US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

David A Ligon

Leonid Alexseevich Beresnev

Kristan Peter Gurton

Chatt C Williamson

Anthony R Valenzuela

Mark Dubinskiy

Angel S Flores

A method and apparatus for controlling propagation of a light beam using a beveled endcap of an optical fiber, where the endcap has a first end coupled to the optical fiber and a second end having a bevel that circumscribes a facet. The bevel has an angle relative to the plane of the facet that directs a peripheral portion of the light beam towards a lens and the facet directs a central portion of the light beam towards the lens. As such, the light beam is collimated with substantially all of the power of the light beam propagating through the lens and all the power delivered with fiber core to the output endcap is propagating through the lens despite the divergence of the delivered beam and a restricted aperture of the lens.

Fiber optic collimator with a beveled fiber endcap

A method, apparatus and system for coherent beam combining (CBC) in high energy fiber laser (HEL) systems include generating a reference interference pattern of a signal source including at least two single-mode optical signals, capturing and evaluating the reference interference pattern, maximizing an intensity of the selected area of the captured, reference interference pattern, increasing a linewidth of the optical signals generating the reference interference pattern until the reference interference pattern is degraded, and adjusting a delay time of one of the at least two single-mode optical signals until the reference interference pattern is recovered, by adjusting a value of a delay of a delayed RF signal with a broaden linewidth to a respective EO linewidth broadening modulator in at least one channel of the at least two single-mode optical signals while evaluating the interference pattern on a display device.

Systems, apparatuses and methods for coherent beam combining of fiber laser beams with broadened linewidth

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Columbia, MD, United States of America

David A Ligon