WAVELENGTH BEAM COMBINING BASED LASER PUMPS

• US 20110305256A1
• Filed: 03/04/2011
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: TeraDiode, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TeraDiode, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Chann, Bien, Huang, Robin
• Application Number:
  US13/041,070
• Publication Number:
  US 20110305256A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 372/75
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0014 at least one surface having optical power
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0057 in the form of a laser diode array, e.g. laser diode bar semiconductor laser arrays with beam combining arrangement H01S5/4012
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0095 for use with ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0905 Dividing and/or superposing multiple light beams
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70033 by plasma extreme ultraviolet [EUV] sources
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/7085 Detection arrangement, e.g. detectors of apparatus alignment possibly mounted on wafers, exposure dose, photo-cleaning flux, stray light, thermal load
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 2301/03 Suppression of nonlinear conversion, e.g. specific design to suppress for example stimulated brillouin scattering [SBS], mainly in optical fibres in combination with multimode pumping
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/06733 Fibre having more than one cladding
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/0675 Resonators including a grating structure, e.g. distributed Bragg reflectors [DBR] or distributed feedback [DFB] fibre lasers
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/094053 Fibre coupled pump, e.g. delivering pump light using a fibre or a fibre bundle
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/094057 by tapered duct or homogenized light pipe, e.g. for concentrating pump light
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/09408 Pump redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/094096 Multi-wavelength pumping
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/09415 the pumping beam being parallel to the lasing mode of the pumped medium, e.g. end-pumping
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/1618 ytterbium
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/175 phosphate glass
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 3/176 silica or silicate glass
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/0057 for temporal shaping, e.g. pulse compression, frequency chirping
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4012 Beam combining, e.g. by the use of fibres, gratings, polarisers, prisms
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/405 Two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4062 : with an external cavity or using internal filters, e.g. Talbot filters
• CPC Class Codes: H01S 5/4087 : emitting more than one wavelength

Abstract

A method of direct diode pumping a fiber laser includes disposing a plurality of diode lasers in a wavelength beam combining cavity for generating a wavelength beam combining laser output, and optically coupling the wavelength beam combining laser output to the gain medium of a fiber laser. The wavelength beam combining cavity may comprise a fast axis wavelength beam combining cavity. Also, the plurality of diode lasers may comprise a multidimensional array of diode lasers arranged as diode laser bars disposed in a stack and spatially interleaved or optically aligned to form an optical stack. Each of the diode lasers may produce a distinct wavelength laser beam.

Claims

1. A method of direct diode pumping a fiber laser, comprising:

disposing a plurality of diode lasers in a wavelength beam combining cavity for generating a wavelength beam combining laser output; and

optically coupling the wavelength beam combining laser output to the gain medium of a fiber laser.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wavelength beam combining cavity comprises a fast axis wavelength beam combining cavity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of diode lasers comprises a multidimensional array of diode lasers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the multidimensional array comprises a plurality of diode laser bars disposed in a stack.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the diode bars in the stack are spatially interleaved.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the diode laser bars are optically aligned to form an optical stack.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of diode lasers includes a plurality of distinct wavelength lasers.

8. The method of claim 1, further including a laser driver for controlling the plurality of diode lasers.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the laser driver is capable of direct modulation control of the laser source.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein each of a portion of the plurality of lasers receives a direct modulation signal at a distinct time.

11-22. -22. (canceled)

23. A wavelength beam combining direct laser pump, comprising a wavelength beam combining-based direct diode laser adapted to deliver wavelength beam combined optical energy to a gain medium of a fiber laser.

24. The laser pump of claim 23 adapted to facilitate pumping the fiber laser to produce increased output energy.

58. The method of claim 23, wherein the wavelength beam combining-based direct diode laser comprises a fast axis wavelength beam combining cavity.

59. The method of claim 23, wherein the wavelength beam combining-based direct diode laser comprises a multidimensional array of diode lasers.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the multidimensional array of diode lasers comprises diode laser bars that are optically aligned to form an optical stack.

25-52. -52. (canceled)

53. A method of pumping a fiber laser, comprising:

disposing a wavelength beam combining-based laser proximal to at least a first end of a fiber laser; and

delivering optical energy from the wavelength beam combining-based laser to a gain medium of the fiber laser to facilitate outputting increased power and energy from the fiber laser.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein the wavelength beam combining-based laser comprises a fast axis wavelength beam combining cavity.

56. The method of claim 53, wherein the wavelength beam combining-based laser comprises a multidimensional array of diode lasers.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the multidimensional array of diode lasers comprises diode laser bars that are optically aligned to form an optical stack.

54. (canceled)