Abstract: The invention is a teaching tool, intended to elucidate the principles of light and its associated technologies. For several of the embodiments, the optics and components are embedded into sliding or rotating structures, so that the student is able to “shift” or “dial” the component into a pre-determined location within the optical train in order to perform the intended optical demonstrations. The invention may contain diode lasers, light-emitting diodes, light bulbs, lenses, modulators, holograms, prisms, interferometers, polarizers, slits, apertures, detectors, and fiber optics. Because the optics are readily selectable within the optical train, a large variety of different demonstrations can be conveniently performed. Another type of architecture is to employ linkable modules, each containing one or more components, which can be linked together in a variety of permutations in order to perform many different demonstrations.

Abstract: The output radiation from the two-dimensional aperture of a semiconductor laser diode array is efficiently coupled into an optical fiber. The two-dimensional aperture is formed by stacking individual laser diode bars on top of another in a "rack and stack" configuration. Coupling into the fiber is then accomplished using individual microlenses to condition the output radiation of the laser diode bars. A lens that matches the divergence properties and wavefront characteristics of the laser light to the fiber optic is used to focus this conditioned radiation into the fiber.