Apparatus and method for spectral-beam combining of high-power fiber lasers

1. An apparatus comprising:

an output diffractive element; and

a source of a plurality of substantially monochromatic light beams directed from different angles to a single location on the output diffractive element, wherein the output diffractive element spectrally combines the plurality of light beams into a single beam, and wherein the plurality of light beams includes a first light beam having a first central wavelength and a second light beam having a second central wavelength;

a first adjustment apparatus configured to set an adjustable characteristic of the first light beam;

a second adjustment apparatus configured to set an adjustable characteristic of the second light beam;

a detector configured to detect whether one of the light beams has become misaligned relative to the single combined beam;

a diagnoser configured to determine whether the first light beam is the misaligned one and if so, to control the first adjustment apparatus to adjust the adjustable characteristic of the first light beam in order that the first light beam becomes aligned relative to the single combined beam.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the adjustable characteristic of the first light beam is the first central wavelength, wherein the adjustable characteristic of the second light beam is the second central wavelength; and wherein the first adjustment apparatus tunes the first central wavelength and the second adjustment apparatus tunes the second central wavelength.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

an input diffractive element that introduces a chromatic dispersion to each of the plurality of diffracted light beams, wherein the second diffractive element introduces a compensating chromatic dispersion to each of the plurality of diffracted light beams such that the single combined beam has reduced chromatic dispersion; and

wherein the output diffractive element and the input diffractive element have substantially identical diffractive patterns.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the source of a plurality of light beams includes a plurality of MOPA fiber lasers each tuned to a different wavelength.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the detector includes at least a first detector portion along one side of the single combined beam and a second detector portion along another side of the single combined beam, wherein in normal operation the single combined beam is between the first detector portion and the second detector portion, and wherein when one of the light beams becomes angle-misaligned relative to the single combined beam it will intersect either the first detector portion or the second detector portion.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the detector includes at least a third detector portion along one side of the single combined beam and a fourth detector portion along another side of the single combined beam, wherein in normal operation the single combined beam is between the third detector portion and the fourth detector portion, and wherein when one of the light beams becomes laterally misaligned relative to the single combined beam it will intersect either the third detector portion or the fourth detector portion.

7. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the output diffractive element is positioned so a diffractive surface of the output diffractive element is parallel to a corresponding diffractive surface of the input diffractive element.

8. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the detector and the diagnoser are operable to determine that the first laser beam is the misaligned one and tune the wavelength of the first laser while the second beam is active in the single combined beam.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the input diffractive element is a reflective diffraction grating, and the output diffractive element is a reflective diffraction grating.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the detector and the diagnoser are operable to determine that the first laser beam is the misaligned one while a plurality of the other laser beams are ON, and wherein the diagnoser determines a timing of a change in a power value of the first laser beam, the detector detects a corresponding change in a misaligned beam, and the first tuner changes a tuning of the first laser based on the detection of the corresponding change in the misaligned beam.

11. An apparatus comprising:

an output diffractive element; and

a source of a plurality of substantially monochromatic light beams directed from different angles to a single location on the output diffractive element, wherein the output diffractive element spectrally combines the plurality of light beams into a single beam, and wherein the plurality of light beams includes a first light beam having a first central wavelength and a second light beam having a second central wavelength;

a first adjustment apparatus configured to set an adjustable characteristic of the first light beam;

a second adjustment apparatus configured to set an adjustable characteristic of the second light beam;

a detector configured to detect whether one of the light beams has become misaligned relative to the single combined beam;

a diagnoser configured to determine whether the first light beam is the misaligned one and if so, to control the first adjustment apparatus to adjust the adjustable characteristic of the first light beam in order that the first light beam becomes aligned relative to the single combined beam;

a plurality of Yb-doped multiply clad optical fibers including a first fiber and a second fiber each having an inner cladding and one or more outer claddings; and

one or more laser diodes optically coupled to insert their laser outputs as pump light to the inner claddings of the plurality of fibers, wherein the first light beam is a first laser beam and the second light beam is a second laser beam; and wherein the first fiber amplifies the first laser beam at a first wavelength, and the second fiber amplifies the second laser beam at a second wavelength.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising:

