Patent Description:
High power laser amplifiers have many applications, including industrial, commercial, military, etc. Designers of laser amplifiers are continuously investigating ways to increase the power of the laser amplifier for these and other applications. One known type of laser amplifier is a fiber laser amplifier that employs a doped fiber that receives a seed beam and a pump beam that amplifies the seed beam and generates the high power laser beam, where the fiber has an active core diameter of about <NUM>-<NUM> or larger. Fiber laser amplifiers are useful as energy sources for directed energy weapons because of their high efficiency, high power scalability and excellent beam quality.

Improvements in fiber laser amplifier designs have increased the output power of the fiber to approach its practical power and beam quality limit. To further increase the output power of a fiber amplifier some fiber laser systems employ multiple fiber laser amplifiers that combine the amplified beams in some fashion to generate higher powers. A design challenge for fiber laser amplifier systems of this type is to combine the beams from a plurality of fiber amplifiers in a manner so that the beams provide a single beam output such that the beam can be focused to a small focal spot. Focusing the combined beam to a small spot at a long distance (far-field) defines the quality of the beam.

In one known multiple fiber amplifier design called coherent beam combining (CBC), a master oscillator (MO) generates a seed beam that is split into a plurality of fiber seed beams each having a common wavelength, where each fiber beam is amplified. The amplified fiber seed beams are then directed to a diffractive optical element (DOE) that combines the coherent fiber beams into a single output beam. The DOE has a periodic structure formed into the element so that when the individual fiber beams each having a slightly different angular direction are redirected by the periodic structure all of the beams diffract from the DOE in the same direction. Each fiber beam is provided to a phase modulator that controls the phase of the beam so that the phase of all the fiber beams is maintained coherent. However, limitations on phase control bandwidth and wavefront errors limit the number of fiber beams that can be coherently combined, thus limiting the output power of the laser.

In another known multiple fiber amplifier design called spectral beam combining (SBC), a plurality of master oscillators (MOs) generate a plurality of fiber seed beams at a plurality of wavelengths, where each fiber seed beam is amplified. The amplified fiber seed beams are then directed to a diffraction grating, or other wavelength-selective element, that combines the different wavelength fiber beams into a single output beam. The diffraction grating has a periodic structure formed into the element so that when the individual fiber beams each having a slightly different wavelength and angular direction are redirected by the periodic structure all of the beams diffract from the diffraction grating in the same direction. However, limitations on spectral brightness limit the number of fiber beams that can be wavelength-combined, thus limiting the output power of the laser.

To overcome these limitations and further increase the laser beam power, multiple master oscillators can be provided to generate seed beams at different wavelengths, where each of the individual wavelength seed beams is split into a number of fiber seed beams and where each group of fiber seed beams has the same wavelength and are mutually coherent. Each group of the coherent fiber seed beams at a respective wavelength are first coherently combined by a DOE, and then each group of coherently combined beams are directed to an SBC grating at slightly different angles that diffracts the beams in the same direction as a single combined beam of multiple wavelengths. The SBC grating also includes a periodic structure for combining the beams at the different wavelengths.

When high power, single-mode light is amplified or propagates through long lengths of fiber, a host of non-linear effects can arise because of the fiber Kerr non-linearity that act to degrade the optical coherence or spectral purity of the beam. The most apparent manifestation of the Kerr non-linearity is typically self-phase modulation (SPM), which is parameterized by the B - integral, i.e., the non-linear phase shift, and which can degrade beam coherence by converting low levels of uncontrolled amplitude modulation (AM) into phase noise. This non-linear effect can limit the efficiency of CBC or the beam quality of SBC, hence reducing the performance of the laser system. Specifically, there is a loss of spectral purity or a loss of optical coherence.

To avoid or reduce these effects, it is generally desirable to limit the amount of AM, also known as relative intensity noise (RIN), propagating in the seed beam that seeds the fiber amplifier. Techniques that broaden the spectrum of the seed beam to provide frequency modulation without providing amplitude modulation can be implemented in a fiber amplifier, where if the seed beam is only frequency modulated, then the Kerr non-linearities will not create problems, i.e., no time dependent non-linear phase shifts of the seed beam. However, this results in spectral beam broadening, which could reduce beam quality during SBC.

