Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method for generating electromagnetic radiation, comprising the steps of:providing a series of adjacent electrode pairs arranged on a common dielectric substrate, the electrodes of each electrode pair substantially aligned on opposite sides of the common dielectric substrate;energizing a first electrode pair in the series of electrode pairs at an energizing time to produce a volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate;energizing a next adjacent 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, the center of the next adjacent electrode pair located a distance from the center of the previous adjacent electrode pair, wherein the next energizing time is a time interval after the previous energizing time, the time interval less than the time for light to travel the distance between the centers of the previous and the next adjacent electrode pairs; andrepeating the step of energizing the 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. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:repeating the step of energizing the first electrode pair at a new energizing time; andrepeating the step of energizing the next adjacent electrode pair for subsequent electrode pairs in the series of adjacent electrode pairs. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the series of adjacent electrode pairs form a continuous ring of adjacent electrode pairs, the last electrode pair adjacent to the first electrode pair, the last electrode pair located a distance from the first electrode pair. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the new energizing time is a time interval after the energizing time of the last electrode pair of the series, the time interval less than the time for light to travel the distance between the centers of the last electrode pair and the first electrode pair. 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the series of adjacent electrode pairs form a substantially linear arrangement of adjacent electrode pairs. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the distance between the centers of adjacent electrode pairs is constant or increasing. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the time interval between energizing times is constant. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the time interval between energizing times is decreasing. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrode pairs are energized for a period of time greater than the time interval. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrode pairs are energized at a modulated voltage level. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume polarization distribution pattern is a volume distribution pattern of polarization current. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the volume polarization distribution pattern is a volume distribution pattern of polarization charge. 13. A method for generating electromagnetic radiation, comprising the steps of:providing a series of electrode pairs arranged on a common dielectric substrate, the electrodes of each electrode pair substantially aligned on opposite sides of the dielectric substrate;energizing a first electrode pair in the series of electrode pairs at an energizing time to produce a volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate; andenergizing a next electrode pair in the series of electrode pairs at a next energizing time to produce a variation of the volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate, the center of the next electrode pair located a distance from the center of the previous electrode pair, wherein the next energizing time is a time interval after the previous energizing time, the time interval less than the time for light to travel the distance between the centers of the previous and the next electrode pairs. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising repeating the step of energizing the next electrode pair for subsequent electrode pairs in the series of electrode pairs to produce a continuous time-varying volume polarization distribution pattern within the common dielectric substrate. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the series of electrode pairs is a series of adjacent electrode pairs. 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the series of electrode pairs form a ring of electrode pairs. 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the series of electrode pairs form a rectilinear configuration of electrode pairs. 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the distance between the centers of adjacent electrode pairs is constant. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the time interval between energizing times is constant or increasing. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the time interval between energizing times is decreasing. 21. The method of claim 13, wherein the electrode pairs are energized for a period of time greater than the time interval. 22. The method of claim 13, wherein the electrode pairs are energized at a modulated voltage level. 23. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of:repeating the step of energizing the first electrode pair at a new energizing time; andrepeating the step of energizing the next electrode pair for subsequent electrode pairs in the series of electrode pairs. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the series of electrode pairs form a ring of electrode pairs, the last electrode pair located a distance from the first electrode pair. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the ring of electrode pairs is continuous. 26. The method of claim 24, wherein the new energizing time is a time interval after the energizing time of the last electrode pair of the series, the time interval less than the time for light to travel the distance between the centers of the last electrode pair and the first electrode pair. 27. The method of claim 13, wherein the volume polarization distribution pattern is a volume distribution pattern of polarization current. 28. The method of claim 13, wherein the volume polarization distribution pattern is a volume distribution pattern of polarization charge.