Patent ID: 8548017

Claim:
A method for implementing a coherent laser beam combining system in which phases of N fiber amplifier outputs are maximized, the method comprising: a. splitting the output of a master oscillator laser into an array of N signals; b. feeding said N signals into N optical phase adjusters; c. optically amplifying the output of said N phase adjusters with N fiber amplifiers; d. combining said N amplified signals in a coherent power combiner to produce a combined total output signal; e. sampling said combined total output signal and processing said sampled output through a far field spatial imaging optics system and thence to a photodetector, wherein the photodetector output is a voltage which is proportional to a combined far field power; f. selecting one of the N phase adjusters using a processor and then sweeping the phase of said adjuster in small steps over a 2π range and locking said phase adjuster to the phase that corresponds to a maximum photodetector output voltage as the phase is stepped through the 2π range; g. sequentially selecting the next phase adjuster of the N phase adjusters and repeating step f for that phase adjuster and so on for the remaining phase adjusters until the entire array of N phase adjusters are locked into phases that maximize said photodetector output voltage, thereby maximizing the output of said coherent power combiner; and h. continually repeating steps f and g to thereby correct any phase errors that may occur over time.