• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.247-258
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• 2020

In this paper, based on a stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm we study phase control of a coherent-beam-combining system under turbulent atmospheric conditions. Based on the statistical theory of atmospheric turbulence, we carry out the analysis of the phase and wavefront distortion of a laser beam propagating through a turbulent atmospheric medium. We also conduct numerical simulations of a coherent-beam-combining system with 7- and 19-channel laser beams distorted by atmospheric turbulence. Through numerical simulations, we characterize the phase-control characteristics and efficiency of the coherent-beam-combining system under various degrees of atmospheric turbulence. It is verified that the SPGD algorithm is capable of realizing 7-channel coherent beam combining with a beam-combining efficiency of more than 90%, even under the turbulent atmospheric conditions up to cn2 of 10-13 m-2/3. In the case of 19-channel coherent beam combining, it is shown that the same turbulent atmospheric conditions result in a drastic reduction of the beam-combining efficiency down to 60%, due to the elevated impact of the corresponding refractive-index inhomogeneity. In addition, by putting together the number of iterations of the SPGD algorithm required for phase locking under atmospheric turbulence and the time intervals of atmospheric phenomena, which typically are of the order of ㎲, it is estimated that hundreds of MHz to a few GHz of computing bandwidth of SPGD-based phase control may be required for a coherent-beam-combining system to confront such turbulent atmospheric conditions. We expect the results of this paper to be useful for quantitatively analyzing and predicting the effects of atmospheric turbulence on the SPGD-based phase-control performance of a coherent-beam-combining system.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.290-294
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• 2020

In this paper, we quantitatively analyze the effect of lens aberration on the degradation of beam-coupling efficiency of a tiled coherent-beam combining system. The Zernike polynomial is used to quantify the aberration of the lens, and Fresnel diffraction is applied to numerically simulate the change in the peak light intensity when combined at a distance. The results of this paper will be useful for quantitative prediction of the beam-combining efficiency that is degraded by aberration of the lens, and it is expected to be helpful for the optimal design of a practical tiled coherent beam-combining system.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.2 no.5
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• pp.431-435
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• 2018

A modified setup of a CMD technique for high power coherent beam combining was presented to address an issue of low damage threshold of electro-optic modulators. The feasibility of the modified setup was demonstrated by combining eight fiber beams, and it was successfully performed with ${\lambda}/44$ of residual phase error and 100 Hz of control bandwidth. It is expected that the modified CMD setup facilitates ultra-high power coherent beam combination without a limitation caused by the low damage threshold of electro-optic modulators.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

We have studied a tiled-aperture coherent-beam-combining system based on constructive interference, as a way to overcome the power limitation of a single laser. A 1-watt-level, 3-channel coherent fiber laser and a 3-channel fiber array of triangular tiling with tip-tilt function were developed. A monitoring system, phase controller, and 3-channel phase modulator formed a closed-loop control system, and the SPGD algorithm was applied. Eventually, phase-locking with a rate of 5-67 kHz and peak-intensity efficiency comparable to the ideal case of 53.3% was successfully realized. We were able to develop the essential elements for a tiled-aperture coherent-beam-combining system that had the potential for highest output power without any beam-combining components, and a multichannel coherent-beam-combining system with higher output power and high speed is anticipated in the future.

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1991.07a
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• pp.77-82
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• 1991

여러개의 레이저 빔을 결합하여 대표적인 방법의 장단점을 비교 분석하였다. incoherent 방법으로는 wavelength multiplexing, spatial multiplexing, polarization multiplexing을 분석하였고 coherent 방법으로는 binary phase grating과 travelng-were amplification을 고려하였다. 특히 고출력 laser diode array를 이용한 대출력 증폭기 시스템을 분석하였다.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.406-415
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• 2024

The major error factors that degrade the efficiency of coherent beam combining (CBC) are numerically studied in a comprehensive manner, paying particular attention to phase, tip-tilt, polarization angle, and beam quality. The power in the bucket (PIB), normalized to the zero-error PIB, is used as a figure of merit to quantify the effect of each error factor. To maintain a normalized PIB greater than or equal to 95% in a 3-channel CBC configuration, the errors in phase, tip-tilt, and polarization angle should be less than 1.06 radians, 1.25 ㎛, and 1.06 radians respectively, when each of the three parameters is calculated independently with the other two set to zero. In a worst-case scenario of the composite errors within the parameter range for the independent-95%-normalized-PIB condition, the aggregate effect would reduce the normalized PIB to 83.8%. It is noteworthy that the PIB performances of a CBC system, depending on phase and polarization-angle errors, share the same characteristic feature. A statistical approach for each error factor is also introduced, to assess a CBC system with an extended number of channels. The impact of the laser's beam-quality factor M² on the combining efficiency is also analyzed, based on a super-Gaussian beam. When M² increases from 1 to 1.3, the normalized PIB is reduced by 2.6%, 11.8%, 12.8%, and 13.2% for a single-channel configuration and 3-, 7-, and 19-channel CBC configurations respectively. This comprehensive numerical study is expected to pave the way for advances in the evaluation and design of multichannel CBC systems and other related applications.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.157-163
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• 2024

