ONE-DIMENSIONAL SCALING OF 100 RIDGE-WAVE-GUIDE AMPLIFIERS

We have demonstrated the concept of scaling large numbers of laser diodes to achieve high power with good beam quality. We have achieved a system based on scaling 100 ridge waveguide amplifiers with a coherent optical signal distribution network and phase modulators on a 12.2 mm x 4.4 mm chip called a unit cell. The unit cell delivers 1.63 W of CW power in the central lobe with diffraction-limited performance. A high performance cooler allows high power CW performance. A custom lens array and computer-controlled phase modulators allow the beam to be collimated with flat phase front.