Spectral beam combination of laser beams
First Claim
1. A system for combining a plurality of laser beamlets to form a single collimated output beam using spectral beam combination, the system comprising:
- a plurality of laser sources emitting a plurality of beamlets, wherein each one of the plurality of beamlets has a different wavelength;
a plurality of lenses arranged to collimate each one of the plurality of beamlets;
a spatial chirper configured to apply a spatial chirp to each one of the collimated plurality of beamlets such that spectral components of the plurality of beamlets are transversely dispersed; and
a dispersive beam combiner configured to remove the spatial chirp imposed by the spatial chirper and to combine the plurality of beamlets into a single collimated output beam.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus use a photonic-crystal fiber having a very large core while maintaining a single transverse mode. In some fiber lasers and amplifiers having large cores problems exist related to energy being generated at multiple-modes (i.e., polygamy), and of mode hopping (i.e., promiscuity) due to limited control of energy levels and fluctuations. The problems of multiple-modes and mode hopping result from the use of large-diameter waveguides, and are addressed by the invention. This is especially true in lasers using large amounts of energy (i.e., lasers in the one-megawatt or more range). By using multiple small waveguides in parallel, large amounts of energy can be passed through a laser, but with better control such that the aforementioned problems can be reduced. An additional advantage is that the polarization of the light can be maintained better than by using a single fiber core.
194 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for combining a plurality of laser beamlets to form a single collimated output beam using spectral beam combination, the system comprising:
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a plurality of laser sources emitting a plurality of beamlets, wherein each one of the plurality of beamlets has a different wavelength; a plurality of lenses arranged to collimate each one of the plurality of beamlets; a spatial chirper configured to apply a spatial chirp to each one of the collimated plurality of beamlets such that spectral components of the plurality of beamlets are transversely dispersed; and a dispersive beam combiner configured to remove the spatial chirp imposed by the spatial chirper and to combine the plurality of beamlets into a single collimated output beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for combining a plurality of laser beamlets to form a single collimated output beam using spectral beam combination, comprising:
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emitting a plurality of laser beamlets from a plurality of laser sources, wherein each one of the plurality of beamlets has a different wavelength; dispersively spatially chirping to each one of the plurality of beamlets to produce a transverse distribution of spectral beam components; and dispersively combining the plurality of spatially-chirped beamlets into a single collimated output beam to remove the spatial chirp imposed by the spatially chirping operation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for combining a plurality of laser beamlets to form a single collimated output beam using spectral beam combination, the system comprising:
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a plurality of laser sources emitting a plurality of beamlets, wherein each one of the plurality of beamlets has a different wavelength; a plurality of lenses arranged to collimate each one of the plurality of beamlets; a spatial chirper configured to apply a spatial chirp to each one of the collimated plurality of beamlets such that spectral components of the plurality of beamlets are transversely dispersed, wherein the spatial chirper includes a grating pair configured to apply a spatial chirp to each one of the plurality of collimated beamlets. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification