Distributed Flux Array

1 . An additive manufacturing system, comprising:

at least one laser source providing an illumination beam;

a print bed;

a light valve array having at least three optically addressable light valves (OALVs);

first optics configured to split the illumination beam into multiple unpatterned beams and to direct the multiple unpatterned beams onto the at least three OALVs respectively, wherein each OALV patterns a respective image upon a respective unpatterned beam to be a patterned beam; and

second optics configured to steer the patterned beams of the at least three OALVs at the print bed for printing an object.

2 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the images directed at the print bed are meshed or matched together at their edges to form a single image.

3 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the images directed at the print bed are overlapped together at their edges to form a single image.

4 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one laser source further comprises at least two laser sources of different wavelength.

5 . An additive manufacturing method, comprising:

providing an illumination beam from at least one laser source;

using first optics to split the illumination beam into multiple unpatterned beams and to direct the multiple unpatterned beams onto at least three optically addressable light valves (OALVs) respectively, wherein each OALV patterns a respective image upon a respective unpatterned beam to be a patterned beam; and

using second optics to steer the patterned beams from the at least three OALVs at a print bed for printing an object.

6 . The additive manufacturing method of claim 5 , wherein the images directed at the print bed are meshed or matched together at their edges to form a single image.

7 . The additive manufacturing method of claim 5 , wherein the images directed at the print bed are overlapped together at their edges to form a single image.

8 . The additive manufacturing method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one laser source further comprises at least two laser sources of different wavelength.

9 . An additive manufacturing system, comprising:

multiple laser sources providing an illumination beam;

a print bed;

a light valve array having multiple optically addressable light valves (OALVs); and

first optics configured to split the illumination beam into multiple unpatterned beams and to direct the multiple unpatterned beams onto the multiple OALVs, wherein each OALV patterns a respective two-dimensional image upon a respective unpatterned beam; and

second optics configured to steer the patterned beams from the at least three OALVs at the print bed for printing an object.

10 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 9 , wherein the first optics are configured to combine the multiple laser beams into the illumination beam.

11 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 9 , further comprising secondary optics configured to modify the two-dimensional images after interaction with the multiple optically addressable light valves.

12 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 9 , wherein at least some of the two-dimensional images from the light valve array are superimposed at the print bed.

13 . An additive manufacturing method, comprising:

using multiple laser sources to provide an illumination beam;

using first optics to split the illumination beam into multiple unpatterned beams and to direct the multiple unpatterned beams onto multiple optically addressable light valves (OALVs) respectively, wherein each OALV patterns a respective two-dimensional image upon a respective unpatterned beam; and

using second optics to steer the patterned beams from the multiple OALVs at a print bed for printing an object.

14 . The additive manufacturing method of claim 13 , wherein the first optics are configured to combine the multiple laser beams into the illumination beam.

15 . The additive manufacturing method of claim 13 , further comprising modifying the two-dimensional images by secondary optics after interaction with the multiple optically addressable light valves.

16 . The additive manufacturing method of claim 13 , wherein at least some of the two-dimensional images from the light valve array are superimposed at the print bed.