a first wavelength filter that filters the first laser beam to a full-width half-maximum line width of about one nanometer or less;

a second wavelength filter that filters the second laser beam to a full-width half-maximum line width of about one nanometer or less;

a first amplitude modulator that pulses the first laser beam to a pulse length of about ten nanoseconds or less, and sufficiently short to substantially prevent stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) buildup in the amplifying of the first laser beam; and

a second amplitude modulator that pulses the second laser beam to a pulse length of about ten nanoseconds or less, and sufficiently short to substantially prevent SBS buildup in the amplifying of the second laser beam.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the detector and the diagnoser base the determination of whether the first laser beam is the misaligned one based on a timing of a pulse of one of the laser beams.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a source of a plurality of light beams including a first laser beam and a second laser beam, wherein the source includes a plurality of optical fibers including a first fiber and a second fiber;

diffractive means for spectrally combining the plurality of laser beams into a single output beam;

means for wavelength tuning the first fiber to generate the first laser beam at the first wavelength;

means for wavelength tuning the second fiber to generate the second laser beam at the second wavelength;

means for detecting that one of the laser beams has become misaligned relative to the single combined beam;

means for determining that the first laser beam is the misaligned one; and

means for adjusting the means for wavelength tuning of the first fiber in order that the first laser beam is aligned relative to the single combined beam.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the diffractive means includes a plurality of diffractive surfaces and the light from the plurality of light-beam sources interacts with the plurality of diffractive surfaces serially.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the diffractive means includes a first diffractive surface area and a second diffractive surface area having the same diffractive pattern.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the diffractive means includes means for positioning the second diffractive surface parallel to the first diffractive surface.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a source of a plurality of light beams including a first laser beam and a second laser beam, wherein the source includes:

a plurality of Yb-doped multiply clad optical fibers including a first fiber and a second fiber;

means for pumping an inner cladding of the plurality of fibers with pump light from one or more laser diodes;

means for amplifying with the first fiber a first seed laser beam at a first wavelength for one of the plurality of light beams; and

means for amplifying with the second fiber a second seed laser beam at a second wavelength for another of the plurality of light beams;

diffractive means for spectrally combining the plurality of laser beams into a single output beam;

means for wavelength tuning the first fiber to generate the first laser beam at the first wavelength;

means for wavelength tuning the second fiber to generate the second laser beam at the second wavelength;

means for detecting that one of the laser beams has become misaligned relative to the single combined beam;

means for determining that the first laser beam is the misaligned one; and

means for adjusting the means for wavelength tuning of the first fiber in order that the first laser beam is aligned relative to the single combined beam.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising:

means for filtering the first laser beam to a full-width half-maximum linewidth of about one nanometer or less;

means for filtering the second laser beam to a full-width half-maximum linewidth of about one nanometer or less;

means for pulsing the first and second laser beams to a pulse length of about ten nanoseconds or less and sufficiently short to substantially prevent SBS buildup.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising means for compensating for a chromatic dispersion.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for detecting of the misaligned beam and the means for determining that the first laser beam is the misaligned one perform while the second beam is active.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the determining that the first laser beam is the misaligned one is performed while a plurality of the other laser beams are ON, and includes:

means for changing a power value of the first laser beam;

means for detecting a corresponding change in a misaligned beam; and

means for changing a tuning of the first laser based on the detecting of the corresponding change in the misaligned beam.

23. An apparatus comprising:

means for providing a plurality of laser beams including a first laser beam and a second laser beam;

means for wavelength tuning the first fiber to generate the first laser beam at the first wavelength and having a linewidth of about 1 nm or less;

means for wavelength tuning the second fiber to generate the second laser beam at the second wavelength and having a linewidth of about 1 nm or less; and

means for spectrally combining the plurality of laser beams into a single output beam having an output power/area of about 10 W/cm 2 or more using one or more high-efficiency dielectric diffractive gratings.