Device for Incoherently Combining Lasers

Conventional fiber bundling methods used to combine light from different lasers face the difficulty of maintaining high brightness. As the brightness of a laser beam significantly influences its effectiveness and precision, many industries that rely on powerful, precise laser beams require an optimal level of brightness for various applications. Traditionally, fibers from multiple lasers were bundled tightly together, often resulting in the degradation of beam intensity and quality. The lack of an efficient method to mitigate these challenges has been a significant drawback in laser technology. Besides, the traditional method also faced limitations concerning the number of signal fiber cores that could be coupled to an output fiber's core because of the close packing and a large diameter of signal fiber cladding. There is an obvious need for a more efficient method that can combine multiple laser beams while increasing brightness and not compromising on the quality of the output beam.

Technology Description

The invention presents an innovative technique for incoherently combining light from different lasers while ensuring high brightness. The technique uses novel fiber-bundling instead of a traditional approach that packs adjacent fibers tightly. Fibers from different lasers are astutely bundled with their tips tapered to match a multimode output fiber. Additionally, a unique approach to augment brightness is also employed by reducing the outer diameters of the signal fiber claddings, allowing for closer bundling of signal fibers and coupling more signal fiber cores to a multimode output fiber. This unique approach of reducing the outer diameter of the pump fiber cladding or etching away corresponding portions of the signal fiber cladding sets this technology apart. This arrangement allows more pump light into the signal fiber cladding to significantly increase brightness. The entire process ameliorates the combinational challenges of conventional methods, establishing a novel approach to laser beam combining.