Patent ID: 8630323
Filing Date: 2014-01-14
Classification: G02B,H01S

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising: a first plurality of lasers, including a first laser and a second laser, wherein each one of the first plurality of lasers generates an optical beam which has a different wavelength that is controllably tunable; a first beam combiner that combines the optical beams of the first plurality of lasers into a combined beam that contains each of the different wavelengths from the first plurality of lasers; a spectral-to-spatial wavelength-separation device, separate from the first beam combiner, that performs a spectral-to-spatial mapping of the different wavelengths of a portion of the combined beam to a first plurality of distinct spatial locations; a detection element that detects optical power at each of the first plurality of distinct spatial locations, and that generates a signal based on the optical power at each of the first plurality of spatial locations; and control electronics that maximizes the signal from each of the first plurality of spatial locations by tuning the wavelength of a corresponding one of the plurality of lasers.