Generally, to maintain the degradation of the beam quality defined by the Strehl ratio to be below <NUM> % in a beam combined fiber laser weapon system, it is desirable to maintain non-linear SPM phase fluctuations B * RIN < <NUM> radians. For a typical <NUM> - <NUM> kW fiber amplifier with a B - integral of <NUM> radians, this implies a requirement to maintain RIN < <NUM>%. Therefore, it is industry standard practice to employ FM seed beam sources having little or no AM, i.e., with constant power versus time. However, a number of effects have been observed that still partially convert FM into uncontrolled AM, where it can cause non-linear degradation through SPM. These effects include polarization mixing, chromatic dispersion, spectral filtering, or generally, any multi-path interference (MPI) effects. A typical signature of an MPI effect in a fiber component or fiber-based system is a spectrally dependent transmission that exhibits a periodic modulation pattern.

It is known in the art that for FM line-widths that are significantly smaller than the free spectral range (FSR) of the spectral modulation, the magnitude of the FM to AM conversion can vary significantly depending on the relative wavelengths of the seed beam and the spectral transmission peak. The FM to AM conversion in the fiber will be minimized when the beam wavelength is aligned with a peak or null of the transmission spectrum, and will be maximized when the beam wavelength is between a peak and a null. This is because the instantaneous frequency of the FM signal is changing in time, and thus its transmission amplitude will change in the time leading to the time-varying output power, i.e., AM. The FM to AM conversion will be minimized when the spectral transmission over the beam bandwidth is as uniform as possible, which occurs near a transmission peak or null. Hence, there is a need for a fiber amplifier architecture that can amplify FM light with a minimum FM to AM conversion to yield a low-noise output despite the presence of components that exhibit non-uniform spectral transmission. Reference is made to the following documents discussing techniques for reduction of FM to AM conversion in fiber amplifier systems:.

The invention is defined in independent claims <NUM> and <NUM>. Further embodiments are detailed in the dependent claims.

The following discussion of the embodiments of the disclosure directed to a fiber laser amplifier system that employs various techniques for actively reducing FM to AM conversion is merely exemplary in nature, and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure or its applications or uses.

As will be discussed in detail below, the present disclosure proposes various techniques for reducing FM to AM conversion in a fiber laser amplifier system by actively controlling a certain parameter in the system. These techniques can generally be separated into two types. The first type includes co-aligning the peaks or nulls of the spectral transmission caused by one or more amplifier components with a center wavelength of the seed beam. FM line-widths for <NUM>-<NUM> kW fiber amplifiers are typically <NUM>-<NUM> that are driven by the requirement to stay below the threshold for stimulated Brillouin scattering in the fiber, which is small in comparison to typical measured FSRs on the order of ~<NUM> in various amplifier components. Hence, co-alignment of the center wavelength of the seed beam with the peaks or nulls of the transmission spectrum will minimize FM to AM conversion and will result in a low-noise FM fiber amplifier with reduced impairment from non-linear SPM noise. For example, since the spectral transmission of components within typical fiber amplifier systems can be polarization-dependent or temperature-dependent, the manual adjustment of the seed beam state of polarization (SOP) or component temperature can dramatically reduce the RIN on the amplified output beam.

The second type includes providing spectral equalization of the seed beam such as by employing a programmable spectral filter to compensate for spectral amplitude and phase distortions that initiate the FM to AM conversion. For spectral amplitude distortions, the spectral filter would be programmed to flatten the net spectral transmission profile through the fiber amplifier system. For spectral phase distortions, the spectral filter would be programmed to compensate for fiber group velocity dispersion (GVD) or other dispersive effects arising from amplification or component transmission spectrums. For static spectral phase correction, the spectral filter could also comprise a length of dispersion-compensating fiber used in series with the dynamic spectral filter, if this reduces the stroke required for compensation or improves precision.

Both of these types of techniques for reducing FM to AM conversion in a fiber laser amplifier system can be shown generally by fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> depicted in <FIG>. The system <NUM> includes a master oscillator (MO) <NUM> that generates a seed beam on fiber <NUM> having a particular wavelength. The seed beam is provided to an RF electro-optical modulator (EOM) <NUM> that receives an RF signal to frequency modulate the seed beam for providing frequency modulation broadening, such as white noise or pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS). It is noted that the EOM <NUM> can be at any suitable location in the system <NUM> before the seed beam is amplified. The broadened seed beam is then sent to an actuator <NUM> that controls some aspect or parameter of the seed beam, such as its phase, polarization, etc., for reducing FM to AM conversion as discussed herein. The actuated seed beam is then sent to an amplifier or optical component <NUM> that is intended to represent any of a number of optical components that may exist in the system <NUM> that provide a certain optical function depending on the particular application, and which may cause frequency modulation in the seed beam to be converted to amplitude modulation through SPM as discussed above. Suitable examples for the optical component <NUM> include, but are not limited to, a pump beam combiner, an optical splice, an optical isolator, a spectral filter, a length of optical fiber, a pre-amplifier stage, a mode field adapter, etc. It is noted that several of the components <NUM> can be employed.

