The compressed input beam is then directed to a spherical tertiary mirror, which of course then results in traditional spherical aberration.

An output beam is generated at a frequency of the sum of the two input beams.

As a nonlinear optical process, the polarization which generates the output depends on the electric fields of the two input beams.

The other reflections are necessary to yield a beam with its polarization rotated and collinear with the input beam.

Specially designed diffractive optical elements can divide a single input beam into hundreds of continuously illuminated traps in arbitrary three-dimensional configurations.

Each output beam retains the same optical characteristics as the input beam, such as size, polarization and phase.

You said the input beams were produced by matter annihilation.

For an input beam of uniform polarization the output polarization will be periodic in .

Then he balanced these with input beams, to totally destroy the signal and idler, leaving the original laser beam looking as if nothing had ever happened.

A Martin-Puplett interferometer measures the difference between the powers of two input beams.