WAVELENGTH BEAM COMBINING LASER SYSTEMS UTILIZING ETALONS
In various embodiments, wavelength beam combining laser systems incorporate etalons to establish external lasing cavities and/or to combine multiple input beams into a single output beam.
1 .- 14 . (canceled)
15 . A method of forming an output beam, the method comprising:
stabilizing beams emitted by a plurality of emitters each to a unique wavelength in an external laser cavity; and
transmitting the stabilized beams to a dispersive element, the dispersive element combining the stabilized beams into a multi-wavelength output beam.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each beam is stabilized to its unique wavelength by introducing the beam to a stabilizing element that (i) reflects a portion of the beam back to its emitter to stabilize the beam and (ii) transmits the stabilized beam.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the stabilizing element comprises an etalon.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein an optical axis of the stabilizing element is tilted at a non-zero tilt angle with respect to a propagation direction of the beam.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the tilt angle of the stabilizing element is selected from the range of approximately 2° to approximately 25°.
20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein introducing the beam to the stabilizing element comprises focusing the beam toward the stabilizing element.
21 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the dispersive element comprises a dispersive prism, a grism, or an Echelle grating.
22 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the dispersive element comprises a diffraction grating.
23 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the dispersive element comprises a transmissive diffraction grating.
24 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the beam emitters comprises a diode laser.
25 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising collimating each beam after emission thereof by its beam emitter.
26 . The method of claim 15 , wherein transmitting the stabilized beams to the dispersive element comprises converging the stabilized beams toward the dispersive element.
27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the stabilized beams are converged toward the dispersive element by one or more lenses.
28 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising coupling at least a portion of the output beam into an optical fiber.
29 . The method of claim 28 , further comprising delivering the at least a portion of the output beam to a workpiece.
30 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising cutting or welding the workpiece with the at least a portion of the output beam.
31 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising delivering at least a portion of the output beam to a workpiece.
32 . The method of claim 31 , further comprising cutting or welding the workpiece with the at least a portion of the output beam.
33 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the beam emitters comprises an optical fiber.
34 . A method of forming an output beam, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of beams at an etalon, each beam having a different wavelength;
spatially combining the plurality of beams at the etalon to form a multi-wavelength output beam; and
emitting the output beam from the etalon.