Patent ID: 8842369

Claim:
An apparatus for combining laser light from multiple laser sources, the apparatus comprising: a first laser array that includes a first plurality of laser sources, wherein each laser source in the first laser array is energizable to emit a beam of a first wavelength λ 1 and wherein emitted beams for the laser sources in the first laser array are in parallel and lie in a first plane P 1 ; a second laser array that includes a second plurality of laser sources, wherein each laser source in the second laser array is energizable to emit a beam of a second wavelength λ 2 and wherein emitted beams for the laser sources in the second laser array lie in a second plane P 2 and are in parallel with emitted beams for the laser sources in the first laser array, and a beam combiner that is formed on a transparent body, wherein the beam combiner has a rear surface and an incident light surface that is disposed in the path of the emitted beams from the first and second laser arrays and wherein the incident light surface is at an oblique angle with respect to the first plane P 1 and wherein a line of intersection of the incident light surface with the first plane P 1 is oblique to the emitted beams of the first wavelength λ 1 , and wherein the beam combiner has: (i) a first coating on the incident light surface that intersects the first plane P 1 , wherein the first coating is transmissive to the first wavelength λ 1 ; (ii) a rear reflective coating that is reflective to the first and second wavelengths λ 1 and λ 2 , formed on a portion of the rear surface; (iii) a second coating on the incident light surface that intersects the second plane P 2 and that is coplanar with the first coating, wherein the second coating is transmissive to the second wavelength λ 2 and reflective to the first wavelength λ 1 ; (iv) a third coating on the incident light surface that is reflective to the first and second wavelengths λ 1 and λ 2 .