We developed a 3-channel fiber laser with a common seed and a phase control system for laser beam combining through a diffractive optical element. Beam combining was performed by adjusting the angles of the beams incident on the diffractive optical elements, and the phase of each beam was controlled to maximize the intensity of the combined laser beam. The power of the 3-channel laser before passing through the diffractive optical elements is about 65 mW. The power of the combined beam varied between 2.9 mW and 48.3 mW depending on the phase change of each channel. Through phase control, the output of the combined beam can be maintained at 42 mW for more than 91.8% of the total time. It is expected that higher combining efficiency can be achieved by improving the transmittance of the diffractive optical elements and the performance of the phase control system.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.274-280
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• 2020

In this paper, the effect of atmospheric turbulence is numerically modeled and analyzed via a phase-screen model, in regard to long-range optical energy transfer using coherent beam combination. The coherent-beam-combination system consists of three channel beams pointing at a target at a distance of 1-2 km. The phase and propagation direction of each channel beam are assumed to be corrected in an appropriate manner, and the atmospheric turbulence that occurs while the beam propagates through free space is quantified with a phase-screen model. The phase screen is statistically generated and constructed within the range of fluctuations of the structure constant Cn2 from 10-15 to 10-13 [m-2/3]. Particularly, in this discussion the shape, distortion, and combining efficiency of the 3-channel combined beam are calculated at the target plane by varying the structure constant used in the phase-screen model, and the effect of atmospheric turbulence on beam-combination efficiency is analyzed. Analysis with this numerical model verifies that when coherent beam combination is used for long-range optical energy transfer, the received power at the target can be at least three times the power obtainable by incoherent beam combination, even for maximal atmospheric fluctuation within the given range. This numerical model is expected to be effective for analyzing the effects of various types of atmospheric-turbulence conditions and beam-combination methods when simulating long-range optical energy transfer.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.466-472
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• 2019

A system for continuous-wave coherent Doppler lidar (CW lidar), made up of all-fiber structures and a coaxial transmission telescope, was set up for wind measurement in Hefei (31.84 N, 117.27 E), Anhui province of China. The lidar uses a fiber laser as a light source at a wavelength of $1.55{\mu}m$, and focuses the laser beam on a location 80 m away from the telescope. Using the CW lidar, radial wind measurement was carried out. Subsequently, the spectra of the atmospheric backscattered signal were analyzed. We tested the noise and obtained the lower limit of wind velocity as 0.721 m/s, through the Rayleigh criterion. According to the number of Doppler peaks in the radial wind spectrum, a classification retrieval algorithm (CRA) combining a Gaussian fitting algorithm and a spectral centroid algorithm is designed to estimate wind velocity. Compared to calibrated pulsed coherent wind lidar, the correlation coefficient for the wind velocity is 0.979, with a standard deviation of 0.103 m/s. The results show that CW lidar offers satisfactory performance and the potential for application in wind measurement.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.107-114
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• 2024

In this study, the feasibility of using the covariance-matrix-adaptation-evolution-strategy (CMA-ES) algorithm in a multichannel coherent-beam-combining (CBC) system was experimentally verified. We constructed a multichannel CBC system utilizing a spatial light modulator (SLM) as a multichannel phase-modulator array, along with a coherent light source at 635 nm, implemented the stochastic-parallel-gradient-descent (SPGD) and CMA-ES algorithms on it, and compared their performances. In particular, we evaluated the characteristics of the CMA-ES and SPGD algorithms in the CBC system in both 16-channel rectangular and 19-channel honeycomb formats. The results of the evaluation showed that the performances of the two algorithms were similar on average, under the given conditions; However, it was verified that under the given conditions the CMA-ES algorithm was able to operate with more stable performance than the SPGD algorithm, as the former had less operational variation with the initial phase setting than the latter. It is emphasized that this study is the first proof-of-principle demonstration of the CMA-ES phase-control algorithm in a multichannel CBC system, to the best of our knowledge, and is expected to be useful for future experimental studies of the effects of additional channel-number increments, or external-phase-noise effects, in multichannel CBC systems based on the CMA-ES phase-control algorithm.