The seed beam is then sent to a non-linear fiber amplifier <NUM>, which may be a plurality of fiber amplification stages each including a pump beam source and a length of doped fiber, such as a ytterbium (Yb) doped length of fiber having a <NUM>-<NUM> core, to amplify the seed beam and provide an amplified output beam <NUM>. The output beam <NUM> is then sent through a beam splitter <NUM> that splits off a small sample portion of the output beam <NUM> as a sample beam <NUM>. The sample beam <NUM> is sent to a detector <NUM> that determines the amount or magnitude of the particular parameter being monitored that identifies AM in the amplified beam <NUM>. The detector <NUM> generates a control metric that is sent to a controller <NUM> that controls the actuator <NUM> to adjust the parameter, thus optimizing the control metric and eliminating or reducing FM to AM conversion.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of a fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> that employs polarization control of the seed beam as one embodiment for the first type of technique for reducing FM to AM conversion that co-aligns the peaks or nulls of the spectral transmission caused by the component <NUM> with the center wavelength of the seed beam, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. In the amplifier system <NUM>, the actuator <NUM> is replaced with a polarization actuator <NUM>. More specifically, the sample beam <NUM> is not polarization filtered for a specific SOP, but unpolarized light in the sample beam <NUM> is detected and is used to adjust the polarization of the seed beam so that the non-uniform spectral transmission caused by the component <NUM> does not generate amplitude modulation.

In this embodiment, the sample beam <NUM> is detected by a high-speed photodetector <NUM> that generates a photocurrent having a time varying electrical AC signal that is proportional to optical power fluctuations caused by the amplitude modulation on the sample beam <NUM> and has a DC offset that is proportional to the optical power of the sample beam <NUM>. The photocurrent is filtered by a high-pass filter <NUM> to remove the DC offset. The filter <NUM> has a cut-off frequency that is less than the detection bandwidth of the photodetector <NUM> and higher than the desired feedback control loop rate. The AC signal that is passed by the filter <NUM> is rectified by a rectifier <NUM> to convert the negative parts of the signal to positive parts. The rectified signal is filtered and time-averaged by a low-pass filter <NUM> to provide a control metric signal that is proportional to the amplitude modulation or RIN power in the sample beam <NUM> that is provided to a polarization controller <NUM>. The low pass filter <NUM> has a cutoff frequency that is higher than the desired feedback control loop rate, but small enough to provide good signal-to-noise ratio for the control metric signal to enable stable feedback control. The polarization controller <NUM> provides a control signal to the polarization actuator <NUM> depending on the magnitude and dynamics of the control metric signal. The control metric signal changes or adjusts the polarization of the seed beam to cause the peaks or nulls of the spectral transmission created by the component <NUM> to be shifted to align with the center wavelength of the seed beam. In other words, by changing the polarization of the seed beam, the spectral transmission of the seed beam caused by the optical component <NUM> will be shifted, and by monitoring the magnitude of the amplitude modulation, the optimum polarization can be provided to the seed beam to minimize the amplitude modulation.

