Collective coherent phase combining of 64 fibers

Opt Express. 2011 Aug 29;19(18):17053-8. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.017053.

Abstract

A new architecture for active coherent beam combining of a large number of fibers is demonstrated. The approach is based on a self-referenced quadriwave shearing interferometer and active control with arrays of electro-optic ceramic modulators. Coherent phase combining of 64 independent amplified fibers is obtained. This is to our knowledge the highest reported number of combined fibers. A Strehl ratio degradation less than 2dB is achieved with a residual phase error <λ/10 rms.