Patent ID: 7003003

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a laser providing an output beam; an acousto-optic cell arranged to receive said output beam; a plurality of RF oscillators, the output of each of which is amplified by a corresponding plurality of variable gain amplifiers, the output of said amplifiers being arranged to drive said acousto-optic cell simultaneously at a corresponding plurality of different RF frequencies thereby causing a portion of said laser output beam to be diffracted by said acousto-optic cell into a corresponding plurality of separate secondary beams propagating at an angle to each other, with the power in each of said secondary beams being monitored via a corresponding plurality of detectors, and the power in each of said secondary beams depending on the magnitude of said RF driving frequencies and the power in said laser output beam; and electronic circuitry arranged to vary the power in said laser beam cooperatively with varying the gain of said amplifiers and correspondingly varying the magnitude of said driving frequencies and monitoring of power in said secondary beams for maintaining a predetermined power in each of said secondary beams.