The system <NUM> does generate a low-noise FM amplified output laser beam, however, the output beam <NUM> will be indeterminately polarized based on the uncontrolled birefringence of the fiber components. This is acceptable for applications that do not require polarized seed beams, such as beam-combined laser architectures that are based on SBC using polarization-independent combining gratings. However, the laser system <NUM> may not be useful for applications that require polarized seed beams, such as beam-combined laser weapon architectures based on CBC or based on SBC using polarization-dependent gratings.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of a fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> that provides polarization control to reduce FM to AM conversion as discussed above and also provides polarization control of the seed beam to generate an output beam <NUM> that is polarized to a certain polarization state, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. The system <NUM> includes a polarization actuator <NUM> that adjusts the SOP of the seed beam to the desired polarization state for the particular application, which is not the same polarization control provided by the polarization actuator <NUM> in the system <NUM> that changed the polarization of the seed beam to align the peaks and nulls in the transmission spectrum caused the component <NUM> to the center frequency of the seed beam. The sample beam <NUM> is filtered by a polarization filter <NUM> that transmits optical power of the sample beam <NUM> in the desired polarization state. The polarization-filtered sample beam is detected by the high-speed photodetector <NUM> that generates a photocurrent having a time varying electrical AC signal that is proportional to optical power fluctuations caused by the amplitude modulation on the sample beam <NUM> and has a DC offset that is proportional to the optical power of the sample beam <NUM> that is in the desired polarization state. The SOP of the output beam <NUM> is controlled by providing the electrical signal from the photodetector <NUM> to a low-pass filter <NUM> that filters out the frequency fluctuations so that the DC offset identifying the magnitude of the sample beam <NUM> having the desired polarization remains. The filtered signal is provided to a polarization controller <NUM> that controls the polarization actuator <NUM> to adjust the polarization of the seed beam to maximize the amount of power that is provided by the polarization filter <NUM>. The cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter <NUM> is selected based on the desired loop rate of the polarization control loop, for example, <NUM>-<NUM>, where the cut-off frequency of the high-pass filter <NUM> is selected to be greater than the cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter <NUM>, but less than the bandwidth of the photodetector <NUM>.

Because the polarization actuator <NUM> does control the polarization of the seed beam to the desired SOP it also alters the position of the peaks and nulls of the transmission spectrum caused by the optical component <NUM>, which could increase or decrease the amount of amplitude modulation the component <NUM> creates. In the system <NUM>, the polarization actuator <NUM> is moved downstream of the component <NUM> to provide the shift in the spectral transmission of the seed beam. As mentioned above, the control bandwidth or sampling frequency of the polarization control for reducing FM to AM conversion is selected to be much slower than the control bandwidth of the output beam polarization control to ensure the output SOP remains locked to the desired polarization. It is possible to move the polarization actuator <NUM> downstream of the component <NUM> in this embodiment and still be effective to reduce FM to AM conversion because the polarization actuator <NUM> responds to changes in the polarization made by the polarization actuator <NUM> to maintain the output SOP. Because the polarization actuator <NUM> changes the polarization of the seed beam in response to changes made by the polarization actuator <NUM>, the polarization of the seed beam is effectively being changed by the polarization actuator <NUM> only at locations between the actuator <NUM> and the actuator <NUM> in the optical train, i.e., the SOP is constant at all other locations.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of a fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> that employs active temperature control as another embodiment for the first type of technique for reducing FM to AM conversion that co-aligns the peaks or nulls of the spectral transmission caused by the component <NUM> with the center wavelength of the seed beam, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. The control metric signal that is proportional to the AM power in the sample beam <NUM> is provided to a temperature controller <NUM> that controls the temperature of a heater/cooler device <NUM> that is coupled to and operates to change the temperature of the optical component <NUM>, where the device <NUM> is the actuator <NUM> in this embodiment. Therefore, depending on the magnitude of the control metric signal from the low-pass filter <NUM>, the temperature controller <NUM> will increase or decrease the temperature of the component <NUM>, which causes its spectral transmission to be shifted so that the peaks or nulls are aligned with the center frequency of the seed beam.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of a fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> that provides temperature control of the optical component <NUM> to reduce FM to AM conversion as discussed above and also provides the polarized output beam <NUM> that is polarized to a desired polarization state, where like elements to the systems <NUM> and <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. In order to correct for the conversion of FM to AM, the same process used by the system <NUM> is employed to control the temperature of the optical component <NUM>. Changing the temperature of the component <NUM> can also change its birefringence, however these changes are sufficiently slow that they will appear adiabatic to the polarization controller <NUM> with typical bandwidths of <NUM> or more, and can be dynamically compensated so that the amplified output beam <NUM> will simultaneously have a low-RIN and be properly polarized. Therefore, the polarization actuator <NUM> can operate quickly to change the polarization state of the seed beam to the desired polarization, where the correction for FM to AM conversion provided by the temperature controller <NUM> can operate more slowly.

