High-power, phased-locked, laser arrays
First Claim
1. A system for producing mutually-coherent operation of a plurality of light emitters, each of the emitters outputting a respective power and brightness, the system comprising:
- an optical system that mixes respective beams received from each of the plurality of emitters; and
a beam-combining element that forms at least one composite beam containing a respective contribution from each of the emitters, whereinthe composite beam containing a respective contribution from each of the emitters is fed back in such a way that mutually coherent operation of the plurality of emitters is achieved such that the emitters lase with a phase difference that results in a coherent output beam from the system that effectively combines the powers from each of the emitters.
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Accused Products
Abstract
High-power, phased-locked, laser arrays as disclosed herein utilize a system of optical elements that may be external to the laser oscillator array. Such an external optical system may achieve mutually coherent operation of all the emitters in a laser array, and coherent combination of the output of all the lasers in the array into a single beam. Such an “external gain harness” system may include: an optical lens/mirror system that mixes the output of all the emitters in the array; a holographic optical element that combines the output of all the lasers in the array, and an output coupler that selects a single path for the combined output and also selects a common operating frequency for all the coupled gain regions.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A system for producing mutually-coherent operation of a plurality of light emitters, each of the emitters outputting a respective power and brightness, the system comprising:
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an optical system that mixes respective beams received from each of the plurality of emitters; and a beam-combining element that forms at least one composite beam containing a respective contribution from each of the emitters, wherein the composite beam containing a respective contribution from each of the emitters is fed back in such a way that mutually coherent operation of the plurality of emitters is achieved such that the emitters lase with a phase difference that results in a coherent output beam from the system that effectively combines the powers from each of the emitters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification