Background of the Invention
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical beam amplification and more specifically to amplification and wavefront compensation of depolarized optical beams.
2. Description of the Related Art
A double-pass master-oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) used in conjunction with a phase conjugator (for wavefront compensation) is a well known approach for amplifying an optical beam from a low-power, diffraction-limited laser, while maintaining the beam's diffraction-limited divergence and linear polarization. In a double-pass MOPA, an optical seed beam from a diffraction-limited master oscillator, such as a solid-state laser, is passed through an amplifying medium twice.
Some of the amplifiers used in MOPAs are low-gain amplifiers due to the use of an inherently low-gain material (such as Nd:glass) as the gain medium. Even when a higher gain medium is used, such as neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG), the possibility of thermal fracture due to overheating limits the pumping rate, and hence the gain, to low values. The double-pass architecture is not practical for use in conjunction with low-gain amplifiers because two passes through a low-gain amplifier will only amplify the beam by a relatively small amount, resulting in low amplifier extraction efficiency.
Higher amplifier extraction efficiencies can be achieved with low-gain amplifiers by increasing the number of passes that the optical seed beam makes through the amplifier. A four-pass architecture is described in N. F. Andreev, et al., "Multipass Amplifier with Full Utilization of the Active Element Aperture", Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 13, no. 5, May 1993, pages 641-643. Eight-pass architectures are described in C. B. Dane, et al., "Long Pulse Regenerative Amplifier Architecture with Diffraction-Limited Output Divergence", Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, Optical Society of America Technical Digest Series, vol. 11, May 1993, pages 274-275, and also in M. E. Brodov, et al., "Eight-Pass Neodynium Glass Slab Amplifier with a Waveguide and with Phase Conjugation", Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 17, no. 10, October 1987, pages 1265-1266. In both of these architectures, as well as other multi-pass architectures, the optical techniques used to couple the seed beam in and out of the amplifier chain require a linearly polarized seed beam.
There are applications in which it is desirable to amplify a depolarized seed beam. For example, laser-based avionic systems typically require high power diffraction-limited laser beams. When installing a high power laser system in an aircraft, it is often desirable to locate the emitting aperture near the nose of the aircraft or out on a wing. Using traditional lasers, system designers were forced to locate the entire laser system at the desired location, creating weight and volume distribution problems. One way to overcome this problem is to use multimode optical fibers to deliver the high power beam to the desired emitting aperture.
The high power beam can be obtained by amplifying a diffraction-limited seed beam with a MOPA, using a system similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,699, entitled "COMPENSATED, SBS-FREE OPTICAL BEAM AMPLIFICATION AND DELIVERY APPARATUS AND METHOD", issued May 4, 1993 to David A. Rockwell and John L. Bartelt and assigned to Hughes Aircraft Company, the assignee of the present invention. In this type of system the seed beam laser, the optical amplifier and a phase conjugator are located at a central station. The low-power seed beam is delivered to a local station, such as an emitting aperture located at the nose of an aircraft, through a single-mode, polarization preserving reference optical fiber. The seed beam is transmitted back through an optical fiber bundle to the central station for amplification and phase conjugation, and the amplified, phase conjugated beam is delivered back to the local station through the fiber bundle.
The fiber bundle used to deliver the seed beam to the central station and the amplified beam back to the local station must be multi-mode to accommodate the high-power amplified beam. The multi-mode fiber bundle depolarizes and aberrates the seed beam on its way from the local station to the optical amplifier. Since the amplified seed beam is phase conjugated by a phase conjugator, the depolarization and aberrations imposed on the beam by the multi-mode fiber are compensated when the phase conjugated, amplified beam passes back through the fiber bundle on its way back to the local station. However, the depolarization of the seed beam limits the number of passes through the optical amplifier to only two. This is because the depolarization of the beam is not compensated until after the amplified beam is returned to the local station through the fiber bundle. Since the beam is depolarized while it is at the central station, current four and eight-pass MOPA architectures cannot be used.
Summary of the Invention
In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an optical amplification system and method that allows an optical seed beam to pass through an amplifier more than two times, even when the seed beam is highly depolarized.
This is accomplished by separating a highly depolarized seed beam into two orthogonally polarized beams that diverge from each other. At least one beam director is used to redirect the beams into the amplifier so that they perform a first set of multiple passes through the amplifier. After the first set of multiple passes, the beams are phase conjugated so that they retrace their paths through the amplifier. As a result, the beams perform a second set of multiple passes through the amplifier and are recombined into a single return beam.
In the preferred embodiment, each of the orthogonally polarized beams performs a first pass through the amplifier (each beam having its own path) and is re-directed back into the amplifier by a beam director such that the two beams exchange paths (i.e., each beam makes a second pass through the amplifier along the other beam's first path). To clarify the nature of this path exchange, assume the polarization states of the two initial beams derived from the highly depolarized seed beam are oriented along axes defined as x and y, respectively. After the second pass through the amplifier, the y-polarized beam propagates back along the path initially followed by the y-polarized beam. Similarly, the y-polarized beam propagates back along the path initially followed by the x-polarized beam. Because of this path exchange, the two orthogonally polarized beams diverge from each other when they pass back through the polarizing beamsplitter.