The discussion above concerning the first type of technique for reducing FM to AM conversion that co-aligns the peaks or nulls of the spectral transmission caused by the component <NUM> with the center wavelength of the seed beam was specific to providing polarization control or temperature control. However, it is noted that these are merely examples of suitable techniques for aligning the peaks and nulls of the spectral transmission of the component <NUM> with the center frequency of the seed beam, where other techniques may be equally applicable. For example, it may be possible to control mechanical stress on the optical component <NUM> to change its birefringence, which could also operate to shift the non-uniform spectral transmission of the component <NUM> to align with the center wavelength of the seed beam. In this embodiment, the device <NUM> would be a device that applies mechanical stress to the optical component <NUM> and the controller <NUM> would be a stress controller.

As noted, a number of components in a fiber laser amplifier system could cause non-uniform spectral transmission produced by AM. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide AM reducing control to multiple or all of the various components that are in the amplification chain. This embodiment is illustrated in <FIG> by fiber laser amplifier system <NUM>, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. The system <NUM> includes multiple optical components <NUM> positioned between the polarization actuator <NUM> and the fiber amplifier <NUM>, where each optical component <NUM> includes some type of actuation device <NUM>, such as a temperature actuator, polarization actuator, stress actuator, etc., as discussed above. A multi-dither control scheme, for example, a stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm can be employed to simultaneously control multiple components to minimize FM to AM conversion. Such a controller is illustrated by multi-channel controller <NUM> that controls each of the actuators <NUM> to independently shift the spectral transmission caused by each of the components <NUM> to align the peaks or nulls with the center wavelength of the seed beam.

The second type of technique referred to above that reduces FM to AM conversion by providing spectral equalization, which is a more direct technique than the first type of technique, uses a programmable spectral filter as the actuator <NUM> in the system <NUM> that operates to flatten or equalize the net spectral transmission profile of the seed beam propagating through the fiber amplifier system <NUM>. If the spectral transmission of the seed beam through all of the optical components from the MO <NUM> through the fiber amplifier <NUM> is initially a transmission function T<NUM>(λ) without the programmable spectral filter, then by using a spectral filter programmed to produce an inverse transmission function T<NUM>(λ) = <NUM>/T<NUM>(λ), the net spectral transmission of the seed beam after it propagates through the system <NUM> will be T<NUM>(λ)T<NUM>(λ) = <NUM>, which should yield a low noise output beam. In general, both of the transmission functions T<NUM>(λ) and T<NUM>(λ) can be complex-valued functions, i.e., both spectral amplitude and phase can be non-uniform. Thus, the seed beam is pre-distorted with the inverse of the transmission function of the fiber amplifier system <NUM> so that the non-uniform spectral transmission of the seed beam changes its transmission function to its original transfer function as it propagates through the system <NUM> so that it does not include amplitude modulation. This approach has advantages over the first type of technique because it can, in principle, compensate for FM to AM conversion arising from multiple sources. In other words, this technique can correct arbitrary impairment to the spectral transmission and is not limited to periodic spectral transmission profiles.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of a fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> that employs spectral equalization control of the seed beam as a general depiction of this embodiment for the second type of technique for reducing FM to AM conversion, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. In this embodiment, the polarization actuator <NUM> is replaced with a programmable spectral filter <NUM> that provides pre-distortion of the seed beam as an inverse of the spectral distortion provided by the components in the amplification chain prior to the seed beam being sent to the fiber amplifier <NUM>. In this embodiment, the system <NUM> uses the photodetector <NUM>, the high-pass filter <NUM>, the rectifier <NUM> and the low-pass filter <NUM> in the manner discussed above to generate the control metric signal proportional to AM power in the sample beam <NUM> that identifies the non-uniform spectral transmission. A controller <NUM> receives the control metric signal from the low-pass filter <NUM> and controls the spectral filter <NUM> to provide the desired inverse transmission function that drives the metric signal to zero, and thus reduces the FM to AM conversion.

If, as discussed above, the fiber laser amplifier system needs to provide the polarized output beam <NUM> for a certain application, then polarization control can be provided in the same manner as discussed above. This embodiment is shown in <FIG> as fiber laser amplifier system <NUM>, where like elements to the systems <NUM> and <NUM> are identified by the same reference number.

