Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An apparatus for generating electromagnetic radiation, comprising:a series of adjacent electrode pairs arranged on a common dielectric substrate, where electrodes of each electrode pair in the series of adjacent electrode pairs are substantially aligned on opposite sides of the common dielectric substrate; andelectrode drive circuitry configured to:energize a first electrode pair in the series of adjacent electrode pairs at an energizing time to produce a volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate;energize a next electrode pair in the series of adjacent electrode pairs at a next energizing time to produce a variation of the volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate, a center of the next electrode pair located a distance from a center of the first electrode pair, wherein the next energizing time is a time interval after the energizing time of the first electrode pair, the time interval less than a time for light to travel the distance between the centers of the first and the next electrode pairs. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electrode drive circuitry is further configured to repetitively energize a next adjacent electrode pair for subsequent electrode pairs in the series of adjacent electrode pairs to produce a continuous time-varying volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the series of adjacent electrode pairs form a ring of electrode pairs. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the series of adjacent electrode pairs form a rectilinear configuration of electrode pairs. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a distance between centers of adjacent electrode pairs in the series of adjacent electrode pairs is constant. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time interval between energizing times of the adjacent electrode pairs is constant or increasing. 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the time interval between energizing times of the adjacent electrode pairs is decreasing. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein electrode pairs of the series of adjacent electrode pairs are energized for a period of time greater than the time interval. 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein electrode pairs of the series of adjacent electrode pairs are energized at a modulated voltage level. 10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the electrode drive circuitry is further configured to:energize the first electrode pair at a new energizing time; andrepetitively energize the next electrode pair for subsequent electrode pairs in the series of adjacent electrode pairs. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the series of adjacnet electrode pairs form a ring of electrode pairs, a center of a last electrode pair of the series of adjacent electrode pais located a distance from the center of the first electrode pair. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the ring of electrode pairs is continuous. 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the new energizing time is a time interval after the energizing time of the last electrode pair of the series of adjacent electrode pairs, the time interval less than a time for light to travel the distance between the centers of the last electrode pair and the first electrode pair. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the volume polarization distribution pattern is a volume distribution pattern of polarization current. 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the volume polarization distribution pattern is a volume distribution pattern of polarization charge.