The diverging beams are then phase conjugated and retrace their respective paths through the system so that each beam performs a third and fourth pass through the amplifier. After the fourth pass, the orthogonally polarized beams are polarized along the same axes as when they were initially created, and they are recombined into a single return beam.
A high-power phase-conjugate laser system that utilizes the amplifier system described above is also provided. A linearly polarized diffraction-limited seed beam is produced by a master oscillator, such as a solid-state laser. The seed beam is delivered to the amplifier system through a depolarizing multi-mode optical fiber. The depolarized beam makes four passes through the amplifier, and is phase conjugated after the second pass as described above. The recombined, amplified return beam passes back through the multi-mode fiber and is coupled out of the system. Since the amplified return beam is also phase conjugated, the aberrations and depolarization imparted on the beam by the multi-mode fiber are compensated when the return beam passes back through the fiber. As a result, the final amplified beam that is coupled out of the system is diffraction-limited and linearly polarized (like the seed beam).
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Brief Description of the Drawings
FIGS. 1a-1d are plan view schematic diagrams illustrating the optical amplifier system of the present invention in operation during first, second, third and fourth seed beam passes through an optical amplifier, respectively.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred optical amplifier geometry for use in the systems of FIGS. 1a-1d and FIG. 3.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a high power phase conjugate laser system utilizing the amplifier system of FIGS. 1a-1d.
Detailed Description of the Invention
FIGS. 1a-1d illustrate the present optical amplifier system 10 in operation during first and second sets of multiple seed beam passes through an amplifier. In the preferred embodiment, the first set of multiple passes comprise first and second passes through the amplifier 24 (illustrated in FIGS. 1a and 1b, respectively) and the second set of multiple passes comprise third and fourth passes (illustrated by FIGS. 1c and 1d, respectively).
During the first pass (FIG. 1a), a depolarized beam 12 is directed to a polarizing beamsplitter, preferably a wedge 14 made of birefringent material (such as calcite). The wedge 14 splits the depolarized beam 12 into two orthogonally polarized beams 16 and 18. For illustration, beam 16 is assumed to be polarized in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the page (vertically polarized, as indicated by a dark spot on beam 16) and beam 18 is assumed to be polarized in a direction parallel to the plane of the page (horizontally polarized, as indicated by a double arrow on beam 18). The wedge 14 causes the orthogonally polarized beams 16 and 18 to diverge from each other. The divergence angle 20 is determined by the wedge angle 22, the orientation of the crystal axes within the wedge, and the difference in refractive indices for ordinary "o" and extraordinary "e" light rays in the wedge material.
The beams 16 and 18 are directed to an optical amplifier 24 by a beam director, preferably a pair of lenses 26 and 28. The focal lengths of lenses 26 and 28 and their positions relative to wedge 14 and amplifier 24 are preferably chosen so that the plane in which the exit face of wedge 14 lies is imaged onto the input face 27 of amplifier 24. The amplifier 24 is preferably a "zig-zag" slab amplifier made from neodymium-doped glass (Nd:glass). However, any other gain medium can be used as long as it does not depolarize beams 16 and 18. Examples of other possible gain media include Nd:YAG, a semiconductor such as gallium arsenide, a gas such as carbon dioxide, and a liquid containing a fluorescent dye such as rhodamine 6G.
"Zig-zag" slab amplifiers are well known in the art and are described in J. M. Eggleston, et al., "Slab-Geometry Nd:glass Laser Performance Studies", Optics Letters, vol. 7, no. 9, May 1982, pages 405-407 and in the M. E. Brodov article cited above. The slab amplifier 24 should have a height-to-width aspect ratio large enough to avoid stress-induced depolarization of beams 16 and 18 through most of the aperture. In the preferred embodiment, an aspect ratio of between approximately 5:1 and 10:1 is used and Beams 16 and 18 are preferably directed so that they reflect off the lateral surfaces of the amplifier 24 by total internal reflection, as illustrated in FIG. 2. For ease of illustration, beams 16 and 18 are not drawn to scale. In actual practice, beams 16 and 18 preferably fill approximately 80-90% of the aperture height of the amplifier 24. This reduces the likelihood of depolarization that would otherwise occur if the full aperture were utilized.
Referring back to FIG. 1a, beams 16 and 18 perform a first pass through amplifier 24 and reflect off mirrors 30 and 32, which direct each beam back along the path of the other beam. A lens 34 is used to image each beam back into the amplifier 24. The focal length and position of lens are preferably chosen so that the exit face 36 of amplifier 24 is imaged onto itself.
For illustration, FIG. 1a shows beams 16 and 18 making the same number of bounces in the amplifier 24. However, optical paths in which beams 16 and 18 make different numbers of bounces during a single pass through the amplifier 24 are also possible, and fall within the scope of the invention.