The discussion above provides feedback control to the spectral filter <NUM> using an advanced algorithm to obtain the spectral shape that minimizes AM. A simpler approach might involve a simple multi-variable controller based on adjusting one or more parameters associated with a Taylor expansion of the spectral transmission around the center wavelength of the seed beam. For example, a spectral transmission could be imposed on the seed beam that varies linearly with wavelength, where the control parameter is the slope of the spectral transmission curve that would serve to grossly compensate the lowest order spectral non-uniformity. Parameters could also be included to compensate quadratically varying spectral transmissions or even higher order terms. Typically, the lowest order term spectral phase that is of interest is quadratic that corresponds to group velocity dispersion (GVD) since linearly varying spectral phase simply corresponds to a constant time delay and does not impact FM to AM conversion.

In an alternate embodiment for the second type of technique, the detector <NUM> could be a spectral detector, such as a spectrometer or an optical spectrum analyzer, that provides measurements of both an output power spectrum Sout(λ) of the sample beam <NUM> and an input power spectrum Sin(λ) of the seed beam before it is sent to the programmable spectral filter <NUM>. This embodiment is shown as fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> in <FIG>, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. The system <NUM> includes a switch <NUM> that receives the sample beam <NUM> having the output power spectrum Sout(λ) and the seed beam from the EOM <NUM> having the input power spectrum Sin(λ). The switch <NUM> toggles back and forth at a desired sampling rate between the input and output power spectrums and an optical spectrum analyzer <NUM> alternately measures the magnitude of those power spectrums. A controller <NUM> receives the measured magnitudes of the power spectrums, calculates the net system transmission function T<NUM>(λ) = Sout(λ)/Sin(λ) and controls the programmable spectral filter <NUM> to apply the inverse transmission function T<NUM>(λ) = <NUM>/T<NUM>(λ) to the seed beam. In an alternate embodiment, two optical spectrum analyzers could be employed, where each analyzer measures one of the power spectrums. In another alternate embodiment, for situations in which the input power spectrum Sin(λ) is constant in time, the input power spectrum could be stored in the memory of the controller <NUM> and only the output power spectrum Sout(λ) would be dynamically measured using a single optical spectrum analyzer. To avoid dynamic instability in a closed loop configuration, the controller <NUM> would typically be programmed to apply a small correction to the transmission function T(λ) upon each loop in the iteration. For example, for the nth iteration of the closed loop as: <MAT> where n denotes the nth loop iteration, g<<NUM> is a gain coefficient set to balance stability against loop convergence speed, i.e., dynamic control bandwidth, and K is a normalization constant set to maximize T<NUM>.

It is noted that use of the optical spectrum analyzer <NUM> in the system <NUM> is only able to measure the spectral amplitude of the input power and the output power, but cannot provide FM to AM conversion compensation for the spectral phase. However, typically in these types of systems, the spectral phase is not time varying, and is thus fixed. Fiber dispersion can typically be compensated for with a one-time calibration measurement since it is not expected to change dynamically during normal use of the fiber laser amplifier system. Thus, active control to reduce FM to AM conversion may not be required for all system parameters.

To provide the compensation for fiber dispersion and provide spectral phase correction, a dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) could be used in the amplification chain before the fiber amplifier <NUM> to address static GVD and decrease the amount of spectral phase correction needed by the active control or provide the spectral phase control. This embodiment is shown in <FIG> as fiber laser amplifier system <NUM>, where like components to the systems <NUM> and <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. In the system <NUM>, a DCF <NUM> is provided before the programmable spectral filter <NUM> that provides the spectral phase correction. Providing the DCF <NUM> as shown benefits the system <NUM> by providing static compensation for spectral phase that was not available from the spectrum analyzer <NUM>, but also benefits the system <NUM> by off-loading most of the spectral phase correction for FM to AM conversation to the DCF <NUM>, where additional spectral phase correction is provided by the controller <NUM>.

As discussed above, some laser amplifier systems employ a multichannel or SBC architecture. The use of a programmable spectral filter to reduce FM to AM conversion has particular application for these types of SBC architectures because a single programmable spectral filter can provide FM to AM conversion compensation for an entire array of spectrally beam combined fiber amplifiers. This not only enables higher per-fiber powers and long delivery fiber cabling, but also eliminates expensive components, such as electro-optic modulators and high frequency RF drive electronics, by allowing multiplexing of all seed beam wavelengths through a single modulator channel.

