A method and apparatus for reducing speckle uses polarization averaging. A polarizing
beam splitter divides a first polarized
laser output into a second polarized
laser output and a third polarized
laser output. A plurality of mirrors creates an
optical path difference between the second and third polarized laser outputs. The
optical path difference is at least about a
coherence length for the first polarized laser output. The second and third polarized laser outputs are combined into a fourth laser output, which illuminates a depolarizing screen. If a
human eye or an optical
system having a intensity
detector views the depolarizing screen, the eye or the intensity
detector will detect reduced speckle, which results from uncorrelated speckle patterns created by the second polarized laser output and the third polarized laser output. A first alternative embodiment of the invention functions without the
optical path difference being at least about the
coherence length. In the first alternative embodiment, a piezoelectric
transducer varies an
optical path length by at least about a half
wavelength of the first polarized laser output. By varying the
optical path length by a sufficient frequency, the eye or the intensity
detector will detect the reduced speckle. A second alternative embodiment combines two orthogonally polarized laser outputs, from two lasers, into a combined laser output. The combined laser output illuminates the depolarizing screen. A third alternative embodiment rotates the first laser output with a rotation frequency to form a rotating polarized laser output, which illuminates the depolarizing screen.