Innovative High Energy Laser

"Very high power can be obtained by combining a large number of diode laser bars, but unfortunately the combined output consists of a very low-brightness beam with very large beam divergence, therefore, it is unsuitable for igniting large caliber guns. PCPhotonics is proposing a diode-pumped multicore fiber laser array, which is capable of delivering very high power in a high-brightness beam emitting from an aperture of ~30 microns, in which the power density is sufficient to ignite large caliber guns.By phase-locking 7 Yb-doped single-mode fiber lasers in a common cladding, PC Photonics has obtained a high-brightness laser beam by clad-pumping this fiber laser array with a multimode diode laser. The optical to optical conversion efficiency is 87 %.Under Phase I, PC Photonics will use the highest professional standard to design a high energy laser, which will meet Army Crusader's requirements with a great deal of confidence. Under Phase I-Option, preliminary experiments will be performed todemonstrate a unique technique for efficient pumping of the double-clad fiber at very high power level. High power diode-pumped multicore fiber lasers can be very competitive in the market place as compared to high power diode-pumped solid-state lasers andCO2 lasers presently employed by automobile, aerospace and heavy manufacturing industries for precision welding, cutting and drilling of metallic and composite materials. Other applications in