Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

R & D Associates

Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Inc.

Burke E Nelson

Sami Ali Shakir

William Robert Culver

Michael Manuel Fitelson

Jerry W Hedrick

George M Bates

Robert R Rice

Sami T Hendow

Yuji S Starcher

Marion L Scott

A system for combining multiple fiber amplifiers, or multiple fiber amplifiers. The system includes a fiber combiner with multiple cores for connecting with the multiple fiber amplifiers and for combining the beams of the fiber amplifiers into a single beam. The fiber amplifiers are aligned, tapered, and stretched. A method for combining fiber amplifiers includes emitting a beam from a tapered fiber combiner and transmitting and coupling a portion of the emitted beam back into the fiber combiner via a feedback fiber. The transmission and coupling of the feedback fiber includes mixing the feedback fiber with the output of an auxiliary laser and boosting the feedback fiber by a pre-amplifier. The feedback fiber is split into a plurality of beams by a fiber splitter. The beams are fed into an array of fiber amplifiers and combined with output of the individual fiber amplifiers to form the tapered fiber combiner.

System and method for combining multiple fiber amplifiers or multiple fiber lasers

A system and a method for coupling multiple pump light beams to an active fiber. The system including an inverted conical disk, concave lens or glass wedge, an active fiber placed in a center of the inverted conical disk (or concave lens) or at a bottom facet of the glass wedge and a plurality of pump light sources. The system further includes a plurality of lenses for focusing pump light beams from pump light sources towards a side of the inverted conical disk, concave lens or glass wedge, wherein the inverted conical disk, concave lens or glass wedge, couples the pump light beams into the active fiber. A method for coupling multiple pump light beams to an active fiber. The method includes providing an inverted conical disk, concave lens or glass wedge. The method further includes providing an active fiber in approximately the center of the inverted conical disk (or concave lens) or at a bottom facet of the glass wedge. The method further includes pump light sources for emitting pump light beams and focusing lenses for focusing pump light beams toward the axis of the active fiber. Pump light beams are emitted towards the side of the inverted conical disk, concave lens, or glass wedge and coupled to the active fiber.

System and method for coupling multiple beams to an active fiber

An apparatus and method for high power amplification in a multimode fiber amplifier. The apparatus includes a diffraction limited low power laser, a multimode fiber amplifier, and a lens. The multimode fiber amplifier is coupled to the low power laser to amplify the low power laser output. The multimode fiber amplifier has a length that is set to a phase-matching length at which the transverse modes of the multimode fiber amplifier are in phase. The lens is coupled to the multimode fiber amplifier and outputs a kilowatt (KW)-level, diffraction-limited output beam from the multimode fiber amplifier.

Method and apparatus for high power amplification in multimode fibers

A method passively locks and phases an array of fiber amplifiers in a fiber amplifier system that emits a beam, such as a laser beam. The method locks the fiber amplifiers so that the fiber amplifiers operate at same or similar frequencies. The method samples a small portion of the emitted beam in a far-field around a central lobe on an optical axis and then couples this portion of emitted beam back into the array of fiber amplifiers. The fiber amplifiers may be phased so that the emitted beam concentrates its energy around the central lobe in the far-field. Phasing may be achieved by using an aperture, for example, to restrict the portion of the emitted beam to be coupled back to a restricted region around the optical axis.

Passive phasing of fiber amplifiers

A system is described for testing aspheric optic elements by the interference of light beam components that are respectively directed to the element to be tested and to a reference element, which facilitates the testing. A reference element is deformable in a controlled manner to more closely match the element to be tested, to produce straighter and more even fringes.

Growing community of inventors

Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

Burke E Nelson