Coherent combining of a seven-element hexagonal fiber array

The coherent combination of the outputs from a seven-element hexagonal fiber array with a hexagonal prism is described. The fill factor of the coherent array achieves 0.6. A total of 0.40 of the energy is contained in the central lobe and the Strehl ratio is 0.91. A theoretical model of the hexagonal fiber array is established based on Fraunhofer diffraction theory. The far field distribution of the hexagonal fiber array is presented. The effects of fill factor and phase errors on far field distribution are analyzed and simulated.     

多阵元光纤相干列阵的理论与实验研究

基于Fraunhofer衍射理论,建立了六角形相干列阵远场分布的理论模型,采用Strehl比和能量集中度作为评价参数,分析了列阵排列方式、振幅、填充因子对远场分布的影响.并由爬山法相位控制技术和六棱台合束器,构建了七阵元光纤相干列阵实验系统.在066填充因子情况下,获得了Strehl比为070、能量集中度为040七阵元合成光束,以及获得了能量集中度分别为045和018的二阵元线阵和四阵元矩形阵合成光束. 关键词： 相干合成 填充因子 能量集中度 Strehl比     

基于偏振自适应和主动相位控制的相干合成的实验研究

进行了非保偏放大器与保偏放大器的相干合成的实验研究。通过随机并行梯度下降（SPGD）算法对非保偏放大器进行偏振自适应控制,使非保偏放大器输出激光的消光比达到11.5 dB,与保偏放大器在同一偏振方向上的光功率占总功率的93.4%。利用单抖动法进行非保偏放大器与保偏放大器的主动相位控制,实现相干合成。实验结果表明:SPGD算法能够有效实现偏振自适应控制,偏振自适应控制前后相干合成远场的条纹对比度从80.1%提高到87.2%,相干合成的效果提升明显;通过增加参与合成的放大器路数,并在各路激光中引入多级功率放大器,能够得到更高的合成功率输出。     

Coherent beam combination of 137 W fiber amplifier array using single frequency dithering technique

We demonstrate coherent beam combination of 137 W fiber amplifier array using single frequency dithering technique. Four polarization-maintained fiber amplifiers are tiled into 2×2 array and the output power of each amplifier is about 35 W. Single frequency dithering algorithm is run on a signal processor based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) for phase control on the fiber amplifiers. When the phase control system goes into closed-loop, the fringe contrast of far-field intensity pattern is improved by more than 87% from 0 in open-loop, and the residual phase error is less than λ/20.     

Coherent beam combining of 137 W 2 × 2 fiber amplifier array

We demonstrate coherent beam combining of two-dimensional fiber amplifier arrays with a total of 137 W output power using stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. Compact all-fiber polarization-maintained single frequency fiber amplifier chains are developed and four fiber amplifiers are arranged to 2 × 2 laser array with a fill factor of 70% in the near-field. Active phase control is implemented by a digital signal processor (DSP) based SPGD controller. The fringe visibility of the coherent combined beam profile is as high as 81% when the system is closed-loop controlled despite perturbations of the environment.     

Experimental study on the polarization extinction ratio degradation in high power hybrid fiber amplifier chains employing PM/non-PM Yb-doped fibers

Hybrid fiber amplifier chains employing polarization-maintaining (PM)/non-polarization-maintaining (non-PM) Yb-doped fibers (YDF) were proposed and the polarization extinction ratio (PER) degradation in the amplifier chains was studied experimentally. It was found that the PER increased if the PM YDF was pumped, while the PER decreased gradually if the non-PM YDF was pumped. In addition, it was shown that the hybrid high power fiber amplifier was also coherently combinable experimentally, and it was found that the contrast of pattern captured while using the PM/non-PM hybrid amplifier chains just decreased by 17% compared with only using PM amplifier, which confirmed the feasibility and potential application of the hybrid fiber amplifier chains in the coherent beam combination (CBC) of fiber lasers.     

