Method and system for diffractive beam combining using DOE combiner with passive phase control
US7339727B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 5, 2006 |
| Grant date | Mar 4, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 5, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/10053
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system and method for combining plural low power light beams into a coherent high power light beam. Optical amplifiers transmit a plurality of light beams propagating at a common wavelength through an array of optical fiber emitters. Each constituent beam is emitted from the array at a different propagation angle, collimated, and incident on a diffractive optical element operating as a beam combiner such that incident beams when properly phased and located are combined into a coherent beam at a desired diffraction order. A beam splitter or a periodic sampling grating on the diffractive optical element directs a low power sample beam to a spatial filter passing resonant mode output back to the optical amplifiers in a ring laser configuration thereby passively synchronizing phases of the constituent beams to maximize combination efficiency of the coherent beam.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.