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.     

多单元光纤激光阵列的倾斜控制实验研究

本文结合光纤激光阵列技术的发展趋势,介绍一种基于大模场面积光纤的自适应光纤光源准直器的研制进展,搭建七单元光纤激光阵列,进行平行发射体系下阵列间的倾斜控制实验,并初步探索了基于目标在回路的共形发射体系下阵列间的倾斜控制.最后,在三级全光纤放大链路的主振荡-功率放大系统中,完成了两路10W量级光纤激光阵列的倾斜控制及锁相.为在实际大气环境下应用光纤激光阵列技术提供了参考.     

Simulataneous coherent and spectral addition of fiber lasers

A new approach for the simultaneous coherent and spectral addition of a two-dimensional array of fiber lasers is presented. A combining efficiency of over 80% and a combined beam profile with M(2)=1.15 were experimentally obtained with an array of four fiber lasers. This approach can lead to significant upscaling in fiber laser additions.     

Status of single-model optical fiber standardization in the electronic industries association (EIA)

This paper introduces and analyzes revolutionary laser system architecture capable of dramatically reducing the complexity of laser systems while simultaneously increasing capability. The architecture includes three major subsystems. The first is a phased array of laser sources. In this article, we discuss diode-pumped fiber lasers as the elements of the phased array, although other waveguide lasers can also be considered. The second provides wavefront control and electronics beam steering, as described in an IEEE Proceedings article on “Optical Phased Array Technology” [1]. The third is subaperture receiver technology. Combining these three technologies into a new laser systems architecture results in a system that has graceful degradation, can steer to as wide an angle as individual optical phased array subapertures, and can be scaled to high power and large apertures through phasing of a number of subapertures. Diode-pumped fiber lasers are appealing as laser sources because they are electrically pumped, efficient, relatively simple, and scalable to significant power levels (over 100 Watts has been demonstrated from a single diode-pumped fiber laser) [2]. The fiber laser design also lends itself to integration into a phased array. Fiber lasers have been phased. Initial phasing demonstrations have been at low power and were conducted by taking a single source, dividing it into multiple fibers, then phasing them together. To develop this technology further we need to use independent fiber lasers or fiber amplifiers, seeded by a common source, and to increase laser power. As we increase laser power, we will have to learn to cope with nonlinearities in the laser amplifiers. Optical Phased Array technology has demonstrated steering over a 90-degree field of regard [4], although this approach used additional optical components. If we use straightforward optical phased array beam steering without additional optics we can steer with high efficiency to about one-third λ/d, where d is the smallest individually addressable element. The one-third factor depends on the efficiency threshold. For example, if we use 1.5 μm light, and 5 μm center-to-center spacing, we can steer with high efficiency to about ±6 degrees, or a field of regard of 12 degrees. Last, we need to develop a subaperture receive technology. This can be a pupil plane receiver, an image plane receiver, or some combination of the approaches. When we have matured each individual technology and combined them into new laser systems architectures, we will have the ability to build simpler and more capable laser systems. The vision for an integrated, phased array laser concept is to enable a new class of laser systems with significant advantages, including high-efficiency, all-electric laser source; all waveguide beam transport; wavefront control at the sub-aperture level (enabling wavefront compensation, conformal apertures, and wide-angle electronic beam steering); random access beam pointing over wide angles; multiple simultaneous beam generation and control; and graceful degradation.     

倾斜相差对光纤激光相干合成的影响与模拟校正

选取不同路数和不同填充因子的合成光束模型,模拟并分析了倾斜相差对相干合成的影响.介绍了倾斜校正的关键器件--自适应光纤光源准直器.在主振荡功率放大器结构的光纤激光相干合成系统中,模拟了随机并行梯度下降(SPGD)算法校正七路激光阵列间时变倾斜相差的动态过程,分析了不同倾斜相差幅值和频率对校正能力的影响.实验表明,要提高相干合成的效果,必须校正倾斜相差;而SPGD算法校正倾斜相差的能力随着倾斜相差幅值和频率的增加而降低.文章为在实际大气环境中实现多路高功率光纤激光的相干合成提供了参考. 关键词： 光纤激光 相干合成 倾斜相位差 动态分析     

Expansion of the channel number in spectral beam combining of fiber lasers array based on cascaded gratings

Aiming at the problem that the channel number in spectral beam combining (SBC) of fiber lasers array is limited by the narrow spectral selectivity of grating, a new scheme based on cascaded volume Bragg gratings (VBG) is proposed to expand the channel number. A system cascaded by two VBGs is presented and analyzed. A formula used to accurately determine the angle of incidence of all the channels is derived using rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). The channel number can be multiplied with increasing the number of VBGs. Numerical results show that the system based on cascaded VBGs is a good SBC combiner that has the ability to combine a large number of channels.     

