Patent ID: 7768708

Claim:
A light source comprising: a first set of first beam sources, wherein each of the first beam sources has a respective first-beam-source output beam; a second set of second beam sources, wherein each of the second beam sources has a respective second-beam-source output beam; and a spatial optical interleaver disposed to receive the first-beam-source output beams and the second-beam-source output beams, wherein said interleaver includes a set of first-beam openings through which the first-beam-source output beams pass unimpeded, and a plurality of prism elements equal in number to a number of the second beam sources and positioned to receive the second-beam-source output beams and reflect said second-beam-source output beams such that one or more of said second-beam-source beams lies between two of said first-beam-source beams and/or one or more of said first-beam-source beams lies between two of said second-beam-source beams, wherein each prism element comprises a first total internal reflection surface that reflects a respective one of the second-beam-source output beams, and a second total internal reflection surface that thereafter reflects the respective one of the second-beam-source output beams.