Compound laser system for high power densities

Abstract

A compound laser system for generating beams of high brightness and high power density by constructive phase coherent combination of the beams generated by a number of individual sources of coherent radiation three subsystems: a diode laser subsystem which is the source of power for the system; a combiner subsystem which combines the output of the diode lasers; and, an optional delivery subsystem which may be needed to deliver the combined output to its desired destination for industrial or medical applications. The combiner subsystem may be implemented in its entirety as an Integrated Optical Combiner, a single component performing all the combiner subsystem's functions. A preferred embodiments of the combine subsystem employs optical fibers having shaped cores to provide efficient matching to the geometry of typical laser diodes. Each diode laser's output of a diode laser array is captured by a single optical fiber with a core whose cross-sectional shape is contoured so that major and minor axes of a laser diode's output shape are not larger than major and minor axes of a optical waveguide and whose numerical apertures are closely matched to the numerical apertures in the directions of corresponding axes. The waveguides are combined in a combiner subsystem into a single output source whose cross-sectional shape depends on the number and cross-sectional shape if the input ports. A delivery subsystem takes output from the combiner subsystem using a standard round or contoured optical fiber core, depending on the cross-section shape of the combiner subsystem's output.