Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

Teraxion Inc.

Joshua E Rothenberg

Gregory Douglas Goodno

Robert R Rice

Michael G Wickham

Peter Anthony Thielen

Jason Zweiback

Jan Popelek

Hiroshi Komine

James G Ho

William H Long

Dustin Guenther

Eric Chiu Tat Cheung

Ye Huang

Michael L Dupuis

Paul Thomas Epp

Eric C T Cheung

Yunlong Sheng

Hongpu Li

Christopher J Lieto

Stephen John Brosnan

Eric C Cheung

Sami Ali Shakir

Daniel W Lam

Russell Wilcox

Stuart McNaught

Marty Wacks

Daniel K Smith

Philip H Maki

Michael E Farey

Roger F Caldwell

Gregory E Foo

Henry H Shields

Yao Li

Ying Wang

HongPu Li

Peter Thielen

Peter A Thielen

A system and method for fabricating an optical element. The method includes welding an array of fibers to the optical element, measuring an angle error and a position error of each fiber, calculating a correction for each fiber for the angle error and the position error and correcting the angle and position of each fiber using the calculated corrections.

System and method for fabricating an optical element

A method for providing spectral beam combining (SBC) including generating a plurality seed beams each having a central wavelength and a low fill factor profile, where the wavelength of all of the seed beams is different; amplifying the seed beams; causing the amplified beams to expand as they propagate so as to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile where the high fill factor profile tapers to a lower value at a perimeter of each beam; causing a wavefront of the converted beams to flatten to provide a plurality of adjacent SBC beams having different wavelengths with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams; collimating the SBC beams; and directing the collimated SBC beams onto an SBC element that spatially diffracts the individual beam wavelengths and directing the beams in the same direction as a combined output beam.

Spectrally combined fiber laser amplifier system and method

A coherently beam combining (CBC) fiber laser amplifier system including beam shaper array assembly and a beam source that provides a plurality of beams having a low fill factor profile. The assembly includes an input beam shaper array having a plurality of input cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beam to expand as it propagates away from the input array to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile and cause the profile to taper to a lower value at a perimeter of each input array cell. The assembly further includes an output beam shaper array having a plurality of output cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beam to stop expanding so that the output array provides a plurality of adjacent beams with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams.

Coherent beam combining (CBC) fiber laser amplifier system

A hybrid coherent beam combining (CBC) and spectral beam combining (SBC) fiber laser amplifier system including a beam shaper array assembly and a beam source that provides a plurality of beams having a low fill factor profile. The assembly includes an input beam shaper array having a plurality of rectilinear input cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beam to expand as it propagates away from the input array to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile. The assembly further includes an output beam shaper array having a plurality of output cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beam to stop expanding so that the output array provides a plurality of adjacent beams with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams.

Hybrid coherent beam combining (CBC) and spectral beam combining (SBC) fiber laser amplifier system

A spectral beam combining (SBC) fiber laser amplifier system including a beam shaper array assembly and a beam source that provides a plurality of beams having a low fill factor profile. The assembly includes an input beam shaper array having a plurality of input cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beams to expand as they propagates away from the input array to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile and be tapered to a lower value at a perimeter of each input array cell. The assembly further includes an output beam shaper array having a plurality of output cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beams to stop expanding so that the output array provides a plurality of adjacent beams with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams.

Spectrally combined fiber laser amplifier system including optically monolithic beam shaper array with compact tiles

Coherently combined fiber laser amplifier system including optically monolithic phased array with compact tiles

Hybrid spectrally and coherently combined fiber laser amplifier system including coherent optically monolithic phased array with compact tiles

A method for fabricating a beam shaper array assembly, where the beam shaper array assembly changes the shape of a plurality of beams. The method includes providing an optical endcap having a plurality of connector stems, welding a fiber to each of the stems to form an emitter array and positioning a beam shaper array adjacent to the endcap opposite to the stems. The method also includes measuring an angle error and a position error of each fiber, calculating a correction for each fiber for the angle error and the position error and correcting the angle and position of each fiber using the calculated corrections.

