ABSTRACT
In a variety of applications, including longitudinal solid-state laser pumping, fiber coupling for fiber lasers, and line printers, laser diode arrays have proven to be very effective light sources when combined with the appropriate beam shaping optics. More commonly, printing systems have been designed wherein a laser diode array is used as a continuous wave-driven light source with the light incident on a spatial light modulator array, either as individual beams or as flood illumination. In recent decades, laser thermal print-heads with a large number of channels have been developed for various applications, including computer-to-plate (CTP) plate setters for the graphic arts market. Generally, the cross-array laser beam shaping optics comprises an arrangement of cylindrical lenses, except that the problem of laser array smile is an added complication. In particular, the fly's eye integrator, which is a portion of the array direction optical system of optics and micro-optics, contributes to flood illuminating a spatial light modulator array with uniform light.