In FIG. 1b, the re-directed beams 16 and 18 perform a second pass through the amplifier 24, with each beam retracing the other beam's first path through amplifier as well as the other beam's first path through lenses 26 and 28 and wedge 14. The path exchange between beams 16 and causes them to continue to diverge when they pass back through wedge 14, rather than to recombine into a single depolarized beam. The beams are directed by mirrors 38 and 40 to lens 42, which focuses the beams into a phase conjugator
The type of phase conjugator 44 used will generally depend upon the system's power requirements. For amplification of continuous wave optical beams or of relatively low peak power pulsed beams with pulse durations that are relatively long (for example 100-200 Watts peak power and 1 ms pulse durations), a long liquid-filled capillary can be used, such as that described in Belan et al., "Stimulated Brillouin Scattering Mirrors made of Capillary Waveguides", Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 17, no. 1, Jan. 1987, pages 122-124. For higher peak powers but shorter pulse durations, such as 10 MW over 10 ns, the phase conjugator can operate by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a bulk medium or in a larger-area, short length lightguide. Representative phase conjugators are described in N. G. Basov, et al., "Inversion of Wavefront in SMBS of a Depolarized Pump", JETP Letters, vol. 28, no. 4, Aug. 1978, pages 197-201, and Andreev et al., "Locked Phase Conjugation for Two-Beam Coupling of Pulse Repetition Rate Solid State Lasers", IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 27, no. 1, January 1991, pages 135-141.
The present system preferably utilizes a scheme disclosed by Basov et al. for conjugating depolarized beams. Specifically, a 90 degree polarization rotator 46 is used to rotate the polarization of either beam 16 or 18 (the polarization of beam 18 is rotated for illustration), so that their polarizations are parallel with respect to each other in the phase conjugator 44.
The phase conjugator 44 phase conjugates and retroreflects beams 16 and 18 so that they retrace their paths through the system, as illustrated in FIG. 1c. Beam 18 passes back through polarization rotator 46 so that its polarization is once again orthogonal with respect to the polarization of beam 16. The beams perform a third pass through amplifier 24 and their paths are again exchanged by mirrors 30 and
In FIG. 1d, the beams 16 and 18 perform a fourth pass through amplifier 24 and converge on the birefringent wedge 14. Since beams 16 and 18 now have the same incident angles and polarizations that they had following the first pass through the wedge 14, they are recombined into a single return beam 48. The phase conjugator 44 alters the wavefronts of beams 16 and 18 after their second pass through amplifier 24 so that, on their third and fourth passes through the system, any wavefront aberrations imparted by the amplifier and optics during the first and second passes are compensated. As a result, the recombined return beam 48 has substantially the reversed wavefront and random polarization as the original beam
Although a four-pass system is illustrated as a preferred amplifier system, the system may be adapted to perform more than four passes without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the first set of multiple passes may comprise first, second, third and fourth passes through the amplifier 24, with the path exchange imposed after the second pass. The beams would then be phase conjugated so that they retrace their paths through the amplifier and perform fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth passes through the amplifier 24 before being recombined into a single return beam 48.
A high-power phase conjugate laser system that utilizes the present amplifier system 10 is illustrated in FIG. 3. An optical beam generator, such as a laser 50, is used to generate a diffraction-limited and linearly polarized seed beam 52. For illustration purposes, the seed beam is assumed to be vertically polarized (into the page). A polarizing beamsplitter 53 reflects the vertically polarized seed beam 52 towards a non-reciprocal polarization rotator, preferably a Faraday polarization rotator 54, that rotates the polarization of the seed beam by +45 degrees. The polarization-rotated seed beam 55 is transmitted to the amplifier system 10 by a beam delivery system, preferably an optical fiber 56 that is multi-mode with respect to the seed beam 55. The fiber 56 severely aberrates and depolarizes the transmitted seed beam 58. The aberrated and depolarized seed beam 58 enters the amplifier system 10, where it is amplified and phase conjugated as described above.
The amplified and phase conjugated return beam 60 from the amplifier system is transmitted back along fiber 56. Since the return beam 60 is phase conjugated, the aberrations and depolarization imparted on it during its first pass through fiber 56 are compensated on its return pass. As a result, the compensated return beam 62 emitted from fiber 56 has substantially the same diffraction-limited wavefront as the seed beam 55 that was initially launched into fiber 56. The compensated return beam 62 is also once again linearly polarized. However, since the Faraday rotator 54 is a non-reciprocal optical element, it rotates the polarization of the compensated return beam 62 by another .+-.45 degrees, making the return beam's polarization horizontal (in the plane of the page). The now horizontally polarized and amplified return beam 64 is coupled out of the system as a useful output bypassing it through the polarizing beamsplitter
While several illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and alternate embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, although a single multi-mode fiber is shown in FIG. 3, a multi-mode fiber bundle, or any other optical beam delivery system that is capable of transmitting the high power amplified return beam may be used. In addition, although only one optical amplifier is illustrated in FIGS. 1a-1d, two or more optical amplifiers arranged in series may also be used. Such variations and alternate embodiments are contemplated, and can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.