A beam combiner is an optical component used to combine two or more light beams into a single beam. It is widely used in many optical and photonic systems. Common applications include:
Laser Systems Beam combiners are used to combine multiple laser beams to increase output power or to merge beams of different wavelengths.
Optical Interferometry In interferometers (e.g., Michelson or Mach–Zehnder interferometers), beam combiners are essential for recombining split beams to produce interference patterns.
Fiber Optic Communication Beam combiners are used in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems to combine multiple optical signals into a single fiber.
Imaging and Display Systems In projectors, head-up displays (HUDs), and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) systems, beam combiners overlay images onto the real-world view.
Spectroscopy They are used to combine reference and sample beams for spectral analysis.
Medical and Biomedical Optics Beam combiners are applied in optical coherence tomography (OCT), microscopy, and laser-based medical devices.
Astronomy Optical beam combiners are used in astronomical interferometers to combine light from multiple telescopes, improving angular resolution.
Metrology and Precision Measurement They are used in laser measurement systems for displacement, vibration, and surface profiling.
