A spectral beam combining (SBC) fiber laser amplifier system including a beam shaper array assembly and a beam source that provides a plurality of beams having a low fill factor profile. The assembly includes an input beam shaper array having a plurality of input cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beams to expand as they propagates away from the input array to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile and be tapered to a lower value at a perimeter of each input array cell. The assembly further includes an output beam shaper array having a plurality of output cells positioned adjacent to each other that are shaped to cause the beams to stop expanding so that the output array provides a plurality of adjacent beams with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams.

A method of controlling an optical transmitter includes steps of amplifying, by an EDFA, a main signal output from an optical modulator, attenuating and outputting, by a VOA, the main signal amplified and output by the EDFA, and maintaining an output power of the main signal output from the VOA at a predetermined value, suspending the phase modulation in the optical modulator to output continuous wave light from the optical modulator, disabling feedback control of the VOA that is performed by the VOA controller and maintaining a constant control signal of the VOA, disabling feedback control of a pump laser that is performed by a pump laser controller, and controlling the pump laser to modulate an intensity of the excitation light and generate an auxiliary signal having a cycle longer than a cycle of the main signal.

A fiber amplifier system including a plurality of seed beam sources each generating a seed beam at a different wavelength and a plurality of fiber amplifiers that amplify the seed beams. The system also includes a spectral beam combining (SBC) grating that spatially combines the amplified beams and directs them in the same direction as an output beam, and a first fiber sampler and a second fiber sampler that generate a first fiber sample beam having a first intensity and a second fiber sample beam having a second intensity. The system further includes a configuration of optical and electrical feedback components that determine a difference between the first intensity and the second intensity and use the difference to control the wavelength of all of the seed beams so that all of the amplified beams are spatially aligned and propagating in the same direction in the output beam.

A beam shaper array assembly including a beam source that provides a plurality of beams having a low fill factor profile. The assembly also includes an input beam shaper array having cells positioned adjacent to each other, where each cell includes an input beam shaper that receives one of the plurality beams and is shaped to cause the beam to expand as it propagates away from the input array to be converted from the low fill factor profile to a high fill factor profile. The assembly further includes an output beam shaper array having cells positioned adjacent to each other, where each cell includes an output beam shaper that receives one of the converted beams and is shaped to cause the beam to stop expanding so that the output array provides a plurality of adjacent beams with minimal overlap and a minimal gap between the beams.

A method, apparatus and system for coherent beam combining (CBC) in high energy fiber laser (HEL) systems include generating a reference interference pattern of a signal source including at least two single-mode optical signals, capturing and evaluating the reference interference pattern, maximizing an intensity of the selected area of the captured, reference interference pattern, increasing a linewidth of the optical signals generating the reference interference pattern until the reference interference pattern is degraded, and adjusting a delay time of one of the at least two single-mode optical signals until the reference interference pattern is recovered, by adjusting a value of a delay of a delayed RF signal with a broaden linewidth to a respective EO linewidth broadening modulator in at least one channel of the at least two single-mode optical signals while evaluating the interference pattern on a display device.

A burst logging system logs and transmits to a local or remote computing system event data related to errors in and or potential failures of laser system components. The system further provides for capturing data at different rates from different sensors, synchronization of data capture associated with system events and the possibility for aggregation of data from multiple systems, which can in turn be leveraged to predict and or remediate future system events.

A device includes a laser source, an amplifier, an optical sensor and a spectrometer. The laser source is configured to produce a seed laser beam. The amplifier includes gain medium and a discharging unit. The discharging unit is configured to pump the gain medium for amplifying power of the seed laser beam. The optical sensor is coupled to the amplifier and configured for sensing an optical emission generated in the amplifier while the gain medium is discharging. The spectrometer is coupled with the optical sensor and configured to measure a spectrum of the optical emission.

An optical amplifier repeater system includes an optical fiber propagating a light beam in a plurality of propagation modes and an optical amplifier repeater amplifying the light beam propagated through the optical fiber. The optical amplifier repeater includes an optical demultiplexer demultiplexing the light beam in the plurality of propagation modes propagated through the optical fiber into a plurality of single-mode light beams, an optical amplifier amplifying, by simultaneous pumping, intensities of the plurality of single-mode light beams using a light beam generated by one pumping light source, an optical multiplexer multiplexing the plurality of single-mode light beams amplified by the optical amplifier into a light beam in the plurality of propagation modes, and an optical intensity adjusting unit adjusting the intensity of each of the plurality of single-mode light beams at least one of before or after the amplification by the optical amplifier. The optical intensity adjusting unit performs the adjustment by amplifying or attenuating the optical intensity of each of the plurality of single-mode light beams in an individual optical path through which the single-mode light beam is propagated.

A method for generating pulsed laser radiation in the spectral range from 860 nm to 1000 nm is disclosed, including the steps of generating pulsed laser radiation in the spectral range from 1500 nm to 1600 nm, preferably at a wavelength of 1560 nm; shifting the wavelength of the pulsed laser radiation to a longer wavelength of at least 1720 nm, and preferably to 1840 nm; amplifying the wavelength-shifted pulsed laser radiation in a Thulium-doped gain medium so that the Thulium-doped gain medium is pumped in an in-band pumping scheme; and frequency-doubling the amplified wavelength-shifted pulsed laser radiation. A laser system suitable for practicing the method is also disclosed.

The ultrafast pulse fiber laser system is configured with scalable output power and operative to reduce degradation of pulse integrity. The disclosed laser system is configured to suppress the pulse distortion through improvement of initial pulse contrast between main and side pulses and improved pulse shape using chirped pulse amplification and a fast intensity modulator driver by a corrected electrical signal that is generated from the original optical signal. The structure providing the improvement includes the photodiode, which is operative to measure the chirped optical pulse and convert it to the electrical signal, and analog electronics that quickly converts the electrical signal to the required signal that suppress the side pulses.