基于空间滤波的光纤激光被动相位锁定技术研究

基于空间滤波的被动相位锁定,对掺Yb光纤激光阵列的相干组束进行了理论和实验研究.分析了基于空间滤波光反馈相位锁定的原理,研究了远场相干光斑Strehl比与激光波长及光谱带宽的关系.建立了二维四路掺Yb光纤放大器阵列的被动相位锁定实验系统,实现了稳定的相干耦合激光输出,远场光斑Strehl比为0.77.测得输出激光光谱中单个纵模的带宽约为9.1 GHz,与理论计算符合较好. 关键词： 光纤激光 相干合成 环形腔     

Coherent beam combination of an optical array using adaptive fiber optics collimators

A novel adaptive-fiber-optics-collimator (AFOC) compensating both piston-type and tip/tilt-type phase errors of output beam is introduced, and has been employed in experiments of coherent beam combination (CBC) of a delta distributed fiber array. Feedback control is realized using stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. Excellent CBC effect has been achieved when piston and tip/tilt errors among beamlets corrected. The necessity of wavefront tip/tilt control in CBC is verified. Experimental results exhibit great potential applications of this kind of AFOC in fiber amplifier arrays.     

Coherent beam combination of 1.08 kW fiber amplifier array using single frequency dithering technique

Coherent beam combination of a 1.08?kW fiber amplifier array has been demonstrated for the first time, to our knowledge. In the experiment, nine fiber amplifiers are tiled into a 3×3 array, and the output power of each amplifier is approximately 120?W. A single frequency dithering algorithm is used to compensate the phase noises between the elements, which runs on a signal processor based on field programmable gate array for phase control on the fiber amplifiers. When the phase control system goes into closed loop, the fringe contrast of the far-field intensity pattern is improved to more than 85%, and the residual phase error is less than λ/15.     

Phase-Locked Fibre Array for Coherent Combination and Atmosphere Aberration Compensation

We report a fibre amplifier array that not only achieves coherent beam combination by compensation of phase noises of fibre amplifier, but also accomplishes correction of atmosphere aberration. It is of master-oscillatormultiple-amplifier （MOPA） configuration, which can be phase-locked by the multidither principle or heterodyne detection principle. First laboratory experiments of atmosphere aberration compensation of a three-element fibre amplifier array are reported. The atmosphere aberration is created by a phase screen in the experiment. The phase changes of the beam, which are introduced by the fibre amplifier and the phase screen, are both detected by the heterodyne detection method. Phase modulators are controlled to compensate for the phase in the three paths. No matter whether there is a phase screen producing atmosphere aberration or not, the dim dynamic interference fringes in the far field turn to a clear and stable pattern, and the peak intensity is maximized. It is indicated that the fibre amplifier array is phase-locked, and coherent combination of the three beams is achieved. It can be used not only to obtain high power fibre laser array but also in laser space communication.     

基于能动分块反射镜的两路光纤放大器相位探测及其相干合成实验研究

在光纤激光相干合成中,需要探测各路光束之间的平移误差.提出了一种条纹提取算法,利用此算法能得到准确的相位平移扰动.基于此算法,针对两路光纤放大器测量了毫瓦量级的光纤放大器的相位噪声特性,然后采用高速数字处理电路以及能动分块反射镜完成了平移相位扰动的实时校正.实验结果表明,闭环前后条纹对比度从0.09提高到0.25,平移误相位噪声强度的幅值从1053.4 nm降低到116.7 nm,系统校正精度达到1/10λ,控制带宽约为50Hz. 关键词： 能动分块反射镜 条纹提取算法 相位扰动 光纤放大器     

Coherent and incoherent combining of fiber array with hexagonal ring distribution

Beam combining of fiber array with hexagonal ring distribution is studied in detail. The theoretical analysis and numerical calculation results are given to illustrate the propagation properties of the resulting beam through free space. A comparison between the coherent and the incoherent case shows that high peak irradiance and good beam quality for coherent combining can be obtained in the far field. The effect of phase errors and the beam quality M² factor are also studied. Results indicate that the element numbers should be increased to achieve high power and the space between adjacent elements should be reduced to maintain good beam quality, which is basically the same for both coherent and incoherent beam combining.     

Coherent beam combination of adaptive fiber laser array with tilt-tip and phase-locking control

We present an experimental study on tilt-tip(TT) and phase-locking(PL) control in a coherent beam combination(CBC) system of adaptive fiber laser array.The TT control is performed using the adaptive fiber-optics collimator(AFOC),and the PL control is realized by the phase modulator(PM).Cascaded and simultaneous controls of TT and PL using stochastic parallel gradient descent(SPGD) algorithm are investigated in this paper.Two-fiber-laser-,four-fiber-laser-,and six-fiber-laser-arrays are employed to study the TT and PL control.In the cascaded control system,only one high-speed CMOS camera is used to collect beam data and a computer is used as the controller.In a simultaneous control system one high-speed CMOS camera and one photonic detector(PD) are employed,and a computer and a control circuit based on field programmable gate array(FPGA) are used as the controllers.Experimental results reveal that both cascaded and simultaneous controls of TT using AFOC and PL using PM in fiber laser array are feasible and effective.Cascaded control is more effective in static control situation and simultaneous control can be applied to the dynamic control system directly.The control signals of simultaneous PL and TT disturb each other obviously and TT and PL control may compete with each other,so the control effect is limited.     

