OSA's Digital Library

Optics Express

Optics Express

  • Editor: Michael Duncan
  • Vol. 12, Iss. 20 — Oct. 4, 2004
  • pp: 4929–4934

Optics InfoBase > Optics Express > Volume 12 > Issue 20 > Page 4929

Coherent addition of spatially incoherent light beams

Amiel Ishaaya, Liran Shimshi, Nir Davidson, and Asher Friesem  »View Author Affiliations


Optics Express, Vol. 12, Issue 20, pp. 4929-4934 (2004)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OPEX.12.004929


View Full Text Article

Enhanced HTML    Acrobat PDF (242 KB)


Advanced Search

Browse Journals / Lookup Meetings

Browse by Journal and Year


   


Lookup Conference Papers

Close Browse Journals / Lookup Meetings

Article Tools

Share
Citations

Abstract

We report on efficient coherent addition of spatially incoherent multimode laser beam distributions. Such addition is demonstrated within a multi-channel laser resonator configuration, obtaining more than 90% combining efficiency while preserving the good beam quality. We explain the rather surprising physical phenomenon of coherently adding spatially incoherent light by self-phase-locking of each of the modal components within the multimode beams. Our approach could lead to significantly higher output powers concomitantly with good beam qualities than were hitherto possible in laser systems.

© 2004 Optical Society of America

OCIS Codes
(030.1670) Coherence and statistical optics : Coherent optical effects
(140.3410) Lasers and laser optics : Laser resonators

ToC Category:
Research Papers

History
Original Manuscript: August 10, 2004
Revised Manuscript: September 23, 2004
Published: October 4, 2004

Citation
Amiel Ishaaya, Liran Shimshi, Nir Davidson, and Asher Friesem, "Coherent addition of spatially incoherent light beams," Opt. Express 12, 4929-4934 (2004)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-12-20-4929


Sort:  Journal  |  Reset  

References

  1. M. J. DiDomenico, �??A single-frequency TEM00-mode gas laser with high output power,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 8, 20�??22 (1966) [CrossRef]
  2. E. M. Philipp-Rutz, �??Spatially coherent radiation from an array of GaAs lasers,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 26, 475�??477 (1975). [CrossRef]
  3. J. R. Leger, G. J. Swanson and W. B. Veldkamp, �??Coherent laser addition using binary phase gratings,�?? Appl. Opt. 26, 4391�??4399 (1987). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  4. F. X. D�??Amato, E. T. Siebert and C. Roychoudhury, �??Coherent operation of an array of diode lasers using a spatial filter in a Talbot cavity,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 55, 816�??818 (1989). [CrossRef]
  5. J. Xu, S. Li, K. K. Lee and Y. C. Chen, �??Phase locking in a two-element laser array: a test of the coupled-oscillator model,�?? Opt. Lett. 18, 513-515 (1993) [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  6. L. Fabiny, P. Colet, R. Roy and D. Lenstra, �??Coherence and phase dynamics of spatially coupled solid-state lasers,�?? Phys. Rev. A 47, 4287�??4296 (1993) [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  7. Y. A. Rubinov, �??Interferometer for optical coupling and mode selection in a multichannel laser array,�?? Appl Opt. 34, 4235-4239 (1987) [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  8. S. Menard, M. Vampouille, B. Colombeau and C. Froehly, �??Highly efficient phase locking and extracavity coherent combination of two diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser beams,�?? Opt. Lett. 21, 1996�??1998 (1996) [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  9. S. Menard, M. Vampouille, A. Desfarges-Berthelemot, V. Kermene, B. Colombeau and C. Froehly, �??Highly efficient phase locking of four diode pumped Nd:YAG laser beams,�?? Opt. Commun. 160, 344�??353 (1999) [CrossRef]
  10. T. S. Rutherford and R. L. Byer, �??Six beam phase-locked slab laser resonator,�?? CLEO/Europe-EQEC, the 15th international conference on lasers and electrooptics, Munich Germany (2001)
  11. D. Sabourdy, V. Kermene, A. Desfarges-Berthelemot, M. Vampouille and A. Barthelemy, �??Coherent combining of two Nd:YAG lasers in a Vernier-Michelson-type cavity,�?? Appl. Phys. B 75, 503�??507 (2002) [CrossRef]
  12. A. A. Ishaaya, N. Davidson, L. Shimshi and A. A. Friesem, �??Intra-cavity coherent addition of Gaussian beam distributions using a planar interferometric coupler,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 2187�??2189 (2004) [CrossRef]
  13. V. A. Kozlov, J. Hernandez-Cordero and T. F. Morse, �??All-fiber coherent beam combining of fiber lasers,�?? Opt. Lett. 24, 1814�??1816 (1999) [CrossRef]
  14. D. Sabourdy, V. Kermene, A. Desfarges-Berthelemot, L. Lefort, A. Barthelemy, C. Mahodaux and D. Pureur, �??Power scaling of fiber lasers with all-fiber interferometric cavity,�?? Electronics Letters 38, 692�??693 (2002) [CrossRef]
  15. A. Shirakawa, T. Saitou, T. Sekiguchi and K. Ueda, �??Coherent addition of fiber lasers by use of a fiber coupler,�?? Opt. Express 10, 1167�??1172 (2002), <a href=" http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-10-21-1167">http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-10-21-1167</a> [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  16. D. Sabourdy et. al., �??Efficient coherent combining of widely tunable fiber lasers,�?? Opt. Express 11, 87�??97 (2003),<a href=" http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-11-2-87">http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-11-2-87</a> [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  17. A. E. Siegman, Lasers (University Science Books, Sausalito, California, 1986).
  18. A. A. Ishaaya, G. Machavariani, N. Davidson and A. A. Friesem, �??Conversion of a high-order mode beam into a nearly Gaussian beam by use of a single interferometric element,�?? Opt. Lett. 28, 504�??506 (2003) [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  19. A. E. Siegman, �??New developments in laser resonators,�?? Optical Resonators: Proc. SPIE 1224, 2�??14 (1990) [CrossRef]

Cited By

 Alert me when this paper is cited

OSA is able to provide readers links to articles that cite this paper by participating in CrossRef's Cited-By Linking service. CrossRef includes content from more than 3000 publishers and societies. In addition to listing OSA journal articles that cite this paper, citing articles from other participating publishers will also be listed.

Figures

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.
 
Fig. 4.
 

« Previous Article  |  Next Article »

OSA is a member of CrossRef.

CrossCheck Deposited