Fiber laser transceiving and wavefront aberration mitigation with adaptive distributed aperture array for free-space...

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Laser Technology
• Adaptive Optics

Background:

• Fiber laser arrays are crucial for high-power laser systems.
• Adaptive optics (AO) are essential for correcting phase distortions in optical systems.
• Coherent beam combining (CBC) enhances laser performance but is sensitive to phase errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate efficient adaptive optics correction for a distributed 19-element fiber laser array.
• To achieve active beam coupling and all-fiber active cophasing beam combining.
• To analyze optimal array element parameters for varying conditions.

Main Methods:

• Utilized active beam coupling into polarization-maintaining fibers.
• Implemented all-fiber active cophasing beam combining using multi-level fiber couplers.
• Applied adaptive optics to correct phase distortions from a simulated target to the receiving port.

Main Results:

• Achieved nearly ideal coherent combining in the far-field.
• Increased comprehensive reception efficiency by up to 52 times.
• Enhanced the far-field power-in-the-bucket metric by up to 8.27 times with a 152 mm equivalent aperture.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrated the first efficient adaptive optics correction for a distributed 19-element fiber laser array for both reception and transmission.
• The developed AO system effectively eliminates phase distortions, enabling high-performance laser beam combining.
• The findings provide a pathway for advanced laser systems in space and other applications requiring precise beam control.