COHERENT FIBER DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT BEAM COMBINER

摘要

An optical beam combiner and a related method for its operation, in which multiple coherent input beams are directed onto a diffractive optical element (DOE) (40) along directions corresponding to diffraction orders of the DOE, such that the DOE generates a single output beam in a direction corresponding to a desired diffraction order, and suppresses outputs in directions corresponding to unwanted diffraction orders. The phases of the input beams are actively controlled to ensure and maintain the condition that only a single diffraction mode is present in the output of the DOE.