基于外差法的光纤激光器相干合成

采用波长1064 nm,功率为1 W的种子激光实现了两路光纤激光的相干合成,采用了两只保偏光纤准直器接收两路光干涉信号,与利用透镜直接把干涉信号会聚在探测器上相比,这种耦合方式得到的光干涉信号的条纹对比度更高。对相位噪声以及相位噪声的带宽进行了研究,结果表明,相位噪声由电信号串扰以及环境扰动产生。通过人为拨动光纤来增加相位噪声带宽,当相位噪声带宽增加时,相位控制精度下降。提出了提高相位控制精度的方法,实验获得了桶中功率为21.3%、斯特列尔比为79%、相位控制精度为0.008的相干合成效果。     

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。     

Remote fiber sensor based on cascaded Fourier domain mode-locked laser

We propose a high-speed remote fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system based on a 1.3-μm cascaded Fourier-domain mode-locked (FDML) laser. It consists of multiple FBGs connected to an optical circulator in the laser cavity. The cascaded FDML laser with these multiple FBGs is operational when the scanning frequency of the fiber Fabry-Perot tunable filter matches the fundamental frequency of the laser cavity. Each FBG provides a separate laser cavity for the FDML laser. The scanning frequencies of each laser cavity are 30.5314, 31.5393, 32.7108, and 33.8023 kHz. Using the cascaded FDML laser, we measure the performance of the long-distance static strain FBG sensor interrogation system in both the time and spectral domains. The slope coefficients of the measured relative wavelength difference and the relative time delay from the static strain are found to be 0.95 pm/μstrain and 0.15 ns/μstrain, respectively. We also demonstrate the dynamic response of the interrogation system with 80-Hz modulation strain using the cascaded FDML laser. Thus, an FBG sensor interrogation system for high-speed and high-sensitivity long-distance monitoring systems can be realized using a cascaded FDML laser.     

不同波形脉冲激光的时域误差对相干合成的影响

相干合成技术是实现高功率、高亮度光纤激光系统的重要技术途径.然而, 脉冲激光阵列中常常存在时域误差,这将影响脉冲激光的相干合成效果. 建立了脉冲激光存在时域误差时的相干合成理论模型,并在不同波形(方波、三角波、正弦波) 的脉冲激光存在时域误差时,对相干合成光束在远场的脉冲波形、峰值功率、 光强分布和桶中功率(PIB)等特性进行了数值计算和对比分析.计算结果表明: 方波脉冲激光相干合成光束的脉冲波形受时域误差影响严重,光强分布和PIB随着时域误差 的增大发生线性变化;三角波脉冲激光相干合成光束的脉冲波形和峰值功率受时域误差 影响严重,光强分布和PIB在时域误差较大时随着时域误差的增大发生较为剧烈的变化; 正弦波脉冲激光相干合成光束具有较好的输出特性,在两路正弦波脉冲激光相干合成中, 将两脉冲之间的时延控制在脉冲持续时间的10%以内,就能取得良好的合成效果.     

A novel wavelength switchable fiber laser source and its application in photonics beamforming for optically controlled phased array antenna

A novel wavelength-switchable fiber laser source that can individually scan 14 required wavelengths within 40 ms, and its application in photonics true time delay beamforming is presented in this paper. The laser source is constructed using a unidirectional fiber ring cavity, a tunable fiber Fabry–Perot filter and two cascaded sampled fiber Bragg gratings with the wavelength spacing of 1.6 nm. A five-channel true-time-delay system using the proposed fiber laser source cooperating with a single-mode fiber and four chirped-grating-based is constructed and demonstrated for the application of phased array antenna beam steering. Continuous beam steering at the microwave frequency up to 20 GHz has been achieved. PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.81.Wg; 84.40.Ba     

光纤非相干合成光束在湍流大气中的传输实验研究

进行了六路100 W量级光纤非相干合成光束在实际大气湍流中的传输实验,将六路光斑直径为9 mm的单模光纤光束分别扩束,扩束后的光斑直径为90 mm。基于倾斜镜的合束系统来控制各路光束的指向,在不同强度的湍流条件中,通过主镜口径为440 mm的发射系统水平聚焦传输至470 m处。倾斜控制系统闭环工作时,一倍衍射极限内的桶中功率占目标处总功率的比值是开环工作时的1.7倍左右,随着大气湍流的强度变弱,此比值变大。     