This embodiment is illustrated by fiber laser amplifier system <NUM> in <FIG>, where like elements to the system <NUM> are identified by the same reference number. The system <NUM> includes a plurality of master oscillators <NUM>, where each master oscillator <NUM> generates a seed beam at a different wavelength λ. All of the seed beams are provided to a wavelength division multiplexer <NUM> that combines the beams on to a single fiber <NUM>. Once all of the seed beams are on the same fiber, and are frequency modulated by the EOM <NUM>, the programmable spectral filter <NUM> can provide the spectral filtering in the manner discussed above to pre-distort all of the seed beams of different wavelengths propagating therethrough with the inverse transmission function. Once all of the seed beams have been pre-distorted, they are sent to a wavelength division demultiplexer <NUM> that separates the pre-distorted different wavelength seed beams onto separate fibers to be sent to separate fiber amplifiers <NUM>. Once the individual beams are amplified at their respective wavelengths, they are combined by SBC optics <NUM> to generate a high-power output beam <NUM>. The input power spectrum from the EOM <NUM> and the output power spectrum from the sample beam <NUM> are alternately measured by the optical spectrum analyzer <NUM> and the controller <NUM> calculates the net system transmission function in the manner discussed so that the controller <NUM> can control the programmable spectral filter <NUM>. It is noted that the spectrum analyzer can be replaced with the detection embodiment that employs the photodetector <NUM>, the high-pass filter <NUM>, the rectifier <NUM> and the low-pass filter <NUM>, as discussed above.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Further exemplary embodiments and features of exemplary embodiments are disclosed in the following.

A fiber amplifier system comprises an optical source providing an optical seed beam; one or more optical components that are responsive to the seed beam and each causing frequency modulation (FM) to amplitude modulation (AM) conversion that creates a non-uniform spectral transmission of the seed beam having peaks and nulls; one or more actuators where each actuator is either positioned before a respective one of the optical components, positioned after a respective one of the optical components or coupled to a respective one of the optical components, each actuator being operable to cause a shift in the spectral transmission of the seed beam created by the respective optical component; a fiber amplifier responsive to the seed beam after the one or more actuators and the one or more optical components and generating an amplified output beam; a beam sampler responsive to the amplified output beam that provides a sample beam; a detector sub-system responsive to the sample beam, said detector sub-system detecting an amount of amplitude modulation in the sample beam and generating a control metric signal identifying the amount of amplitude modulation; and a spectral shift controller responsive to the control metric signal from the detector sub-system and controlling the one or more actuators to cause the one or more actuators to make adjustments to cause the spectral transmission created by the one or more optical components to shift so that the peaks or nulls in the non-uniform spectral transmission align with a center frequency of the seed beam to reduce the amplitude modulation in the seed beam.

One or more optical components can be selected from the group consisting of a pump beam combiner, an optical fiber splice, an optical isolator, a spectral filter, a pre-amplifier stage, a length of optical fiber and a mode field adapter.

The detector sub-system can include a photodetector that is responsive to the sample beam and generates a time-varying electrical signal including fluctuations identifying the amount of the amplitude modulation and a DC offset identifying a power of the sample beam, a high-pass filter that filters out the DC offset in the electrical signal, a rectifier that rectifies the high-pass filtered signal and a low-pass filter that low-pass filters the rectified signal and generates the control metric signal.

At least one of the one or more actuators can be a polarization actuator and the spectral shift controller can be a spectral shift polarization controller, wherein the spectral shift polarization controller can control the at least one polarization actuator to change the polarization of the seed beam so that the spectral transmission caused by the respective optical component is shifted.

The at least one polarization actuator can be responsive to the seed beam before the respective optical component.

At least one of the one or more actuators can be a heating/cooling device coupled to the respective optical component and controlling its temperature and the spectral shift controller can be a spectral shift temperature controller, wherein the spectral shift temperature controller an control the at least one heating/cooling device to change the temperature of the respective optical component so that the spectral transmission caused by the respective optical component is shifted.

The fiber amplifier system can further comprise a state of polarization (SOP) actuator, a SOP polarization controller, and a polarization filter that only allows a predetermined polarization of the sample beam that is sent to the detector sub-system, said detector sub-system including a low-pass filter that filters out fluctuations identifying the amount of amplitude modulation in the sample beam, wherein the low-pass filtered signal can sent to the SOP polarization controller that controls the SOP polarization actuator to change the SOP of the seed beam to maintain the output beam at a desired SOP.

The one or more optical components can be multiple optical components and the one or more actuators can be multiple actuators.

The spectral shift controller can separately control each of the multiple actuators.

