Electromagnetic wave concentrator

Claim 1

An electromagnetic wave concentrator in the form of a substantially flat thin plate having an electromagnetic wave striking surface, a surface opposed to said striking surface, and a pair of terminal edge surfaces intersected by said striking and opposite surfaces, wherein said plate is formed of a succession, between said terminal edge surfaces, of electromagnetic wave coupling modules abutting one another, so as to form a flat plate-like structure, each of said modules consisting of a pair of prisms meeting on a common surface and made of transparent materials of refraction indexes n 1 and n 2 , said prism each having a base and an external surface joining said base to the common surface wherein the bases of the prisms of index n 1 are located in said wave striking surface and the bases of the prisms of index n 2 are located in said opposed surface; wherein said successive modules abut one another with the external surface of a prism of index n 1 abutting the external surface of a prism of index n 2 ; wherein n 2 ≧1 and n 1 >n 2 ; wherein each prism has the following further parameters wwith respect to an angle θ 1 of wave incidence upon said striking surface θ.sub.2 ≧≧.sub.2c θ.sub.2c =sin.sup.-1 (n.sub.2 /n.sub.1) θ.sub.11 ≧θ.sub.2c -θ.sub.a θ.sub.1 ≧sin.sup.-1 [n.sub.1 sin (θ.sub.2c -θ.sub.a)] and wherein θ 2 is the angle of wave incidence upon said common surface; θ 2c is a critical value of the angle θ 2 for total inner wave reflection; θ 11 is the angle of refraction of the waves incident upon said striking surface; and θ a is the base angle of the prism of index n 1 defined by said striking surface and said common surface, whereby waves incident upon the bases of said prisms of index n 1 are refracted in the said prisms of index n 1 , then totally reflected at the said common surface and thereafter refracted by said successive modules, being thus bent toward one of said terminal edge surfaces to concentrate thereon.