基于目标在回路的三路光纤传输激光相干合成实验

实验验证了一种利用目标回光在远场实现相干合成的技术——目标在回路技术.建立了目标在回路相干合成的物理模型,利用可同时调整光程和光束倾斜的自适应光纤光源准直器,同时补偿合成光束间的平移和倾斜相差,实现了基于目标在回路的三路光纤传输激光间相干合成,获得了接近理想情况的合成效果.文章为在实际大气环境中实现多路相干组束的长距离传输提供了参考.     

Synchronization and coherent combining of two pulsed fiber lasers

We demonstrate a scalable architecture for coherent combining of pulsed fiber lasers.A new method for generating synchronous pulsed fiber lasers by direct phase modulation is proposed and investigated.It is shown that phase modulated mutually coupled laser array can be a steady synchronous pulsed fiber laser source.The synchronous pulsed fiber lasers are coherently combined with an invariable phase difference of π in adjacent lasers.Neither active phase control nor polarization control is taken in our experiment.     

高功率光纤激光的时间部分相干性对相干合成的影响

 将多个光纤激光器的输出光束进行相干合成是获得高功率、高光束质量激光的有效途径。利用准部分相干光(PPCB)模型，计算了高功率光纤激光器阵列发出的部分相干光在远场的能量分布，分析了激光的时间部分相干性对相干合成的影响。计算结果表明，随着单根激光器输出光束线宽的增大，远场光斑的图样基本保持不变，但峰值功率和Strehl比随之减小。对于采用的算例，要保证远场光斑的Strehl比大于0.8，单根光纤激光器的线宽不能超过5 nm。     

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.     

Switchable dual-wavelength Erbium-doped fiber ring laser with cascaded fiber Bragg gratings

We have experimentally shown wavelength mode switching in a dual-wavelength Erbium-doped single cavity fiber laser where the initial two wavelengths of 1 nm spacing are determined by the cascaded reflection type short-period fiber Bragg gratings having two different centre wavelengths of 1550.5 and 1551.5 nm. The lasing mode depends on the polarization in the ring cavity to migrate from one wavelength to another or operates in both modes in a polarization beam splitter output. To effectively control the polarization in the ring cavity, the polarization controllers were positioned before and after the polarization beam splitter. This method of wavelength switching provides a simple way of mode tuning in dual-wavelength fiber lasers.     

两个光纤激光器的互相注入锁定

光纤激光器的相干合成技术是实现高功率、高亮度光纤激光系统的重要技术途径.利用分束器分光使两个光纤激光器的能量互相注入，从而使两个光纤激光器达到锁相锁模实现相干输出. 实验研究表明：在独立运行的情况下，两个光纤激光器的远场光斑只是两个激光器光强的简单叠加；在互相注入锁定的情况下，两个光纤激光器的远场光斑是具有高对比度的干涉条纹，并得到两个激光器的输出模式总为异相模.这与理论分析的结果相一致. 关键词： 光纤激光器 相干合成 锁相     

Simultaneous planar measurements of soot structure and velocity fields in a turbulent lifted jet flame at 3 kHz

We describe a newly developed combustion diagnostic for the simultaneous planar imaging of soot structure and velocity fields in a highly sooting, lifted turbulent jet flame at 3000 frames per second, or two orders of magnitude faster than “conventional” laser imaging systems. This diagnostic uses short pulse duration (8 ns), frequency-doubled, diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers to excite laser-induced incandescence (LII) at 3 kHz, which is then imaged onto a high framerate CMOS camera. A second (dual-cavity) DPSS laser and CMOS camera form the basis of a particle image velocity (PIV) system used to acquire 2-component velocity field in the flame. The LII response curve (measured in a laminar propane diffusion flame) is presented and the combined diagnostics then applied in a heavily sooting lifted turbulent jet flame. The potential challenges and rewards of application of this combined imaging technique at high speeds are discussed.     

高能固态激光阵列光束合成技术浅析

建立了高能固态激光阵列合成的模型,对相干合成型和非相干合成型的高能固态激光系统进行了分析和比较.引入光束传输因子(BPF)作为评价合成光束的光束质量,对湍流大气对板条激光器和光纤激光器相干合成与非相干合成远场光束质量的影响进行了定量分析.计算模型和结果为工程实际中合成方案的选择和评估提供了参考.