, each of said optical beams representing the emission of a different optical mode, a first order mode appearing to originate from a first point on said axis, at least another order mode appearing to originate from a second point on said axis, said second point being different from said first point; and
- a first lens having means for providing the appearance that said optical beams have originated from substantially the same point of said axis, said means comprising a spherical aberration and being substantially responsible for said collimation.
- 8. The optical system recited in claim 7 wherein said spherical aberration is equal to or greater than one half of an optical wavelength of the optical beam.
- 9. The optical system recited in claim 7, further comprising a second lens for receiving said optical beams from said first lens and focussing said optical beams into a single spot of light.
- 10. The optical system recited in claim 9 wherein said first lens and said second lens are combined into a single lens.
- 11. The optical system recited in claim 7 wherein said first lens is integrated to said light source.
- 12. The optical system recited in claim 7, further comprising a plurality of said systems.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 07/978,391, filed Nov. 18, 1992, which was issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,496 on Jun. 7, 1994.
Government Interests
This invention was made with Government support under Contract F49620-92-C-0053 awarded by the Air Force. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
978391 |
Nov 1992 |
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