A fiber amplifier system comprises an optical source providing an optical seed beam; an optical component responsive to the seed beam and causing frequency modulation (FM) to amplitude modulation (AM) conversion to the seed beam that creates a non-uniform spectral transmission of the seed beam having peaks and nulls; a spectral shift polarization actuator causing a shift in the spectral transmission of the seed beam created by the optical component; a fiber amplifier responsive to the seed beam after the spectral shift polarization actuator and the optical component and generating an amplified output beam; a beam sampler responsive to the amplified output beam that provides a sample beam; a detector sub-system responsive to the sample beam, said detector sub-system detecting an amount of amplitude modulation in the sample beam and generating a control metric signal identifying the amount of amplitude modulation; and a spectral shift polarization controller responsive to the control metric signal from the detector sub-system and controlling the spectral shift polarization actuator to cause the spectral shift polarization actuator to make polarization adjustments to the seed beam to cause the spectral transmission created by the optical component to shift so that the peaks or nulls in the non-uniform spectral transmission align with a center frequency of the seed beam to reduce the amplitude modulation in the seed beam.

The optical component can be selected from the group consisting of a pump beam combiner, an optical fiber splice, an optical isolator, a spectral filter, a pre-amplifier stage, a length of optical fiber and a mode field adapter.

The spectral shift polarization actuator can be responsive to the seed beam before the respective optical component.

The fiber amplifier system can further comprise a state of polarization (SOP) actuator, a SOP polarization controller, and a polarization filter that only allows a predetermined polarization of the sample beam that is sent to the detector sub-system, wherein said detector sub-system can include a low-pass filter that filters out fluctuations identifying the amount of amplitude modulation in the sample beam, wherein the low-pass filtered signal is sent to the SOP polarization controller that controls the SOP polarization actuator to change the SOP of the seed beam to maintain the output beam at a desired SOP.

The spectral shift polarization actuator can be responsive to the seed beam after the respective optical component.

A fiber amplifier system comprises an optical source providing an optical seed beam; an optical component responsive to the seed beam and causing frequency modulation (FM) to amplitude modulation (AM) conversion to the seed beam that creates a non-uniform spectral transmission of the seed beam having peaks and nulls; a spectral shift temperature actuator coupled to the optical component, and heating or cooling the optical component to cause a shift in the spectral transmission of the seed beam created by the optical component; a fiber amplifier responsive to the seed beam after the spectral shift temperature actuator and the optical component and generating an amplified output beam; a beam sampler responsive to the amplified output beam that provides a sample beam; a detector sub-system responsive to the sample beam, said detector sub-system detecting an amount of amplitude modulation in the sample beam and generating a control metric signal identifying the amount of amplitude modulation; and a spectral shift temperature controller responsive to the control metric signal from the detector sub-system and controlling the heating/cooling device to cause the heating/cooling device to make temperature adjustments to the optical component to cause the spectral transmission created by the optical component to shift so that the peaks or nulls in the non-uniform spectral transmission align with a center frequency of the seed beam to reduce the amplitude modulation in the seed beam.

Claim 1:
A fiber amplifier system comprising:
an optical source (<NUM>) providing an optical seed beam;
an optical component (<NUM>) responsive to the seed beam and causing frequency modulation, FM, to amplitude modulation, AM, conversion to the seed beam that creates a non-uniform spectral transmission of the seed beam having peaks and nulls;
a spectral shift temperature actuator (<NUM>) coupled to the optical component, and heating or cooling the optical component to cause a shift in the spectral transmission of the seed beam created by the optical component;
a fiber amplifier (<NUM>) responsive to the seed beam after the spectral shift temperature actuator and the optical component and generating an amplified output beam;
a beam sampler (<NUM>) responsive to the amplified output beam that provides a sample beam (<NUM>);
a detector sub-system (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> ,<NUM>, <NUM>) responsive to the sample beam, said detector sub-system detecting an amount of amplitude modulation in the sample beam and generating a control metric signal identifying the amount of amplitude modulation; and
a spectral shift temperature controller (<NUM>) responsive to the control metric signal from the detector sub-system and controlling the spectral shift temperature actuator to cause the spectral shift temperature actuator to make temperature adjustments to the optical component to cause the spectral transmission created by the optical component to shift so that the peaks or nulls in the non-uniform spectral transmission align with a center frequency of the seed beam to reduce the amplitude modulation in the seed beam.