Method for high fill-factor optical arrays manufacturing

A beam shaper array assembly including a beam source that provides a plurality of beams having a low fill factor profile. The assembly also includes an input beam shaper array having cells positioned adjacent to each other, where each cell includes an input beam shaper that receives one of the plurality beams and is shaped to cause the beam to expand as it propagates away from the input array to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile. The assembly further includes an output beam shaper array having cells positioned adjacent to each other, where each cell includes an output beam shaper that receives one of the converted beams and is shaped to cause the beam to stop expanding so that the output array provides a plurality of adjacent beams with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams.

Optically monolithic beam shaper array with compact tiles

A beam directing telescope for use in a directed energy weapons system that employs active telescope component alignment and that includes a primary mirror and a secondary mirror. The secondary mirror includes a first surface having a dichroic coating that reflects and directs a high energy laser beam to the primary mirror, reflects a portion of the reference beams and passes a portion of the reference beams that are focused by a second surface of the secondary mirror. A position sensing detector (PSD) is positioned relative to the secondary mirror such that the reference beams are focused as a spot on the PSD, where the PSD senses a position of the reference beams. An actuator changes the orientation of the secondary mirror to an alignment position if the position of the focused spots on the PSD is not the position for a desired alignment of the mirrors.

System for active telescope alignment, focus and beam control

A fiber amplifier system including an optical component responsive to a seed beam and causing amplitude modulation that creates a non-uniform spectral transmission having peaks and nulls, and an actuator operable to shift the spectral transmission. The system further includes a fiber amplifier responsive to the seed beam and generating an amplified output beam and a beam sampler responsive to the output beam that provides a sample beam. A detector detects power fluctuations in the sample beam caused by the amplitude modulation, and generates a control metric identifying a magnitude of the fluctuations. A controller uses the control metric to control the actuator to cause it to make adjustments to the seed beam or to the optical component to cause the spectral transmission caused by the optical component to shift so that the peaks or nulls of the spectral transmission align with a center frequency of the seed beam.

Low noise FM fiber laser amplifier

A fiber amplifier system including a plurality of optical components in an amplification chain that are responsive to a seed beam and that cause frequency modulation (FM) to amplitude modulation (AM) conversion to the seed beam that creates a non-uniform spectral transmission having a transmission function, where one of the optical components is a fiber amplifier generating an amplified output beam. A programmable spectral filter is controlled to pre-distort the seed beam by applying an inverse of the transmission function that creates a net uniform transmission function by equalizing a net spectral transmission profile of the seed beam at an end of the amplification chain to reduce the amplitude modulation.

Spectrally compensated fiber amplifier system

An integrated optical device that combines a diffractive optical element (DOE) to provide beam combining for coherent beams and a spectral beam combination (SBC) grating to provide beam combining for incoherent beams. The device includes a planar substrate and a reflective coating deposited on the substrate. A top dielectric layer is deposited on the reflective coating and a photoresist layer is deposited on the top dielectric layer. A periodic structure is formed into the top dielectric layer in a first direction that defines the DOE and a periodic grating having grooves is formed into the top dielectric layer in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction that defines the SBC grating where the periodic structure includes periodic modulations along the length of the grooves that are orthogonal to a channel-to-channel periodicity of the periodic grating.

Fabrication method of a diffractive optic for hybrid coherent and spectral beam combination

A beam quality measurement system for determining beam quality of a high power laser beam from a laser system by power-in-the-bucket (PIB) measurements in a laboratory environment. The system includes a beam compressor assembly for compressing the diameter of the laser beam, and a diagnostic bench assembly that receives the reduced diameter low power beam from the beam compressor assembly. The bench assembly includes a pinhole array positioned at a focal plane of a lens and that includes a plurality of different sized pinholes and a translation stage for moving the pinhole array. The bench assembly also includes a power meter that receives the focused beam after it has passed through a pinhole in the pinhole array, where the power meter generates a signal that causes the stage to move the pinhole array to position another pinhole when the power meter identifies a maximum power received from one pinhole.

Automated power-in-the-bucket measurement apparatus for large aperture laser systems

One example includes an optical fiber device. The device includes an optical fiber core that extends axially along a length of the optical fiber device and an optical fiber cladding that surrounds the optical fiber core and extends axially along a length of the optical fiber device. The device also includes a polymer inner jacket that surrounds the optical fiber cladding and extends axially along a length of the optical fiber device. The device further includes a thermally-conductive outer jacket that surrounds the polymer inner jacket and extends axially along a length of the optical fiber device.

Optical fiber device

Growing community of inventors

Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

Joshua E Rothenberg