光纤激光器阵列相干合成中的位相探测与校正方法研究

介绍一高速的位相检测与控制方法，可以对高功率光纤激光器阵列中每一路信号光波的位相进行实时探测与控制，从而使整个系统达到锁相输出的目的.以一路信号光为例，给出该方法的实验研究结果，从中可以看出，闭环控制的结果，可以将该信号光的位相稳定在一设定的静态工作点上. 关键词： 光纤激光器阵列 锁相 外差探测     

All-fiber phase actuator based on an erbium-doped fiber amplifier for coherent beam combining at 1064 nm

Active phase control in fiber amplifiers is of considerable interest for low-noise single-frequency amplifiers and for coherent beam combining. We demonstrate phase control at 1064 nm by use of an erbium-doped fiber. We investigated the phase shift by guiding the beam through an erbium-doped fiber amplifier in a Mach-Zehnder configuration and applied the results to stabilize the relative phase of two ytterbium-doped fiber amplifiers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an all-fiber coherent beam combining at 1064 nm employing an erbium-doped fiber as a phase actuator.     

32路光纤激光相干阵列的相位锁定

报道了32路光纤激光相干阵列的相位锁定实验研究。搭建了32路光纤激光相干阵列实验系统,基于现场可编程逻辑阵列(FPGA)设计制作了高速高精度相位控制器。当相位控制器执行随机并行梯度下降(SPGD)算法对各路激光的相位进行锁定时,相干阵列输出的激光功率与不进行相位锁定时相比提高了约26倍。     

Optimal Truncation of Element Beam in a Coherent Fiber Laser Array

The beam quality of a coherent fiber laser array often suffers from the low fill factor of the Gaussian laser array. One simple and effective approach to improve the fill factor is to truncate the array element properly. An analytical expression for far-field intensity distribution of a truncated coherent fiber laser array is derived. Optimal truncation of the element beam in different coherent fiber laser arrays is obtained by using energy encircled in the far-field central-lobe as the beam quality criterion. By optimal truncation, energy encircled in the central-lobe can be 97% compared with the ideal case. The shift in optimal truncation parameter in the case of phase noise is also analyzed.     

基于自适应桶中功率评价函数的光纤放大器相干合成实验研究

光纤激光光束合成技术被公认为是实现高亮度、高光束质量激光束的优秀方法, 而激光阵列间的倾斜像差是影响合成效果的重要因素. 针对当前光束合成中存在的倾斜校正量受限问题, 提出了基于自适应桶中功率(PIB)评价函数的倾斜控制策略. 搭建了两路2 W光纤放大器的相干合成实验平台, 利用自制的压电环光纤相位调制器和自适应光纤准直器分别实现锁相和倾斜像差校正, 验证了基于自适应PIB的倾斜控制策略的可行性, 并实现了相干合成. 关键词： 光纤激光阵列 倾斜控制 自适应桶中功率 相干合成     

Diffractive-optics-based beam combination of a phase-locked fiber laser array

A diffractive optical element (DOE) is used as a beam combiner for an actively phase-locked array of fiber lasers. Use of a DOE eliminates the far-field sidelobes and the accompanying loss of beam quality typically observed in tiled coherent laser arrays. Using this technique, we demonstrated coherent combination of five fiber lasers with 91% efficiency and M2=1.04. Combination efficiency and phase locking is robust even with large amplitude and phase fluctuations on the input laser array elements. Calculations and power handling measurements suggest that this approach can scale to both high channel counts and high powers.     

激光器阵列的部分相干性对相干合成远场输出特性的影响

对于相干合成的光纤激光器阵列来说,如何定量的分析阵列的相干性对于评价阵列的性能具有极其重要的意义.文章推导了光纤激光器阵列部分相干合成远场强度分布的解析表达式,详细探讨了激光器阵列的部分相干性对相干合成远场图样分布、中心主瓣宽度、斯特列尔比、桶中功率的影响.最后采用主振荡并联放大器方案对三路掺镱光纤放大器进行实时相位探测与校正,实验给出了三路光纤放大器相干合成的结果. 关键词： 光纤激光器阵列 相干合成 相干度