Spectrally beam-combined, fiber-based multi-wavelength receiver/transceiver

1. A transmitter, comprising:

a plurality of pulsed lasers having respective output beam;

a launch array configured to spatially position each output beam of the pulsed lasers, wherein the launch array comprises a mechanical structure;

a transform optical component to correct deflection of the output beams of the pulsed lasers from the launch array; and

an omnidirectional spectral comb filter to combine the output beams from the transform optical element and generate a spectrally combined beam.

2. The transmitter according to claim 1 , wherein the omnidirectional spectral comb filter comprises a diffraction grating.

3. The transmitter according to claim 1 , wherein the transform optical component comprises a lens.

4. The transmitter according to claim 1 , wherein the pulsed lasers comprise pulsed fiber lasers (PFLs).

5. The transmitter according to claim 1 , wherein each of the pulsed lasers is configured to output a distinct pulse sequence for wavelength-division multiplexing.

6. The transmitter according to claim 5 , wherein each of the pulsed laser output beams are spatially overlapped to propagate as the spectrally combined beam, and wherein each wavelength of the pulsed laser output beams carries a different data stream.

7. The transmitter according to claim 1 , wherein the pulsed laser comprises a pulsed fiber laser having:

a master oscillator;

a light amplitude modulator; and

an optical phase modulator.

8. The transmitter according to claim 7 , wherein the master oscillator comprises a single-frequency laser source.

9. The transmitter according to claim 7 , wherein the light amplitude modulator comprises a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

10. The transmitter according to claim 7 , wherein the optical phase modulator is configured to encode data streams.

11. The transmitter according to claim 7 , wherein the pulsed fiber laser further comprises:

a fiber-based pre-amplifier coupled to the optical phase modulator; and

a fiber-based power amplifier; and

a filter between the pre-amplifier and the power amplifier,

wherein the power amplifier provides a respective one of the output beams of the pulsed lasers.

12. The transmitter according to claim 11 , wherein the fiber-based pre-amplifier comprises a fiber-coupled diode laser.

13. The transmitter according to claim 11 , wherein the power amplifier is configured to output a Gaussian output signal.

14. A receiver to detect light from a spectrally combined beam (SBC) transmitter, comprising:

an optical element to focus the detected light;

an omnidirectional spectral comb filter to filter the focused light from the optical element, wherein the omnidirectional spectral comb filter includes a plurality of windows each having a respective pass band; and

a photon detector to process received data from the optical element and discriminate the light from the SBC transmitter from spectrally broadband illumination.

15. The receiver according to claim 14 , wherein the omnidirectional spectral comb filter is insensitive to angle of incidence.

16. The receiver according to claim 14 , wherein the photon detector comprises a photomultiplier.

17. The receiver according to claim 14 , wherein the photon detector comprises a focal plane array (FPA).

18. The receiver according to claim 14 , wherein the omnidirectional spectral comb filter comprises an optically transmissive substrate surface coated with a multi-layer dielectric coating.

19. The receiver according to claim 14 , wherein the spectrally broadband illumination includes solar stray light.